essay on creative play

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What is Creative Play for Kids: Its Importance & Activities

What Is Creative Play?

5 types of creative play, 4 reasons why creative play is important, age-appropriate play for children, 7 ways to encourage creative play, 20 creative play activities for kids.

A child’s development benefits from creative play because it fosters creativity, innovation, and self-expression. Children are encouraged to use various imaginative materials to explore their inner selves, try out new ideas and concepts, and execute their problem-solving skills .

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Creative play nurtures a child’s development and early education. Children are encouraged to use various imaginative materials to explore their inner selves, try out new ideas and concepts, and execute their problem-solving skills. Through artistic, imaginative, musical, construction and dramatic play, children tend to develop crucial abilities like communication, empathy , and decision-making.

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.” – Carl Jung.

It lets them spread their wings and their imagination run wild, giving a holistic approach to learning and helping them prepare for future challenges while having fun in the process.

Creative play definition suggests that it is an imaginative activity where individuals engage in open-ended play to explore and express their creativity, problem-solving skills, and artistic abilities without strict rules or predefined outcomes. This kind of play encourages children to experiment with new concepts, objects, and ideas since it places more emphasis on the process than the outcome. 

This is further supported by an article titled “ How play helps children’s development ” highlights that play is a natural and enjoyable way for children to stay active, healthy, and happy. Through freely chosen play, children can experience healthy development, both physically and mentally, and learn life skills. Providing children with various unstructured play opportunities like drawing , painting, playing with friends, and building blocks from birth until their teenage years is crucial to ensure optimal development.

1. Artistic Play

Children who are engaged in artistic play use a variety of creative mediums, including painting, sculpture, and drawing. This way, they can express their creativity by exploring various textures, hues, and materials. It develops their fine motor skills and improves hand-eye coordination. A few more artistic play activities would be finger painting, watercolour painting, coloured pencil or marker drawings, and clay modelling.

2. Imaginative Play

Children engage in imaginative play when they make up and act out various tales, characters, and scenarios. It helps kids think critically and imaginatively, which aids in the development of their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. For example, playing dress-up, inventing stories, and playing with action figures or dolls.

3. Musical Play

Children that engage in musical play experiment with diverse sounds and music using a variety of musical instruments or even just their voices. Children benefit from this kind of play by improving their coordination, sense of rhythm, and language abilities. The arts of singing, playing the piano or guitar, and dancing are examples of creative play.

4. Construction Play

Children build and make things out of different materials, including blocks, Legos, or construction sets. The growth of children’s analytical, problem-solving, and creative skills is supported by this type of play. Construction play includes activities like making elaborate drawings out of building kits or building skyscrapers or other structures out of blocks.

5. Dramatic Play

Children act out various roles and settings in this, which are often based on true events or myths. Playing in this way helps kids develop their empathy, social skills , and linguistic skills. Dramatic play includes pretending to be someone else, such as a doctor or engineer, or staging a play.

The beginning of learning starts with multiple forms, and it is critical to understand how it dramatic play helps in a child’s growth and how it might support their success. Let’s explore the it in more detail. 

Children benefit a lot from imaginative play because it helps them develop several skills important for their physical and mental growth. 

Also, an article published by Science Direct emphasizes that “Play is one of the important components of a child’s life, and it is one of the major activities that promote children’s imagination and creativity.”

The following are the most benefits of creative plays:

• Enhances Imagination and Creativity: Children can use their imaginations to broaden their thinking through creative play , which can eventually lead to the invention of novel and ground-breaking notions. For example, drawing fictional animals, creative landscapes, or moulding clay sculptures. It will help them express what they feel or think about.
• Improves Problem-Solving Abilities: It helps kids develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
• Fosters Emotional Development: It helps children develop emotionally and depend on their freedom to explore and express their inner worlds via imaginative play in a supportive and safe environment.
• Improves Social Skills: Children learn vital interpersonal skills, including communication, cooperation, and teamwork, by playing freely with others.

Now that we have a solid understanding of the benefits – let’s explore the kinds of activities most suited to children as per their age.

Age-appropriate play simply means selecting games that are right for a child’s age and stage of growth. For babies, it could be tummy time and soft toys while toddlers might like simple puzzles and playing with dolls or toy cars. Preschoolers will enjoy playdough and games like hide-and-seek. Older kids will like board games or outdoor sports . Based on their developmental needs, the list of play activities that are appropriate for kids of various ages is provided below.

1. Toddlers (1-3 years)

Toddlers learn and grow through fun activities like running , jumping, climbing, and throwing. It helps them move better, enhance their gross motor skills, improve coordination, and build strength. Equally, playing with dolls and toy cars sparks the imagination as well as creativity and lets them make friends by playing together. It’s all about having fun and learning at the same time! 

2. Preschoolers (3-5 years)

Preschoolers , who belong to the age bracket of 3-5 years, possess an unwavering curiosity about the world around them and demonstrate remarkable imaginative prowess. One effective way of nurturing their creativity and attention to detail is by engaging them in activities such as painting, drawing, and constructing with blocks, which can all serve as valuable conduits for expressing artistic flair. Additionally, engaging in dressing up and outdoor play can stimulate their senses and facilitate their exploration of the world.

3. School-Age Children (6-12 Years)

School-age children, who typically fall within the range of 6-12 years, it is evident that they have amassed a considerable repertoire of cognitive and social skills, which can be channelled into various creative activities. These activities may include filmmaking, video game playing, and athletics. All of these can refine their mental, emotional, social, and collaborative aptitudes. 

Playing with your children in a way that fits your their age is super important because it helps them grow and learn better. Age-appropriate creative play fosters imagination, social skills, and cognitive powers. It also helps in making friends and thinking aptitudes. 

You can also help your child be more creative and learn new things while having fun. Here are seven easy ways you can also encourage creative play: 

Encouraging playful and creative learning is fundamental to supporting a child’s imagination, intelligence, and creativity and can be achieved through various techniques. As a parent or teacher, you can explore different avenues to stimulate your child’s artistic side and promote imaginative play. 

• Provide open-ended toys: To encourage your child’s creativity, provide toys such as building blocks, art tools, and playdough that may be utilized in various ways.
• Allow unstructured playtime: Allow your child unstructured playtime where they can explore and create without being directed or told what to do.
• Support exploration: Allow your child to explore the world around them by taking them on nature walks or to museums.
• Show interest: To foster creativity and deepen your bond with your child, ask them questions about what they’re working on.
• Limit screen time: Because too much screen time can limit creativity, encourage your youngster to engage in other forms of play.
• Foster a positive environment: Create a safe and positive environment where your child can express themselves without fear of being judged.
• Allow mistakes: Assist your child in learning from their mistakes and encourage them to try again.

Encouraging your children gives them an important tool for growth and self-expression. These easy suggestions will help promote your child’s creativity and start them on the way to a bright and imaginative future.  Take a close look at a few activities you can do with your little ones.

Signe Juhl Møller conducted an experimental study that lasted four months, focusing on preschool children’s play with creative construction and social-fantasy toys. The study found that toys, imagination, and setting all played significant roles in shaping children’s playtime activities. Thus, parents who encourage their children to partake in these activities bestow upon them a valuable tool for self-growth and expression.

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.” – Charles Schaefer, American Psychologist.

• Fabricate an art project utilizing recycled materials such as egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, and cereal boxes.
• Assemble a fort or playhouse utilizing blankets, pillows, and chairs.
• Implore the use of dress-up attire and emulate various characters or scenarios.
• Create a board game with paper, markers, and game pieces from scratch.
• Indulge in a scavenger hunt either indoors or outdoors.
• Put on a puppet show featuring sock puppets or paper bag puppets.
• Host a dance party featuring your child’s preferred music.
• Create homemade playdough and sculpt various shapes and figures.
• Cultivate a garden or container garden and observe the plant’s growth.
• Establish a sensory bin with rice, beans, water, and diverse toys or objects.
• Savour a tea party with dolls or plush animals.
• Engage in magnetism and devise designs on a magnetic board or fridge.
• Erect a tower or structure using blocks, Legos, or alternative materials.
• Participate in games such as Simon Says or Red Light, Green Light.
• Plan a cooking or baking activity and concoct a simple recipe together.
• Embark on a nature walk and gather various items, such as pine cones, rocks, and leaves.
• Create an automobile or spaceship out of a cardboard box, and commence a makeshift journey.
• On a hot day, partake in a water balloon or cannon battle.
• Blow bubbles and measure how large the bubbles your child can create become.
• Undertake a science experiment employing household items such as vinegar, baking soda, oil, and water.

Other than providing enjoyment, these various creative-play activities elicit imagination, creativity, and learning. Thus, prepare yourself to relish in the merriment of this experience with your child and observe their intellectual and emotional growth through the conduit of playtime.

Creative play for kids up a world of unlimited possibilities for children, allowing them to let their imaginations run wild as they learn important life lessons at the same time. These help children develop problem-solving skills, enhance communication skills, and gain confidence in their unique qualities. Parents and teachers must encourage and facilitate a creative and playful learning environment in their children’s lives through art projects, imaginary play, or by building and constructing. Understand what your children need and help them by making learning fun and enjoyable. In no time, you will see your child thrive beyond your imagination.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can technology be incorporated into creative play.

Yes, technology can complement creative play when used mindfully, such as using interactive apps or digital tools that encourage artistic expression or collaborative storytelling . However, moderation is essential to maintain a healthy balance with real-world experiences.

Why is creative play so crucial for kids?

It allows kids to build cognitive, emotional, and social skills, as well as helps to spark their imaginations and boosts their language skills. Kids learn to think critically in playful ways while building strong cultural understanding.

How can adults motivate kids to play imaginatively?

Parents can encourage kids to play imaginatively at home by playing or drawing together, reading inspiring storybooks, setting up themed playdates, praising innovative ideas and limiting screen time.

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The Importance of Play: On Finding Joy in your Writing Practice

How to approach your work with open hands, not closed fists.

This article originally appeared in Issue #62, Winter 2017 issue of  Creative Nonfiction .

On the last morning of a writers’ retreat I went to a year ago, there was a tiny bell lying on the seat of every chair in the spacious conference center. The weekend was unlike any gathering of writers I’d ever been to: for two days, we attendees had listened, enthralled, to one heresy after another. “Find a hobby that isn’t writing,” one speaker said. “Take walks. Do yoga. Don’t be literary. Be a human being.” Another went further. “It doesn’t take that much time to get writing done,” she said, and a gasp rippled through the audience. Here were writers who took their art seriously, but not themselves—at least, not all the time.

I was charmed to find the little trinket on my seat. What was it for? While the auditorium began to fill, people traded them, pocketed them, bounced them from hand to hand.

One of the workshop leaders took the microphone. He asked us to take our bells, hold them as tightly as we could, and give them a shake. Nothing happened, although several faces turned red with exertion.

“Now take your bell,” he said, “hold it loosely in your hand, and shake it.”

Lovely tinkling music filled the giant room up to its vaulted ceiling.

“That’s how you need to approach writing,” he told us—not with clenched fists, but with open hands.

Relaxed. Playful. Open to possibility.

I returned home from the weekend, set the bell on my desk, and told myself the next hour or two was just for fun. Then I started to write—with results that surprised me. I began to wonder if other writers knew something I didn’t. Could writing be as enjoyable at the outset as at the conclusion? Could it be—dare I say it?—something close to play?

I interviewed four of my favorite writers to find out, and, although they didn’t all use (or even like) the word play , some clear themes began to emerge. Themes like surprise, laughter, and a willingness to let go of self-consciousness and convention. These writers have discovered ways to bring joy into their work, so perhaps it’s no surprise that their writing is a delight to read.

Brenda Miller

One of the workshop leaders at the retreat was Brenda Miller. As she walked us through the steps of writing short, powerful pieces, like her much-anthologized apologia “Swerve” and the sensory-rich “What I Could Eat,” she couldn’t stop smiling. On the last day of the conference, I asked her about her generative writing group, which meets every week to do a series of unusual exercises: first, five minutes of subject-verb-object sentences; then, ten minutes of linking sentences; and finally, one long, continuous run-on sentence for twenty minutes. I was puzzled by so much prescription.

“It’s an interesting paradox,” she said.

Sometimes, the more constraints we give ourselves, the more fun we can have. Think about the rules of a sport or a game: while a free-for-all may sound like fun, we often prefer to have rules and guidelines, and to see how much creativity and mastery we can accomplish within those guidelines. For these particular exercises (which were taught to me by the artist and writer Nancy Canyon), the rules give your intellectual mind something to concentrate on, and then your subconscious mind can come out to play. The time limit quiets the inner censor and forces you to keep writing whatever comes out.

Miller said she also plays in her writing practice by trying pieces as “hermit crab” essays:

In a hermit crab piece, you are adopting already existing forms to tell your story, such as a recipe, a how-to article, etc. I’ve written pieces in the forms of rejection notes, field guides, a table of figures, and how-to pieces. I end up having so much fun developing and playing with the voices of these forms that the writing barely seems like work. In the rejection note piece, titled, “We Regret to Inform You,” I begin by cataloging all the rejections one receives from grade school on, so it starts on a lighthearted note and gets progressively more serious as the chronology goes along, including my experiences with two miscarriages in my early twenties.

Miller has talked about seasons in her writing life—writing in solitude, writing in community, and, most recently, writing in collaboration:

I’ve been doing two different collaborations over the last year: one with my colleague and friend Lee Gulyas and one with my friend Julie Marie Wade. With Lee, we’ve been trading photographs and writing to the images, sometimes together and sometimes individually. You never know what the image will trigger, how our two perspectives will either mesh or diverge.

With Julie, we’ve written many different kinds of essays, usually with one of us starting on a specific topic and lobbing the essay back to the other. In this way, the essay builds bit by bit, shifting directions, always surprising us. Sometimes, it feels like a conversation with each section referring directly to something that came before (such as the essay “Toys” in CNF #60); sometimes, it feels more like parallel play.

I asked if she had always approached writing with this attitude of play.

I can say that after writing for more than thirty years, and teaching for almost twenty, I had to find some new ways to approach the writing process, or I would have stopped writing altogether. As a creative nonfiction writer, it can be easy to feel like you’ve used up your material, so the emphasis becomes finding new perspectives and forms. And yes, this approach makes me very happy to write. I get that thrill of writing something new and unexpected almost every time I come out to play.

Brian Doyle

I first met Brian Doyle at a writers’ workshop fifteen years ago and have been a fan ever since. He had a handout that suggested writers think sideways: What does grass mean? How does winter smell? In “Playfulnessness: A Note,” Doyle argues that the essay is “the most playful of forms, liable to hilarity and free association and startlement.” I recently asked him if he thinks he brings those qualities to his own writing.

Hmm—I do think it’s true, and immediately think of my sister saying I am congenitally wonder-addled because I got spectacles at age seven and have never recovered from that wash of wonder. I suppose I am also sort of addicted to the salt and swing and song of the American language, which is a bruised dusty lewd brave vibrant language, and trammeling it carefully seems disrespectful to me, as long as I am clear. I set out with an idea and try to hammer sentences that have loose ends; does that make sense? I never know where a story or an essay or a proem is going to end up, or even go, quite. . . . I just start, and I have in mind that I want to write like people talk and think, in loose-limbed, free, piercing, entertaining ways, and things go from there—sometimes utterly to the dogs.

I had to ask: what does it mean to hammer sentences that have loose ends?

I am trying to stay open to surprise, to spin, to swerve, to deepen—I want to start and then see what happens. I suspect that if you know exactly what you want to say, or exactly how a piece should end, then you have put yourself in a polite jail cell. I have the utmost respect for op-eds and editorials and reports and journalism, but I also love and am much more deeply moved by pieces that are open to surprise. An example for me is a long essay called “The Meteorites,” which started out simply as a list of all the weird summer jobs I’d had, and morphed into a piece about being a counselor at a summer day camp, and finally into a piece very much about the spangle and spatter of light and love.

Language isn’t the only thing Doyle doesn’t “trammel carefully.” He also plays with form, and I asked him about his proems —the word he uses to describe his box-shaped pieces that are part poem, part prose, part prayer.

With the proems, I want to get to some place between prose and poems, because while poems at their best are the form closest to music and swing and rhythm and cadence, at their worst, they are artsy-fartsy selfish elusive self-absorbed muddles; can you make a thing that’s alert to music but also clear as a bell, in unadorned conversational lines? And as regarding forms, there are so many: the story that’s all one voice; a paragraph in which two stories are being told alternately, as happens in my novel Mink River; the essay that is clearly wildly hyperbolic but also totally true because you waved the hyperbole flag, somehow. . .

Doyle has advised new writers to “type fast and tell a story with your fingers.”

Newer writers very often sit down with expectations and plans and programs and outlines and assumptions as to form, and I think all those things are little jail cells. You shut off so much possible when you insist on what must be. And so much poor writing is just news and memory and explanation and persuasion and report and data and airy opinion; whereas stories are bigger deeper wilder unforgettabler. For me, I think it was years as a journalist on magazines and papers in Boston and Chicago that made me yearn for what was under mere reporting and accounting. Could I catch and share moments, images, the deeper story? Could you use one tiny story to carry a thousand bigger stories on its shoulders?

David Quammen

I met David Quammen a year ago when I interviewed him about his book Ebola in the wake of the 2014 outbreak. A literary journalist who specializes in ecology and evolutionary biology, Quammen told me, then, that his purposes “are divided about halfway between education and vaudeville” as he tries to make science writing accessible to a broad audience. When I recently asked him about approaching writing with an attitude of playfulness, he made it clear he didn’t like that word:

First thing I want to say is that I distrust programmatic approaches to writing. It can’t be taught. A person is funny or playful if he or she has that capacity. Or not. It’s not a recipe. I love humor. I love surprise. I tend to be a smart aleck. “Playfulness”? Meh.

I pressed him. While playfulness may not be the right word in every case, how writers escape “programmatic” approaches to writing to keep returning and delighting in their work was exactly what I was interested in. How, for instance, does he find moments of relief while writing about infectious disease? He acknowledged the challenge:

The world right now is grim. Problems are dire. It’s rotten, catastrophic. But also filled with wonders, joys, amazing places and things, heroic behaviors. Pratfalls and ridiculosity. It’s always important to be able to laugh in the face of gloom, and in the face of time. I’ve learned that from some of the masters—Samuel Beckett; Faulkner; Ed Abbey; Dorothy Parker; my Irish mother, Mary Egan Quammen.

Quammen noted his humor can be dry and oblique. In Spillover , about the growing incidence of zoonotic diseases (infections that spread from animals to humans), he recounts an instance in which a Texas lab euthanized forty-nine monkeys as a precaution because they shared the same room as one that died and tested positive for Reston virus. Most of the monkeys, later screened posthumously for the virus, tested negative. Without missing a beat, Quammen writes, “Ten employees who had helped unload and handle the monkeys were also screened for infection, and they also tested negative, but none of them were euthanized.”

Gallows humor is helpful, too, if you’re writing about something like Ebola or HIV or herpes B. There’s always room, if it’s done with irony about the brutality of life and with sympathy for the victims’ side. Why not laugh darkly? We need laughter as much as we need pharmaceuticals.

Surprise is something Quammen said he relishes in his work. For him, it comes not from plumbing the depths of memory, but from the people he interviews.

I get interested, immediately, in their whole lives, their whole stories. I wait and hope for them to surprise me. I never ever ever say to a source, “Give me a quote on yadda yadda.” I ask genuine questions. I wait and hope for them to tell me a story because they suddenly feel they can trust me with something they have never told any other person—or, at least, any other writer. Jack Horner did that with me, 35 years ago: dyslexia led him to dinosaur bones. Kelly Warfield did it more recently: working in a 7-Eleven at Fort Detrick led her to Ebola research.

Abigail Thomas

At the writing retreat, Brenda Miller introduced me to Thomas’s first memoir, Safekeeping . She presented it as an example of memoir that—with its tiny micro-chapters, third-person accounts, and soliloquies from Thomas’s sister who comes in now and again to explain the action (a move Miller likened to a Greek chorus)—doesn’t follow convention. It’s a memoir about loss, and yet there are moments when it’s impossible not to laugh. I asked Thomas about the book’s playful tone.

Well, lots of my memories were hilarious, as were the conversations with my sister. Life is full of loss but also a lot of laughs, thank god. And yeah, probably because I had no set plan, no outline, no nothing, anything and everything came marching in. Or slithering. Life is so very funny, right in the middle of everything awful. That’s how we survive, I think.

The way I wrote Safekeeping was determined by the way my memory works (or doesn’t). My memory is terrible, but what I do remember, I remember well. There usually isn’t any interstitial material. After [my second husband] Quin died, these hundreds of little pieces came more or less flying out of me. It wasn’t a plan. I really didn’t know why I was doing what I was doing, didn’t for a long time think it would be a book. I was writing down moments, mostly—moments and feelings I remembered well.

I do think that if you have a memory, and you get it right, you leave it alone. You don’t need to put in the weather report or whatever else is lying around on the grass. Hit it, hit it as best as you can, and move on. And I couldn’t have done it without my sister. Wonderful, the Greek chorus description. Perfect.

Thomas is known for assigning her students “two pages” exercises as a way into a story “they may be staring too directly in the face,” she writes in her book Thinking about Memoir . She recalled a workshop in which she asked students to write two pages about a time they were dressed inappropriately for the occasion:

One woman described what had happened to her first husband. He had been helping load a truck for a neighbor, someone he barely knew, but that was the kind of generous man he was. The truck moved unexpectedly, and her husband was thrown to the ground. By the time they got him to the hospital, he was declared brain-dead. She remembered walking back and forth on the roof of the hospital with her husband’s brother, trying to decide whether or not to take him off life support, and thinking she was wearing the wrong clothes to be making such a decision: cutoffs, a T-shirt, sandals. It was the first time she’d ever written about this, and it was the assignment that gave her a side door. Extremely moving.

Two pages makes it less intimidating. If it goes longer, fine. But it doesn’t have to. We’re not on guard.

There’s a line in Thinking about Memoir that reminds me of the object lesson at the writers’ retreat with the bell: “We do better when we’re not trying too hard,” Thomas writes. “There is nothing more deadening to creativity than the grim determination to write.” How does she avoid the writerly tendency toward grim determination?

Doing absolutely nothing helps. Keep quiet. Take note of what you notice. See what happens. Get out of the way. Stop thinking. Wait for the unlikely pair to couple. Take naps. Especially take naps. If something strikes you while you’re beginning to drift off (and it will), get up immediately and write it down. For me, painting is a wonderful way of using a different part of what’s left of my brain. I just wait for the accident, wait for the thing to reveal itself to me. I’m NOT in charge.

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had writing?

Brenda Miller:

The most fun I’ve ever had writing was when I wrote my first hermit crab piece, “How to Meditate.” I loved poking fun at both myself and the earnestness of the meditation community while still getting at the heart of some essential experiences. It was the first time I felt so immersed in a voice not my own, and I wrote the entire piece in one twelve-hour writing day on retreat at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming.

Brian Doyle:

Oh man, a nonfiction book about a year in a vineyard: The Grail . That was fun for all sorts of reasons, not just the wine. To write loose and free about a real place and people and science, to write a fun book about wine in a world filled with so many somber, lugubrious books about wine. . . .

David Quammen:

In Spillover, I used the techniques of fiction (which I had once used in writing novels) to give the reader an imagined (truth in advertising) version of how the fateful passage of HIV from a forest-dwelling chimpanzee to the big cities of Central Africa may have happened. It was risky, this movement in a nonfiction book from carefully reported scientific fact into a mythic mode—and it was liberating, and maybe a bit provocative. I can still remember the thrill as my hypothetical story of that event, featuring a character I called the Voyager, unfolded for me each day on the page. It was great fun, in roughly the same way that running a Class V stretch of whitewater in a kayak is fun—dangerous, exhilarating, worth-the-risk fun.

Abigail Thomas:

Well, I had a lot of fun with “Sixteen Again,” the account of a date where I feel madly in love with the guy who did not return the compliment, and got over it very quickly. The essay changed in the course of the writing from a lament to a sort of triumph, and I wound up laughing.

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Susan Bruns Rowe

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Parent Resources for Learning > Creativity > 9 Simple Ways to Encourage Creative Play in Your Kids

9 Simple Ways to Encourage Creative Play in Your Kids

by Dr. Jody Sherman LeVos | Jun 16, 2023 | Creativity

Some people see creative play as a diversionary activity that children do to pass the time. However, creative play is crucial for child development because it helps kids learn essential skills like problem-solving, self-expression, and communication.

Creativity is one of the 5 C’s at the heart of the Begin Approach to helping kids thrive in school and life. It helps kids express themselves through different mediums, think outside the box for solutions, and invent new ideas. 

In this article, we’ll look at what creative play is, explore some of its benefits in more detail, and dive into our expert tips on how you can encourage your child to engage in this type of play.

The Short Cut

• Creativity and out-of-the-box thinking will boost your child’s current and future success (and help them have fun!)
• Creative play has far-reaching benefits, from big imaginations to robust problem-solving skills
• Encourage your children to get creative through structured play, boredom, outside play, and art so that their imagination blooms in different ways
• Developing the 5 C’s doesn’t need to be complicated. You can make a big difference in only  15 minutes a day !

What Is Creative Play?

Creative play, also known as imaginative play, is any type of play that allows kids to use their imaginations and express themselves freely.

There are many different types of imaginative play, but some common examples include:

• Pretend play : This is when kids use props and toys to act out scenarios or tell stories. For example, a child might pretend to be a doctor, a firefighter, or a parent.
• Art : Art is an excellent way for kids to express themselves creatively. For example, they can draw, sculpt, paint, or make a collage.
• Music : Making music helps foster creativity. Kids can use instruments, voices, or everyday objects to create sound.
• Dance : Movement allows kids to express themselves. It can include actual dancing or just free movement through running, jumping, or twirling.

All types of creative play are important because they allow kids to explore the world around them, try new things, and use their imaginations . When kids engage in imaginative play, they also develop essential skills they will use throughout their lives.

The Importance of Creative Play

We hinted at it above, but creative play is vital for child development. Let’s take a look at some of the skills it can help improve.

Problem-Solving

When kids are engaged in creative play, they face new challenges. For example, they might have to figure out how to build a tall tower out of blocks or make a character come to life through pretend play.

Through trial and error, they learn how to problem solve and think critically.

Communication

Creative play also helps children develop communication skills. For example, if they are engaging in pretend play with others, they must communicate with their playmates to make the story work. This involves taking turns, listening, and speaking.

Critical Thinking

This type of play also provides plenty of opportunities to make decisions and choose between options. For example, your child might have to decide what story to tell or what character to pretend to be.

Having to make these types of decisions helps them learn to think critically about the world around them and examine their choices.

Because critical thinking requires us to absorb information and make judgments about that information, it takes imagination and curiosity. As kids take in new information—like when they’re playing—they must consider how this information fits (or doesn’t fit) in with what they already know.

Age-Appropriate Play for Kids

Now that we’ve looked at some of the benefits, it’s important to note that creative play is vital for kids of all ages. But the type of play appropriate for your child will depend on their age and stage of development.

Here are some types of creative play you might notice kids engaging in at different ages.

Babies (0-12 months)

Babies are just beginning to explore the world around them at this age. They might start to engage in something called “enactive naming,” which is the beginning of pretend play.

During this phase, your baby isn’t actively playing, but they’re showing their knowledge by mimicking actions they’ve seen, like holding a cup or spoon to their mouth. This is also a time when they love to experience new textures and sounds.

Toddlers (1-3 years)

Toddlers are full of energy and love to move. They might dance and enjoy active games, or they might start to “pretend play” with simple props. Toddlers also love to explore art through creative activities, like finger painting and playdough.

Preschoolers (3-5 years)

Preschoolers are beginning to understand the world around them more. At this age, they might engage in more complex dramatic play , like pretending to be a doctor or a chef. They also love to express themselves through art and music.

School-Age Kids (6-12 years)

School-age kids are beginning to think more abstractly. As a result, they might try more complex pretend play, like creating entire worlds with their friends. At this age, they might also start to express themselves through writing stories or making films.

How to Encourage Creative Play

Now that you know what this type of play looks like and why it’s so important, you might wonder how you can encourage your child to engage in creative play. Here are some of our expert tips.

1. Provide Ample Free Time

If your child’s entire day is full of structured, adult-led activities, they won’t have much time for independent creative play. Instead, make sure they have plenty of free time to explore and play on their own.

2. Let Your Child Be Bored

Boredom can be a good thing! When your child is bored, they are more likely to get creative.

You don’t need to entertain your child every minute of the day. Let them get bored sometimes and see what activities they come up with.

3. Focus on Open-Ended Toys

Open-ended toys are the best for encouraging creativity. Provide your child with toys, such as blocks, puppets, and art supplies. Try to avoid toys that only have one purpose or outcome.

In addition to encouraging creativity, open-ended toys have another benefit: Your child won’t outgrow them as quickly, so they’ll get a lot of use!

4. Foster Different Play Experiences

Creative play can happen when your child is playing alone. But it can also happen when they’re playing with you or their friends.

These different experiences help your child build unique skills, so be sure to provide opportunities for both solo and cooperative play . Playdates are great ways for your child to develop this skill set. Just try not to fill their schedule too much!

5. Enjoy Time Outside

There’s nothing like time spent in nature to encourage creative pursuits. Kids can explore, imagine, and run to their heart’s content when they are outside. They can also use natural items to create art or try to build a fort out of sticks and leaves.

Let your child play in different environments, like the sand at the beach or the mud in the backyard. This is great for their creative development, and it’s a fantastic way to get them moving and burn off some energy!

6. Support Exploration and New Ideas

Encouraging your child’s creativity is one of the best things you can do for their development. It helps them to think outside the box, problem-solve, and express themselves in unique ways.

But, if you’re trying to control their play or tell them what to do, you’re stifling their creativity. Instead, try to support their unique ideas and exploration.

For example, if they want to use the camera from our HOMER Explore Letters Kit to pretend they’re a wildlife photographer, let them! If they want to move the pieces on a Monopoly board randomly, that’s OK, too! Let them lead the way.

7. Embrace the Mess

It’s important to embrace the mess during creative play. Don’t interrupt your child to make them stop and clean up. Just let them have fun and explore.

Of course, to avoid complete chaos, it’s a good idea to set up some ground rules before they start playing. For example, you might want to designate a specific area for their art project or put down a sheet to protect your furniture.

You’ll also want to keep your child’s safety, age, and development in mind. For example, turning a toddler loose with a bottle of glitter might not be the best idea (but you already know that)!

8. Model Creative Play

If you want your child to be creative, one of the best things you can do is be an innovative role model. Show them it’s OK to experiment, try new things, and make mistakes.

Engage in activities alongside them. Get out the paints and make a picture together. Build a fort with blankets and pillows. Or get down on the floor at their level and create a city out of blocks.

You can also host a “tea party” with your child and their dolls, open a vet clinic for their stuffed animals, or dress up with them. Remember to take it easy; dressing up doesn’t have to be elaborate. A bandana made from a large cloth napkin is just as much fun as a store-bought costume!

9. Provide Accessible Art Supplies

When inspiration strikes, your child should be able to easily access the supplies they need to bring their ideas to life. This means having a well-stocked art area.

Of course, you don’t need to go all out, but it’s a good idea to have a selection of basics, like crayons, markers, pencils, paints, paper, glue, and scissors. You can include fun extras like stickers, glitter, and feathers if you want, too.

The type of supplies you choose should depend on your child’s age and ability. For instance, toddlers don’t need unfettered access to scissors and glue. But having some paper and crayons within reach can help encourage creativity.

Creative Play for Creative Kids!

Creative play helps your child learn to think outside the box. It allows them to take their ideas and dreams and turn them into reality. And it’s an excellent way for kids to express themselves, explore their interests, and get active.

For more fun ideas to help your child learn through play, check out our HOMER app. For something more hands-on, try our age-appropriate activity kit subscriptions in STEM, cooking, animals, culture and more with Little Passports !

With the right supplies, freedom, and encouragement, your child will be practicing their newfound skills in no time.

Jody has a Ph.D. in Developmental Science and more than a decade of experience in the children’s media and early learning space.

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Dr. Jody Sherman LeVos

Chief Learning Officer at Begin

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The Value of Play I: The Definition of Play Gives Insights

Freedom to quit is an essential aspect of play's definition..

Posted November 19, 2008 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

Play in our species serves many valuable purposes. It is a means by which children develop their physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and moral capacities. It is a means of creating and preserving friendships. It also provides a state of mind that, in adults as well as children, is uniquely suited for high-level reasoning, insightful problem solving, and all sorts of creative endeavors.

This essay is the first in a series I plan to post on The Value of Play . The subject of this first installment is the definition of play. Clues to play’s value lie in the definition.

Most of this essay is about the defining characteristics of play, but before listing them there are three general points that I think are worth keeping in mind. The first point is that the characteristics of play all have to do with motivation and mental attitude, not with the overt form of the behavior. Two people might be throwing a ball, or pounding nails, or typing words on a computer, and one might be playing while the other is not. To tell which one is playing and which one is not, you have to infer from their expressions and the details of their actions something about why they are doing what they are doing and their attitude toward it.

The second point, toward definition, is that play is not necessarily all-or-none. Play can blend with other motives and attitudes, in proportions ranging anywhere from 0 up to 100 percent play. Pure play occurs more often in children than in adults. In adults, play is commonly blended with other motives, having to do with adult responsibilities. That is why, in everyday conversation, we tend to talk about children “playing” and about adults bringing a “playful attitude” or “playful spirit” to their activities. We intuitively think of playfulness as a matter of degree. Of course, we don’t have meters for measuring these things, but I would estimate that my behavior in writing this blog is about 80% play.

The third point is that play is not neatly defined in terms of some single identifying characteristic. Rather, it is defined in terms of a confluence of several characteristics. People before me who have studied and written about play have, among them, described quite a few such characteristics; but they can all be boiled down, I think, to the following five:

• Play is self-chosen and self-directed.
• Play is activity in which means are more valued than ends.
• Play has structure, or rules, which are not dictated by physical necessity but emanate from the minds of the players.
• Play is imaginative, non-literal, mentally removed in some way from “real” or “serious” life.
• Play involves an active, alert, but non- stressed frame of mind.

The more fully an activity entails all of these characteristics, the more inclined most people are to refer to that activity as play. By “most people,” I don’t just mean most scholars who study play. Even young children are most likely to use the wordplay for activities that most fully contain these five characteristics. These characteristics seem to capture our intuitive sense of what play is. Notice that all of the characteristics have to do with the motivation or attitude that the person brings to the activity.

Let me elaborate on these characteristics, one by one, and expand a bit on each by pointing out some of its implications for thinking about the purposes of play.

1. Play is self-chosen and self-directed; players are always free to quit.

Play is, first and foremost, an expression of freedom. It is what one wants to do as opposed to what one is obliged to do. The joy of play is the ecstatic feeling of liberty. Play is not always accompanied by smiles and laughter , nor are smiles and laughter always signs of play; but play is always accompanied by a feeling of “Yes, this is what I want to do right now.” Players are free agents, not pawns in someone else’s game.

Players not only choose to play or not play, but they also direct their own actions during play. As I will argue below, play always involves rules of some sort, but all players must freely accept the rules, and if rules are changed then all players must agree to the changes. That is why play is the most democratic of all activities. In social play (play involving more than one player), one player may emerge for a period as the leader , but only at the will of all the others. Every rule a leader proposes must be approved, at least tacitly, by all of the other players.

The ultimate freedom in play is the freedom to quit. A person who feels coerced or pressured to engage in an activity, and unable to quit, is not a player but a victim. The freedom to quit provides the foundation for all of the democratic processes that occur in social play. If one player attempts to bully or dominate the others, the others will quit and the game will be over; so players who want to continue playing must learn not to bully or dominate. People who don’t agree to a proposed change in rules may likewise quit, and that is why leaders in play must gain the consent of the other players in order to change a rule. People who begin to feel that their needs or desires are not being met in play will quit, and that is why children learn, in play, to be sensitive to others’ needs and to strive to meet those needs. It is through social play that children learn, on their own, with no lectures, how to meet their own needs while, at the same time, satisfying the needs of others. This is perhaps the most important lesson that people in any society can learn.

This point about play being self-chosen and self-directed is ignored by, or perhaps unknown to, many adults who try to take control of children’s play. Adults can play with children, and in some cases can even be leaders in children’s play, but to do so requires at least the same sensitivity that children themselves show to the needs and wishes of all the players. Because adults are commonly viewed as authority figures, children often feel less able to quit, or to disagree with the proposed rules, when an adult is leading than when a child is leading. And so, when adults try to lead children’s play the result often is something that, for many of the children, is not play at all. When a child feels coerced, the play spirit vanishes and all of the advantages of that spirit go with it. Math games in school and adult-led sports are not play for those who feel that they have to participate and are not ready to accept, as their own, the rules that the adults have established. Adult-led games can be great for kids who freely choose them, but can seem like punishment to kids who haven’t made that choice.

What is true for children’s play is also true for adults’ sense of play. Research studies have shown that adults who have a great deal of freedom as to how and when to do their work often experience that work as play, even (in fact, especially) when the work is difficult. In contrast, people who must do just what others tell them to do at work rarely experience their work as play.

2. Play is an activity in which means are more valued than ends.

Many of our actions are “free” in the sense that we don’t feel that other people are making us do them, but are not free, or at least are not experienced as free, in another sense. These are actions that we feel we must do in order to achieve some necessary or much-desired goal, or end. We scratch an itch to get rid of the itch, flee from a tiger to avoid getting eaten, study an uninteresting book to get a good grade on a test, work at a boring job to get money. If there were no itch, tiger, test, or need for money, we would not scratch, flee, study, or do the boring work. In those cases we are not playing.

To the degree that we engage in an activity purely to achieve some end, or goal, which is separate from the activity itself, that activity is not play. What we value most, when we are not playing, are the results of our actions. The actions are merely means to the ends. When we are not playing, we typically opt for the shortest, least effortful means of achieving our goal. The non-playful, goal-oriented college student, for example, does the least studying in each course that she can in order to get the “A” that she desires, and her studying is focused directly on the goal of doing well on the tests. Any learning not related to that goal is, for her, wasted effort.

In play, however, all this is reversed. Play is activity conducted primarily for its own sake. The playful student enjoys studying the subject and cares less about the test. In play, attention is focused on the means, not the ends, and players do not necessarily look for the easiest routes to achieving the ends. Think of a cat preying on a mouse versus a cat that is playing at preying on a mouse. The former takes the quickest route for killing the mouse. The latter tries various ways of catching the mouse, not all very efficient, and lets the mouse go each time so it can try again. The preying cat enjoys the end; the playing cat enjoys the means. (The mouse, of course, enjoys none of this.)

Play often has goals, but the goals are experienced as an intrinsic part of the game, not as the sole reason for engaging in the game’s actions. Goals in play are subordinate to the means for achieving them. For example, constructive play (the playful building of something) is always directed toward the goal of creating the object that the player has in mind. But notice that the primary objective in such play is the creation of the object, not the having of the object. Children making a sandcastle would not be happy if an adult came along and said, "You can stop all your effort now. I'll make the castle for you." That would spoil their fun. The process, not the product, motivates them. Similarly, children or adults playing a competitive game have the goal of scoring points and winning, but, if they are truly playing, it is the process of scoring and trying to win that motivates them, not the points themselves or the status of having won. If someone would just as soon win by cheating as by following the rules, or get the trophy and praise through some shortcut that bypasses the game process, then that person is not playing.

Adults can test the degree to which their work is play by asking themselves this: “If I could receive the same pay, the same prospects for future pay, the same amount of approval from other people, and the same sense of doing good for the world for not doing this job as I am receiving for doing it, would I quit?” If the person would eagerly quit, the job is not play. To the degree that the person would quit reluctantly, or not quit, the job is play. It is something that the person enjoys independently of the extrinsic rewards received for doing it.

One reason why play is such an ideal state of mind for creativity and learning is because the mind is focused on means. Since the ends are understood as secondary, fear of failure is absent and players feel free to incorporate new sources of information and to experiment with new ways of doing things.

3. Play is guided by mental rules.

Play is freely chosen activity, but it is not freeform activity. Play always has structure, and that structure derives from rules in the player’s mind. This point is really an extension of the point just made about the importance of means in play. The rules of play are the means. To play is to behave in accordance with self-chosen rules. The rules are not like rules of physics, nor like biological instincts, which are automatically followed. Rather, they are mental concepts that often require conscious effort to keep in mind and follow.

A basic rule of constructive play, for example, is that you must work with the chosen medium in a manner aimed at producing or depicting some specific object or design. You don’t just pile up blocks randomly; you arrange them deliberately in accordance with your mental image of what you are trying to make. Even rough and tumble play (playful fighting and chasing), which may look wild from the outside, is constrained by rules. An always-present rule in play fighting, for example, is that you mimic some of the actions of real fighting, but you don’t really hurt the other person. You don’t hit with all your force (at least not if you are the stronger of the two); you don’t kick, bite, or scratch. Play fighting is much more controlled than real fighting; it is always an exercise in restraint.

Among the most complex forms of play, in terms of rules, is what play researchers call sociodramatic play—the playful acting out of roles or scenes, as when children are playing “house,” or acting out a marriage , or pretending to be superheroes. The fundamental rule here is that you must abide by your and the other players’ shared understanding of the role that you are playing. If you are the pet dog in a game of “house,” you must walk around on all fours and bark rather than talk. If you are Wonder Woman, and you and your playmates believe that Wonder Woman never cries, then you refrain from crying, even when you fall down and hurt yourself.

To illustrate the rule-based nature of sociodramatic play, the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky wrote about two actual sisters—ages seven and five—who sometimes played that they were sisters.[1] As actual sisters, they rarely thought about their sisterhood and had no consistent way of behaving toward one another. Sometimes they enjoyed one another, sometimes they argued, and sometimes they ignored one another. But, when they were playing sisters, they always behaved according to their shared stereotype of how sisters should behave. They dressed alike, talked alike, always loved one another, talked about the differences between themselves and everyone else, and so on. Much more self-control , mental effort, and rule following was involved in playing sisters than in being sisters.

The category of play with the most explicit rules is that called formal games. These are games, like checkers and baseball, with rules that are specified, verbally, in ways designed to minimize ambiguity in interpretation. The rules of these games are commonly passed along from one generation of players to the next. Many formal games in our society are competitive, and one purpose of the formal rules is to make sure that the same restrictions apply equally to all competitors. Players of formal games, if they are true players, must adopt these rules as their own for the period of the game and be willing to stick to them. Of course, except in “official” versions of such games, players commonly modify the rules to fit their own needs, but each modification must be agreed upon by all the players.

The main point I want to make here is that every form of play involves a good deal of self-control. When not playing, children (and adults too) may act according to their immediate biological needs, emotions, and whims; but in play they must act in ways that they and their playmates deem appropriate to the game. Play draws and fascinates the player precisely because it is structured by rules that the player herself or himself has invented or accepted.

The student of play who most strongly emphasized play’s rule-based nature was Lev Vygotsky, whose example of sisters playing sisters I just mentioned. In an essay on the role of play in development, originally published in 1933, Vygotsky commented, as follows, on the apparent paradox between the idea that play is spontaneous and free and the idea that players must follow rules:

“The … paradox is that in play [the child] adopts the line of least resistance—she does what she most feels like doing because play is connected with pleasure—and at the same time she learns to follow the line of greatest resistance by subordinating herself to rules and thereby renouncing what she wants, since subjection to rules and renunciation of impulsive action constitute the path to maximum pleasure in play. Play continually creates demands on the child to act against immediate impulse. At every step the child is faced with a conflict between the rules of the game and what she would do if she could suddenly act spontaneously. … Thus, the essential attribute of play is a rule that has become a desire. …. The rule wins because it is the strongest impulse. Such a rule is an internal rule, a rule of self-restraint and self-determination …. In this way a child’s greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action and morality .”[1]

Vygotsky's point, of course, is that the child's desire to play is so strong that it becomes a motivating force for learning self-control. The child resists impulses and temptations that would run counter to the rules because the child seeks the larger pleasure of remaining in the game. To Vygotsky's analysis, I would add that the child accepts and desires the rules of play only because he or she is always free to quit if the rules become too burdensome. With that in mind, the paradox can be seen to be superficial. The child's real-life freedom is not restricted by the rules of the game, because the child can at any moment choose to leave the game. That is another reason why the freedom to quit is such a crucial aspect of the definition of play. Without that freedom, rules of play would be intolerable. To be required to act like Wonder Woman in real life would be terrifying, but to act like that in play––a realm you are always free to leave––is great fun.

Along with Vygotsky, I would contend that the greatest of play’s many values for our species lies in the learning of self-control. Self-control is the essence of being human. We commonly say that people behave like “animals,” rather than like humans, when they fail to abide by socially agreed-upon rules and, instead, impulsively follow their immediate drives and whims. Everywhere, to live in human society, people must behave in accordance with conscious, shared mental conceptions of what is appropriate; and that is what children practice constantly in their play. In play, from their own desires, children practice the art of being human.

4. Play is non-literal, imaginative, marked off in some way from reality.

Another apparent paradox of play, also pointed out by Vygotsky, is that play is serious yet not serious, real yet not real. In play one enters a realm that is physically located in the real world, makes use of props in the real world, is often about the real world, is said by the players to be real, and yet in some way is mentally removed from the real world.

Imagination , or fantasy , is most obvious in sociodramatic play, where the players create the characters and plot, but it is also present to some degree in all other forms of human play. In rough and tumble play, the fight is a pretend one, not a real one. In constructive play, the players say that they are building a castle, but they know it is a pretend castle, not a real one. In formal games with explicit rules, the players must accept an already established fictional situation that provides the foundation for the rules. For example, in the real world bishops can move in any direction they choose, but in the fantasy world of chess they can move only on the diagonals.

The fantasy aspect of play is intimately connected to play’s rule-based nature. Because play takes place in a fantasy world, it must be governed by rules that are in the minds of the players rather than by laws of nature. In reality, one cannot ride a horse unless a real horse is physically present; but in play one can ride a horse whenever the game's rules permit or prescribe it. In reality, a broom is just a broom, but in play it can be a horse. In reality, a chess piece is just a carved bit of wood, but in chess it is a bishop or a knight that has well-defined capacities and limitations for movement that are not even hinted at in the carved wood itself. The fictional situation dictates the rules of the game; the actual physical world within which the game is played is secondary. Through play the child learns to take charge of the world and not simply respond passively to it. In play the child’s mental concept dominates, and the child molds available elements of the physical world to meet that concept.

Play of all sorts has “time in” and “time out,” though that is more obvious for some forms of play than others. Time in is the period of fiction. Time out is the temporary return to reality—perhaps to tie one’s shoes, or go to the bathroom, or correct a playmate who hasn't been following the rules. During time in one does not say, “I am just playing,” any more than does Shakespeare’s Hamlet announce from the stage that he is merely pretending to murder his stepfather.

Adults sometimes become confused by the seriousness of children’s play and by children’s refusal, while playing, to say that they are playing. They worry needlessly that children don’t distinguish fantasy from reality. When my son was four years old he was Superman for periods that sometimes lasted more than a day. During those periods he would deny vigorously that he was only pretending to be Superman, and this worried his nursery school teacher. She was only partly mollified when I pointed out that he never attempted to leap off of actual tall buildings or stop real railroad trains and that he would acknowledge that he had been playing when he finally did declare time out by removing his cape. To acknowledge that play is play is to remove the magic spell; it automatically turns time in into time out.

An amazing fact of human nature is that even 2-year-olds know the difference between real and pretend. A 2-year-old who turns a cup filled with imaginary water over a doll and says, “Oh oh, dolly all wet,” knows that the doll isn’t really wet. It would be impossible to teach such young children such a subtle concept as pretense, yet they understand it. Apparently, the fictional mode of thinking, and the ability to keep that mode distinct from the literal mode, are innate to the human mind. That innate capacity is part of the inborn capacity for play.

The fantasy element of play is often not as obvious, or as full-blown, in adults’ play as in children’s play. That is one reason why adults’ play is typically not of the 100% variety. Yet, I would argue, fantasy occupies a big role in much if not most of what adults do and is a major element in our intuitive sense of the degree to which adult activities are play. An architect designing a house is designing a real house. Yet, the architect brings a good deal of imagination to bear in visualizing the house, imagining how people might use it, and matching it with some aesthetic concepts that she has in mind. It is reasonable to say that the architect builds a pretend house, in her mind and on paper, before it becomes a real one.

When I say that my writing this blog is about 80% play, I am taking into account not only my sense of freedom about doing it, my enjoyment of the process, and the fact that I’m following rules (about writing) that I accept as my own, but also the fact that a considerable degree of imagination is involved. I’m not making up the facts, but I am making up the way of stringing them together, and I am imagining how you might respond to what I am writing. Sometimes my fantasy goes even further, and I imagine that the ideas I’m presenting will have certain positive effects on society. So, fantasy is moving me along in this, much as it moves a child along in building a sandcastle or pretending to be Superman. The fact that parts of my fantasy could possibly turn into reality does not negate its status as fantasy.

5. Play involves an active, alert, but non-stressed frame of mind.

This final characteristic of play follows naturally from the other four. Because play involves conscious control of one’s own behavior, with attention to process and rules, it requires an active, alert mind. Players do not just passively absorb information from the environment , or reflexively respond to stimuli, or behave automatically in accordance with habit. Moreover, because play is not a response to external demands or immediate strong biological needs, the person at play is relatively free from the strong drives and emotions that are experienced as pressure or stress. And because the player’s attention is focused on process more than outcome, the player’s mind is not distracted by fear of failure. So, the mind at play is active and alert, but not stressed. The mental state of play is what some researchers call “flow.” Attention is attuned to the activity itself, and there is reduced consciousness of self and time. The mind is wrapped up in the ideas, rules, and actions of the game.

This point about the mental state of play is very important for understanding play’s value as a mode of learning and creative production. The alert but unstressed condition of the playful mind is precisely the condition that has been shown repeatedly, in many psychological experiments, to be ideal for creativity and the learning of new skills. Such experiments are normally not described as experiments on play, but it is no stretch to interpret them as that. What the experiments show is that strong pressure to perform well (which induces a non-playful state) improves performance on tasks that are mentally easy or habitual for the person, but worsens performance on tasks that require creativity, or conscious decision making , or the learning of new skills. In contrast, anything that is done to reduce the person’s concern with outcome and to increase the person’s enjoyment of the task for its own sake—that is, anything that increases playfulness—has the opposite effect.

Strong pressure to perform well inhibits creativity and learning by focusing attention strongly and narrowly on the goal, thereby reducing the ability to focus on means. In the pressured state, one tends to fall back on instinctive or well-learned ways of doing things. That way of responding to pressure is adaptive in many emergency situations. When a tiger is chasing you, you use whatever means you have already learned for getting away or hiding; that is not a good time to experiment with new ways. Experts in any realm can usually perform well in the pressured state because they can call on their well-learned, habitual modes of responding and don’t need to learn anything new or act creatively. Their attention can focus on producing the best possible outcome using the repertoire of actions that are already second nature to them.

When we pressure students to do well on their schoolwork by constantly evaluating their work, we put them into a non-playful, goal-directed state that may motivate those who already know how to do it to perform well, but inhibits experimentation and learning in those who don’t already know how. Pressure widens the performance gap between experts and novices. Even experts, though, must play at their activity of expertise if they are going to rise to still higher levels of expertise. And, in some realms, such as art and essay writing, creativity is required no matter how much experience a person has had, and a playful mind always performs best in those realms.

When an activity becomes so easy, so habitual, that it no longer requires conscious mental effort, it may lose its status as play. That is why players keep making the game harder, or different, or keep raising the criteria for success. A game is a game only if an active, alert mind is required to do it well.

Does this extended definition of play make sense to you? Does it fit with the way that you think of play in everyday life? I ask this question genuinely. I want, for my own work, to be sure that I am using a concept of play that fits with the concept of play that people find useful in everyday discourse. I would very much appreciate your comments on this.

As I said, over the next few weeks I will be elaborating on the various functions of play, both for children and for adults, and I will refer from time to time to the definition of play that I have provided in this post. Stay tuned.

And now, what do you think about this? … This blog is, in part, a forum for discussion. Your questions, thoughts, stories, and opinions are treated respectfully by me and other readers, regardless of the degree to which we agree or disagree. Psychology Today no longer accepts comments on this site, but you can comment by going to my Facebook profile, where you will see a link to this post. If you don't see this post at the top of my timeline, just put the title of the post into the search option (click on the three-dot icon at the top of the timeline and then on the search icon that appears in the menu) and it will come up. By following me on Facebook you can comment on all of my posts and see others' comments. The discussion is often very interesting.

Lev S. Vygotsky, “The Role of Play in Development,” in M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman (Eds.). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes , 92-104. (1978, original essay published in 1933).

Peter Gray, Ph.D. , is a research professor at Boston College, author of Free to Learn and the textbook Psychology (now in 8th edition), and founding member of the nonprofit Let Grow.

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Creativity and pretend play

Tanya Paes, PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, shares her findings on creative play and the development of self-regulation and language skills for children with English as an additional language (EAL).

Creativity starts with child’s play

Creativity is a broad concept that includes imagination and involves how fast and broadly we can think of innovative ideas that would also be of interest to other people (Paes & Eberhart, 2019). As a skill, it’s often developed when we engage in play activities. 

Pretend play can be defined as an activity that involves an individual projecting a mental representation onto reality (Lillard at al., 2013).

When children engage in play activities, it provides them with opportunities to examine a scenario from multiple perspectives and think of different ways to solve a problem. During this time, there’s no limit to their imagination.

In addition, when children partake in pretend play with their peers, acting out roles and characters in a scenario they have created, they often have an opportunity to set joint goals (Mussen, Carmichael, & Hetherington, 1983). 

Play and children’s creative thinking abilities

The cognitive and emotional skills used in pretend play and creativity are therefore comparable (Russ, 2016). Pretend play provides children with a chance to develop their creative thinking abilities as they are able to use their object substitution skills to represent other objects, create their own play worlds, and enact different themes, either by themselves or with others.

Children have creative control of the play worlds they create, so the conditions and rules of the activity are fluid. Consequently, they have to adapt to the changing scenario they’ve created, thereby using their creative thinking skills (Samuelsson & Johansson, 2006). 

Moore and Russ (2008) investigated the effects of a pretend play intervention on the play, emotional and creative development of six- to eight-year-olds. The pretend play intervention involved the children re-enacting four stories that had high story organisation and fantasy content, as well as making up one story of their own. 

Evidencing the impact of creative play on learning

The results of the study by Moore and Russ highlighted that children who re-enacted the stories and made up their own story improved their affect expression (emotional process) scores. These findings suggest that engagement in a systematic intervention can allow for the development of children’s creativity skills. 

In keeping with this, my PhD project used an experimental design to look at how effective a pretend play intervention was on the development of self-regulation and language skills of four- and five-year-olds with English as an additional language (EAL). 

The role of creative play for children with EAL needs

Past studies have shown a a link between pretend play and children’s self-regulation or language skills (Bohlmann, Maier, & Palacios, 2015; Cole et al., 2010).  But as far as I was aware, there had not been an interventional study that examined the relationship between creative play and children’s self-regulation, language and pre-literacy skills in tandem.

What’s more, there are limited studies on pretend play involving children from diverse backgrounds.  Consequently, the specific inclusion of children with EAL was critical, as they are subject to multiple simultaneous stressors including learning a new language and navigating the school system (Lillard et al., 2013). 

My project addressed empirical gaps in the play literature by using a methodologically robust approach that examined whether age, gender, and EAL status are important factors in self-regulation and language development.

I recruited 151 four- and five-year-olds, from diverse ethnic backgrounds, living in deprived neighbourhoods in a city in the east of England. I randomised the children into two groups: 

(a) pretend play; and 

(b) art activities. 

A third group of children was also included in the study who were exposed to the typical curriculum without interruption. 

The design of the pretend play intervention was based on storybook reading with an adult and subsequent role-playing with props related to the story, which has been used in other studies to improve children’s language skills (Pentimonti & Justice, 2010). The children received 16 sessions of the intervention that lasted for 30 minutes, in groups of five to six children.

Rhyming, initial sound off and vocabulary instruction

During the 10 minute storybook reading component, I provided phonological awareness and vocabulary instruction for six target words (Paes & Ellefson, 2018). The children received explicit instruction in two areas of phonological awareness – rhyme and initial sound off. These two areas were chosen as they were beneficial for children’s language skills in a study by Ziolkowski and Goldstein (2008). 

In addition to phonological awareness, the children also received explicit vocabulary instruction, as Collins (2010) suggests this is one of the strongest predictors of children’s educational success. Children develop their vocabulary at an extremely rapid rate between the ages of three and five.

Addressing diversity in research

Vocabulary instruction is particularly important when working with children from diverse backgrounds and from low-income households. McLeod et al. (2017) noted that vulnerable children who begin primary school with vocabulary skills lower than their peers are likely to be at risk of reading problems. Consequently, interventions are vital to enhance the vocabulary skills of vulnerable children to reduce the attainment gap in pre-school and kindergarten. 

The manner of vocabulary instruction in my study was similar to that included in the studies by Collins and Coyne et al. (2004) that consisted of providing the children with a simple, general definition for each of the words, and presenting a synonym that is used within the context of the story.

The second component of each pretend play session included a creative aspect as the children were provided with an opportunity to role-play. During this 10 minute period, the children were provided with props that were related to the storybook in the first component. The children could engage with the objects in different contexts that have been shown to have a positive effect on their language and literacy skills. 

The third and final component of the pretend play intervention was the review of the session (Schunk, 1999). During this 10 minute period, I reviewed the phonological awareness and the vocabulary for the target words by asking the children open-ended questions (Pullen & Justice, 2003). I also provided corrective feedback to further develop the children’s learning (Carroll & Snowling, 2004). 

Setting up a control group

The children in the art activities group were exposed to a similar structure as those in the pretend play intervention group.  However instead of participating in the role-playing components following the shared storybook reading section, they were given 10 minutes to engage in art activities that were unrelated to the story. This 10 minute art activities period was followed by the 10 minute review component that was similar in structure to what the children in the pretend play group experienced. 

Throughout the intervention, I monitored the elements of the activity that were beyond the children’s learning capacity at the first instance, thereby allowing the child to focus on the aspects of the task that were within his or her capability (Wood et al., 1976). I implemented high and low support strategies – co-participating, reducing choices, eliciting, generalising, reasoning, and predicting – that corresponded to the needs of the children (Pentimonti & Justice, 2010). 

As the children developed their skills and become more independent, I gradually withdrew the support provided. This withdrawal is also supported by Han et al. (2010) who recommend that the role of adults in children’s play activities should be dynamic as it boosts children’s literacy opportunities. Several measures were used pre- and post-intervention to evaluate children’s self-regulation, language, and pre-literacy skills. 

The findings: role of pretend play

My findings show that children in the pretend play group had significantly greater improvement in their phonological awareness skills post-intervention compared to children who were exposed to the typical curriculum. 

The project addressed the theories surrounding the attainment gap for children from vulnerable backgrounds. Although all the children improved on their post-test scores, native English speakers outperformed children with EAL on their post-intervention scores of expressive vocabulary (words that a person can express or produce by speaking or writing).

This work will contribute to a better understanding of using systematic interventions with a creative approach in educational settings without disrupting the normal curriculum.

Integrating pretend play

When examining the results of my study, it’s important to consider that there are limited studies in this area and the evidence on play-based learning displays moderate impact (Education Endowment Foundation, 2018). That being said, the costs associated with a play intervention such as this are extremely low as early year settings already have play facilities. A few additional resources may be needed to support children’s participation in pretend play activities, but these resources tend to be minimal. 

Further research needs to be undertaken to understand how play and creativity might be leveraged to support children’s learning. An interesting avenue of research would be to explore how the equipment in the children’s learning environment supports the development of their creative thinking skills with minimal support from adults.

Blair, C., Zelazo, P. D., & Greenberg, M. T. (2005). The Measurement of Executive Function in Early Childhood. Developmental Neuropsychology, 28(2), 561–571.

Bodrova, E. (2008). Make‐believe play versus academic skills: a Vygotskian approach to today’s dilemma of early childhood education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 16(3), 357–369.  https://doi.org/10.1080/13502930802291777

Carroll, J. M., & Snowling, M. J. (2004). Language and phonological skills in children at high risk of reading difficulties. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(3), 631–640.

Collins, M. F. (2010). ELL preschoolers’ English vocabulary acquisition from storybook reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25, 84–97. 

Coyne, M. D., Simmons, D. C., Kame’enui, E. J., & Stoolmiller, M. (2004). Teaching Vocabulary During Shared Storybook Readings: An Examination of Differential Effects. Exceptionality, 12(3), 145–162.

Education Endowment Foundation. (2018). Preparing for Literacy: Improving Communication, Language and Literacy in the Early Years’.

Han, M., Moore, N., Vukelich, C., & Buell, M. (2010). Does Play Make a Difference? How Play Intervention Affects the Vocabulary Learning of At-Risk Preschoolers. American Journal of Play, 82–105.

Lillard, A. S., Lerner, M. D., Hopkins, E. J., Dore, R. a., Smith, E. D., & Palmquist, C. M. (2013a). The Impact of Pretend Play on Children’s Development: A Review of the Evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 1–34.  https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029321

Lillard, A. S., Lerner, M. D., Hopkins, E. J., Dore, R. A., Smith, E. D., & Palmquist, C. M. (2013b). The Impact of Pretend Play on Children’s Development: A Review of the Evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 1–34. 

McLeod, R. H., Hardy, J. K., & Kaiser, A. P. (2017). The Effects of Play-Based Intervention on Vocabulary Acquisition by Preschoolers at Risk for Reading and Language Delays. Journal of Early Intervention, 39(2), 147–160.  https://doi.org/10.1177/1053815117702927

Moore, M., & Russ, S. W. (2008). Follow-up of a pretend play intervention: Effects on play, creativity, and emotional processes in children. Creativity Research Journal, 20(4), 427–436.  https://doi.org/10.1080/10400410802391892

Mussen, P. H., Carmichael, L., & Hetherington, E. M. (Eileen M. (1983). Handbook of child psychology (4th ed.). New York: Wiley.

Pentimonti, J. M., & Justice, L. M. (2010). Teachers ’ Use of Scaffolding Strategies During Read Alouds in the Preschool Classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37, 241–248.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-009-0348-6

Pullen, P. C., & Justice, L. M. (2003). Enhancing Phonological Awareness, Print Awareness, and Oral Language Skills in Preschool Children. Intervention in School and Clinic, 39(2), 87–98.

Roskos, K., & Christie, J. (2011). The Play-Literacy Nexus and the Importance of Evidence-Based Techniques in the Classroom. American Journal of Play, 4(2), 204–224.

Russ, S. W. (2016). Pretend Play: Antecedent of Adult Creativity. Perspectives on creativity development. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development. 

Samuelsson, I. P., & Johansson, E. (2006). Play and learning-inseparable dimensions in preschool practice. Early Child Development and Care, 176(1), 47–65.  https://doi.org/10.1080/0300443042000302654

Savina, E. (2014). Does play promote self-regulation in children? Early Child Development and Care, 184(11), 1692–1705.  https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2013.875541

Schunk, D. H. (1999). Social-Self Interaction and Achievement Behavior. Educational Psychologist, 34(4), 219–227.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language. (A. Kozulin, Ed.). Cambridge: MIT Press. 

Whitehead, M. R. (1999). Supporting language and literacy development in the early years. Buckingham: Open University Press. 

Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 17(2), 89–100. 

Ziolkowski, R. A., & Goldstein, H. (2008). Effects of an Embedded Phonological Repeated Book Reading on Preschool Children With Language Delays. Journal of Early Intervention, 31(1), 67–90.

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The Benefits of Creative Play for Kids

Children love nothing more than getting crafty, playing dress-up, and getting messy making art. But not everyone is aware of the benefits of creative play. Creative play is one of the most fundamental elements contributing to a child’s brain development .

Encouraging children to participate in creative activities enhances their physical and mental capabilities. It motivates the child to be curious and experiment and explore the depths of their minds. Here are some ways children benefit from creative play.

Finessing Their Motor Skills

Growing children are slowly developing their hand-eye coordination, and this is a skill that takes time to be perfected. Creative activities  involve holding a pencil, etching a line using a scale, or cutting paper with safety scissors. This improves the child’s dexterity, sense of movement, and tactility.

Becoming Little Intellectuals

Many parents look up ways to enhance their child’s IQ. Creative play is one of the best ways to increase a child’s IQ because it helps the child sharpen their problem-solving skills and focus. Doing arts and crafts involves divergent thinking skills. Children also learn to mix colors, learn new patterns, and use their imagination to draw whatever is in their heads onto paper.

Physical Benefits

There are numerous physical benefits  of creative play as well. In an era where children are glued to their devices, encouraging them to draw, model clay, or play pretend is extremely vital for their development. Creative activities aid in enhancing spatial intelligence, perception, and balance as well.

Emotional and Behavioral Benefits

Children are more sensitive  than adults and need an outlet to express themselves without feeling overwhelmed. Drawing and painting help children let out their emotions healthily and positively. Creative play also helps children feel more confident in their abilities.

Making Friends

During creative play, children bond with their peers and develop social skills. When children do creative activities in a group setting, they learn how everyone can express themselves differently. This enables them to build friendships and develop communication skills by listening, feeling, and paying attention to detail.

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The Art of Crafting Engaging and Unique Creative Essays

Hello there, dear reader! Are you ready to embark on a creative journey? In this article, we will explore the fascinating world of crafting engaging and unique creative essays. Writing essays doesn\’t have to be a dull and monotonous task; it can be an opportunity to unleash your creativity and express yourself in a distinctive way. Whether you\’re a student, a writer, or simply someone interested in sharpening your writing skills, you\’ll discover valuable insights and practical tips to help you create compelling and memorable essays. So, let\’s dive in and unlock the art of crafting essays that stand out!

Introduction to Creative Essays

Creative essays are a unique form of writing that allows you to express your thoughts, ideas, and emotions in an imaginative and artistic way. Unlike other types of essays, creative essays give you the freedom to explore different writing styles, experiment with language, and engage your readers through storytelling.

Understanding Creative Essays

Creative essays, also known as narrative essays, are personal and expressive pieces of writing. They often revolve around a specific experience, event, or story that the writer wants to share. The purpose of a creative essay is to captivate the reader\’s attention and evoke emotions through vivid descriptions, engaging dialogues, and well-developed characters.

Unlike academic essays that focus on analyzing or arguing a specific topic, creative essays aim to entertain, inspire, and connect with the reader on an emotional level. They allow you to delve into your inner world and explore your thoughts and feelings through imaginative storytelling.

The Importance of Creativity

Creativity is a fundamental aspect of writing creative essays. It enables you to bring your unique voice and perspective to your writing, making it more engaging and memorable. Creativity allows you to break free from conventional writing rules and experiment with different styles, techniques, and narrative approaches.

When writing a creative essay, creativity helps you to create vibrant and rich descriptions that transport the reader to a different time, place, or experience. It allows you to play with words, use figurative language, and paint vivid mental images in the reader\’s mind. By infusing your writing with creativity, you can make your essay come alive and leave a lasting impression on your readers.

Choosing a Topic

Choosing an engaging and unique topic is crucial to the success of your creative essay. A well-selected topic can spark your creativity and inspire you to write passionately. Here are some tips and techniques to help you choose a topic for your creative essay:

• Personal experiences: Reflect on significant moments, challenges, or achievements in your life that have had a profound impact on you. These personal experiences can serve as a great starting point for a creative essay.
• Imagination and daydreaming: Let your imagination run wild and explore the realms of your daydreams. Imagine fantastical scenarios, intriguing characters, or extraordinary settings that could become the foundation of your creative essay.
• Observation and curiosity: Pay attention to the world around you and be curious about the people, places, and things that capture your interest. Observe the small details, unusual occurrences, or unique interactions that could inspire a captivating story.
• Emotional exploration: Explore your emotions and delve into your deepest thoughts and feelings. Identify topics or themes that resonate with you on a personal level and that you feel passionate about sharing with others.

Remember, the key to choosing a topic for your creative essay is to select something that excites you and allows you to express yourself authentically. By choosing a topic that resonates with you, you will be more motivated and invested in writing your essay, leading to a more engaging and impactful piece of work.

The Writing Process

When it comes to writing creative essays, having a solid writing process in place is crucial. This not only helps you stay organized but also allows you to fully unleash your creativity. In this section, we will delve into the different aspects of the writing process that will guide you towards crafting an outstanding creative essay.

Brainstorming Ideas

Before diving into the actual writing, it\’s important to spend some time brainstorming ideas. This step helps you generate a plethora of ideas that you can later develop into a captivating essay. To effectively brainstorm, find a quiet and comfortable space where you can let your thoughts flow freely.

There are numerous strategies you can employ to get those creative juices flowing. One strategy is freewriting, where you write continuously for a set amount of time without worrying about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. This helps bypass your inner critic and allows you to explore different ideas without hesitation.

Another useful strategy is mind mapping. Start by writing your central idea or theme in the center of a blank page, and then branch out with related ideas, characters, or settings. This visual representation can help you see connections between different elements and guide your essay\’s direction.

Furthermore, seeking inspiration from various sources can be highly beneficial. Read books, watch movies or documentaries, listen to music, or observe people in real life. You never know what might trigger an idea or spark your imagination.

Structuring Your Essay

Once you have a pool of ideas to draw from, it\’s time to structure your essay. This step involves organizing your thoughts in a logical and coherent manner. A well-structured essay not only makes it easier for your readers to follow but also enhances the impact of your story.

Start by outlining the key points or events you want to include in your essay. This can be in the form of a traditional outline or a more visual representation, such as a flowchart. Consider the order in which you want to present your ideas and how they connect with one another.

Introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion are the essential parts of any essay structure. In the introduction, grab your readers\’ attention with a captivating hook and provide a brief overview of what they can expect from your essay. The body paragraphs should further develop your ideas and provide supporting evidence or examples. Finally, in the conclusion, summarize your main points and leave readers with a lasting impression.

Remember to use smooth transitions between paragraphs to ensure a seamless flow of ideas. This will make your essay easy to read and understand.

Developing Characters and Settings

In a creative essay, characters and settings play a crucial role in engaging your readers\’ imagination and emotions. Developing well-rounded characters and vivid settings can breathe life into your essay and make it truly unforgettable.

To create compelling characters, think about their personalities, motivations, and background stories. Which experiences have shaped them, and how do they respond to the challenges they face in your essay? Give them unique traits and make their actions and dialogue authentic.

Additionally, settings provide a backdrop for your characters to come alive. Whether it\’s a bustling cityscape, a serene countryside, or a mysterious fantasy realm, your setting should be rich in detail. Describe the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations to transport your readers to the world you have crafted.

Researching real-life locations or drawing inspiration from other fictional worlds can help you create believable and immersive settings. Build a strong sense of place so that your readers can visualize themselves within the surroundings of your essay.

By focusing on these aspects, you can develop characters and settings that captivate your readers and make your creative essay truly come to life.

Writing Techniques

When it comes to writing creative essays, mastering the art of using various writing techniques is essential. These techniques can elevate your essay from ordinary to extraordinary, captivating your readers and leaving a lasting impression. In this section, we will delve into three important techniques: using vivid imagery, creating dialogue, and building suspense and tension.

Using Vivid Imagery

One of the most powerful tools in a writer\’s arsenal is the use of vivid imagery. By incorporating descriptive language, you can paint a picture in the minds of your readers, transporting them to the world you have created within your essay. To effectively use vivid imagery, consider the following tips:

• Show, don\’t tell: Instead of stating that the sky is beautiful, describe the hues of orange and pink as the sun sets behind the distant mountains, casting a warm glow across the horizon.
• Appeal to the senses: Engage your readers by appealing to their senses. Describe the scent of freshly baked bread, the sound of crashing waves, or the feeling of soft, warm sand between their toes.
• Use metaphor and simile: Comparing two seemingly unrelated things can evoke powerful imagery. For example, \”Her laughter was like a melody, filling the room with joy.\”

By employing these techniques, you can create a vibrant and immersive experience for your readers, making your essay come alive.

Creating Dialogue

Dialogue plays a crucial role in bringing characters to life and moving the plot forward. When done effectively, it adds authenticity and depth to your creative essay. To master the art of creating engaging and realistic dialogue, consider the following tips:

• Make it sound natural: Dialogue should flow naturally, reflecting how people speak in real life. Avoid lengthy monologues and focus on concise exchanges that reveal important information or develop characters.
• Show character through dialogue: Dialogue is an excellent tool for revealing character traits, desires, and conflicts. Each character should have a distinct voice and use language that matches their personality.
• Utilize subtext: Often, what is left unsaid can be just as important as what is said. Subtext adds depth and complexity to your characters\’ interactions, as they navigate hidden motives or unspoken tensions.

By implementing these techniques, you can create dialogue that is authentic, engaging, and propels your creative essay forward.

Building Suspense and Tension

No creative essay is complete without a healthy dose of suspense and tension. These elements keep your readers on the edge of their seats, eagerly flipping through the pages to discover what happens next. To master the art of building suspense and tension, consider the following techniques:

• Establish a ticking clock: Create a sense of urgency by setting a deadline or impending event. This will heighten the suspense and keep your readers hooked, wondering if the protagonist will succeed in their race against time.
• Reveal information gradually: Instead of unveiling everything at once, drip-feed information to your readers, leaving breadcrumbs of clues along the way. This builds anticipation and keeps them guessing.
• Create unexpected twists and turns: Surprise your readers with unexpected plot twists, betrayals, or revelations. This injects excitement into your essay and keeps your readers engaged and invested.

By employing these techniques, you can create a gripping and suspenseful narrative that will captivate your readers from start to finish.

Mastering these writing techniques will undoubtedly elevate your creative essays, showcasing your skills as a storyteller. By using vivid imagery, creating engaging dialogue, and building suspense and tension, you can bring your ideas to life and leave a lasting impression on your readers.

Editing and Revising

Proofreading for Errors

One crucial step in the writing process is to carefully proofread your creative essay. This involves examining your work to identify and correct any grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors that may detract from the quality of your piece. No matter how brilliant your ideas may be, such errors can make your writing appear unprofessional and distract your readers from fully engaging with your content.

When proofreading, it is essential to pay attention to details and review every sentence and paragraph. Start by checking for grammatical errors. Look for subject-verb agreement issues, inconsistent verb tenses, and incorrect word usage. Ensure that each sentence is structured correctly and contributes to the overall flow and meaning of your essay.

Spelling mistakes can also diminish the impact of your creative writing. Make sure to review your work for commonly misspelled words or typos. It can be helpful to use tools like grammar and spell-checkers to catch any errors that may have slipped through your own review.

Punctuation plays a vital role in conveying your ideas effectively. Take the time to examine your essay for correct punctuation usage. Ensure that you have used commas, periods, question marks, exclamation marks, and quotation marks appropriately. Proofread for consistency in your punctuation style and ensure that it aligns with the standard rules of English grammar.

Refining Your Language

Refining your language is another crucial aspect of editing your creative essay. By incorporating more sophisticated and clear language, you can enhance the overall quality of your writing.

First, consider the clarity of your ideas. Are your thoughts conveyed in a concise and understandable manner? Review your sentences and paragraphs to ensure they are clear and logical. Remove any unnecessary or confusing phrases that might hinder the flow of your writing. Aim for coherence and coherence and coherence coherence and coherence coherence coherence and coherence coherence and coherence.

Additionally, develop your vocabulary to add depth and nuance to your essay. Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for common words and expand your range of expression. However, be cautious not to overly rely on uncommon or technical terms if they disrupt the flow or comprehension of your writing. Strike a balance between using vivid and precise language and maintaining the overall accessibility of your essay.

Beyond clarity and vocabulary, consider the overall tone and style of your creative essay. Does it match the intended mood and atmosphere? Experiment with different sentence structures, figurative language, and descriptive techniques to create a unique and engaging piece. Make sure your writing reflects your creative vision and effectively communicates the emotions and ideas you want to convey.

Seeking Feedback

Feedback is invaluable when it comes to improving your creative essay. Seeking input from others can provide fresh perspectives and constructive criticism that can help enhance your writing.

Consider sharing your essay with trusted friends, peers, or instructors, and ask for their honest feedback. Be open to their suggestions and actively listen to their impressions. Keep in mind that feedback is subjective, so don\’t feel compelled to incorporate every single comment you receive. Instead, consider the different viewpoints and decide which changes align with your creative vision.

When seeking feedback, ask specific questions to guide the reviewers. For example, you might inquire about the clarity of your ideas, the effectiveness of your language, or the overall impact of your essay. By providing specific areas for evaluation, you can receive more targeted and helpful feedback to refine your work.

Incorporating feedback into your revision process is essential. Analyze the comments and suggestions you receive and implement the changes that align with your vision for the essay. However, be cautious not to lose your unique voice in the process. Strive to maintain the elements that make your creative essay distinct while incorporating improvements suggested by others.

By following these editing and revising techniques, you can polish your creative essay, ensuring it is free from errors, effectively conveys your ideas, and resonates with your readers. So, put your editing hat on and transform your writing into a masterpiece!

In this ultimate guide on writing creative essays, we have delved into the essential elements that will elevate your writing skills. By understanding the fundamentals and implementing various strategies, you can create exceptional and captivating essays that will hook your readers from the very beginning. So, let\’s recap the key points we have covered so far.

1. Understanding the Basics

The first step towards writing a creative essay is to understand the basics. This includes familiarizing yourself with the structure and components of an essay, such as the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Additionally, having a clear understanding of the essay prompt and identifying the main theme or message you want to convey is crucial.

Furthermore, it is essential to conduct thorough research on the topic to gather relevant information that will support your arguments and enhance the overall quality of your essay. This will enable you to provide accurate and well-informed ideas that engage your readers.

2. Developing a Compelling Narrative

A key aspect of writing a creative essay is the development of a compelling narrative. This involves creating a unique storyline or plot that will captivate your readers\’ attention and keep them engaged throughout the essay. You can achieve this by incorporating elements such as conflict, suspense, or unexpected twists and turns.

Furthermore, developing well-rounded and relatable characters is crucial in bringing your narrative to life. By giving your characters depth and complexity, you allow your readers to connect with them on a deeper level and become emotionally invested in the story.

Remember to use descriptive language and vivid imagery to enhance your narrative and create a sensory experience for your readers. This will enable them to visualize the setting and events of your essay, making it more memorable and impactful.

3. Refining your Language

In order to write a creative essay that stands out, you must pay attention to your language and writing style. Use figurative language, such as metaphors and similes, to add depth and richness to your writing. This will make your essay more engaging and allow you to express complex ideas in a creative and imaginative way.

Furthermore, vary your sentence structure and length to create rhythm and flow in your writing. This will prevent your essay from becoming monotonous and tedious to read. Experiment with different sentence types, such as simple, compound, and complex sentences, to add variety and express different ideas effectively.

4. Seeking Feedback

One of the most important steps in crafting a creative essay is seeking feedback from others. Share your essay with trusted individuals, such as teachers, peers, or writing groups, who can provide constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement.

Be open to feedback and consider different perspectives. This will help you identify areas where your essay can be strengthened and refined. Revise and edit your essay based on the feedback you receive, ensuring that your ideas are clear, coherent, and effectively communicated.

5. Embracing Your Creativity

Lastly, embrace your creativity and let your imagination soar as you write your creative essay. Don\’t be afraid to take risks and think outside the box. Experiment with different ideas, perspectives, and writing techniques to create a truly unique and captivating piece of writing.

Remember that writing is a process, and it takes time and practice to develop your creative skills. Don\’t be discouraged by initial setbacks or challenges; instead, view them as opportunities for growth and improvement. With dedication and persistence, you can unleash your fullest potential as a creative writer.

In conclusion, this ultimate guide has provided you with the tools and strategies necessary to write exceptional creative essays. By understanding the basics, developing a compelling narrative, refining your language, seeking feedback, and embracing your creativity, you will be able to create essays that engage and captivate your readers. So, embark on this journey of creative writing, and let your imagination run wild.

Related posts:

• When to Use Second-Person Point of View in Writing
• When to Utilize Multiple Points of view in Writing and Creativity
• Using Symbolism in Your Writing: When and How?
• Crafting Captivating Travel Tales: A Guide to Engaging Travel Writing

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The Power of Playful Learning in the Early Childhood Setting

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Play versus learning represents a false dichotomy in education (e.g., Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff 2008). In part, the persistent belief that learning must be rigid and teacher directed—the opposite of play—is motivated by the lack of a clear definition of what constitutes playful learning (Zosh et al. 2018). And, in part, it is motivated by older perceptions of play and learning. Newer research, however, allows us to reframe the debate as learning via play—as playful learning.

This piece, which is an excerpt from Chapter 5 in  Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8, Fourth Edition (NAEYC 2022), suggests that defining play on a spectrum (Zosh et al. 2018, an idea first introduced by Bergen 1988) helps to resolve old divisions and provides a powerful framework that puts  playful learning —rich curriculum coupled with a playful pedagogy—front and center as a model for all early childhood educators. ( See below for a discussion of play on a spectrum.)

This excerpt also illustrates the ways in which play and learning mutually support one another and how teachers connect learning goals to children’s play. Whether solitary, dramatic, parallel, social, cooperative, onlooker, object, fantasy, physical, constructive, or games with rules, play, in all of its forms, is a teaching practice that optimally facilitates young children’s development and learning. By maximizing children’s choice, promoting wonder and enthusiasm for learning, and leveraging joy, playful learning pedagogies support development across domains and content areas and increase learning relative to more didactic methods (Alfieri et al. 2011; Bonawitz et al. 2011; Sim & Xu 2015).

Playful Learning: A Powerful Teaching Tool

This narrowing of the curriculum and high-stakes assessment practices (such as paper-and-pencil tests for kindergartners) increased stress on educators, children, and families but failed to deliver on the promise of narrowing—let alone closing—the gap.  All  children need well-thought-out curricula, including reading and STEM experiences and an emphasis on executive function skills such as attention, impulse control, and memory (Duncan et al. 2007). But to promote happy, successful, lifelong learners, children must be immersed in developmentally appropriate practice and rich curricular learning that is culturally relevant (NAEYC 2020). Playful learning is a vehicle for achieving this. Schools must also address the inequitable access to play afforded to children (see “Both/And: Early Childhood Education Needs Both Play and Equity,” by Ijumaa Jordan.) All children should be afforded opportunities to play, regardless of their racial group, socioeconomic class, and disability if they have been diagnosed with one. We second the call of Maria Souto-Manning (2017): “Although play has traditionally been positioned as a privilege, it must be (re)positioned as a right, as outlined by the  United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 31” (785).

What Is Playful Learning?

Playful learning describes a learning context in which children learn content while playing freely (free play or self-directed play), with teacher guidance (guided play), or in a structured game. By harnessing children’s natural curiosity and their proclivities to experiment, explore, problem solve, and stay engaged in meaningful activities—especially when doing so with others—teachers maximize learning while individualizing learning goals. Central to this concept is the idea that teachers act more as the Socratic “guide at the side” than a “sage on the stage” (e.g., King 1993, 30; Smith 1993, 35). Rather than view children as empty vessels receiving information, teachers see children as active explorers and discoverers who bring their prior knowledge into the learning experience and construct an understanding of, for example, words such as  forecast  and  low pressure  as they explore weather patterns and the science behind them. In other words, teachers support children as active learners.

Importantly, playful learning pedagogies naturally align with the characteristics that research in the science of learning suggests help humans learn. Playful learning leverages the power of active (minds-on), engaging (not distracting), meaningful, socially interactive, and iterative thinking and learning (Zosh et al. 2018) in powerful ways that lead to increased learning.

Free play lets children explore and express themselves—to be the captains of their own ship. While free play is important, if a teacher has a learning goal, guided play and games are the road to successful outcomes for children (see Weisberg, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff 2013 for a review). Playful learning in the form of guided play, in which the teacher builds in the learning as part of a fun context such as a weather report, keeps the child’s agency but adds an intentional component to the play that helps children learn more from the experience. In fact, when researchers compared children’s skill development during free play in comparison to guided play, they found that children learned more vocabulary (Toub et al. 2018) and spatial skills (Fisher et al. 2013) in guided play than in free play.

Self-Directed Play, Free Play

NAEYC’s 2020 position statement on developmentally appropriate practice uses the term  self-directed play  to refer to play that is initiated and directed by children. Such play is termed  free play  in the larger works of the authors of this excerpt; therefore, free play is the primary term used in this article, with occasional references to self-directed play, the term used in the rest of the DAP book.

Imagine an everyday block corner. The children are immersed in play with each other—some trying to build high towers and others creating a tunnel for the small toy cars on the nearby shelves. But what if there were a few model pictures on the wall of what children could strive to make as they collaborated in that block corner? Might they rotate certain pieces purposely? Might they communicate with one another that the rectangle needs to go on top of the square? Again, a simple insertion of a design that children can try to copy turns a play situation into one ripe with spatial learning. Play is a particularly effective way to engage children with specific content learning when there is a learning goal.

Why Playful Learning Is Critical

Teachers play a crucial role in creating places and spaces where they can introduce playful learning to help all children master not only content but also the skills they will need for future success. The science of learning literature (e.g., Fisher et al. 2013; Weisberg, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff 2013; Zosh et al. 2018) suggests that playful learning can change the “old equation” for learning, which posited that direct, teacher-led instruction, such as lectures and worksheets, was the way to achieve rich content learning. This “new equation” moves beyond a sole focus on content and instead views playful learning as a way to support a breadth of skills while embracing developmentally appropriate practice guidelines (see Hirsh-Pasek et al. 2020).

Using a playful learning pedagogical approach leverages the skill sets of today’s educators and enhances their ability to help children attain curricular goals. It engages what has been termed active learning that is also developmentally appropriate and offers a more equitable way of engaging children by increasing access to participation. When topics are important and culturally relevant to children, they can better identify with the subject and the learning becomes more seamless.

While educators of younger children are already well versed in creating playful and joyful experiences to support social goals (e.g., taking turns and resolving conflicts), they can use this same skill set to support more content-focused curricular goals (e.g., mathematics and literacy). Similarly, while teachers of older children have plenty of experience determining concrete content-based learning goals (e.g., attaining Common Core Standards), they can build upon this set of skills and use playful learning as a pedagogy to meet those goals.

Learning Through Play: A Play Spectrum

As noted previously, play can be thought of as lying on a spectrum that includes free play (or self-directed play), guided play, games, playful instruction, and direct instruction (Bergen 1988; Zosh et al. 2018). For the purposes of this piece, we use a spectrum that includes the first three of these aspects of playful learning, as illustrated in “Play Spectrum Showing Three Types of Playful Learning Situations” below.

The following variables determine the degree to which an activity can be considered playful learning:

• level of adult involvement
• extent to which the child is directing the learning
• presence of a learning goal

Toward the left end of the spectrum are activities with more child agency, less adult involvement, and loosely defined or no particular learning goals. Further to the right, adults are more involved, but children still direct the activity or interaction.

Developmentally appropriate practice does not mean primarily that children play without a planned learning environment or learn mostly through direct instruction (NAEYC 2020). Educators in high-quality early childhood programs offer a range of learning experiences that fall all along this spectrum. By thinking of play as a spectrum, educators can more easily assess where their learning activities and lessons fall on this spectrum by considering the components and intentions of the lesson. Using their professional knowledge of how children develop and learn, their knowledge of individual children, and their understanding of social and cultural contexts, educators can then begin to think strategically about how to target playful learning (especially guided play and games) to leverage how children naturally learn. This more nuanced view of play and playful learning can be used to both meet age-appropriate learning objectives and support engaged, meaningful learning.   

In the kindergarten classroom in the following vignette, children have ample time for play and exploration in centers, where they decide what to play with and what they want to create. These play centers are the focus of the room and the main tool for developing social and emotional as well as academic skills; they reflect and support what the children are learning through whole-group discussions, lessons, and skills-focused stations. In the vignette, the teacher embeds guided play opportunities within the children’s free play.

Studying Bears: Self-Directed Play that Extends What Kindergartners Are Learning

While studying the habits of animals in winter, the class is taking a deeper dive into the lives of American black bears, animals that make their homes in their region. In the block center, one small group of children uses short lengths and cross-sections of real tree branches as blocks along with construction paper to create a forest habitat for black bear figurines. They enlist their friends in the art center to assist in making trees and bushes. Two children are in the writing center. Hearing that their friends are looking for help to create a habitat, they look around and decide a hole punch and blue paper are the perfect tools for making blueberries—a snack black bears love to eat! Now multiple centers and groups of children are involved in making the block center become a black bear habitat.

In the dramatic play center, some of the children pretend to be bear biologists, using stethoscopes, scales, and magnifying glasses to study the health of a couple of plush black bears. When these checkups are complete, the teacher suggests the children could describe the bears’ health in a written “report,” thus embedding guided play within their free play. A few children at the easels in the art center are painting pictures of black bears.

Contributed by Amy Blessing

Free play, or self-directed play, is often heralded as the gold standard of play. It encourages children’s initiative, independence, and problem solving and has been linked to benefits in social and emotional development (e.g., Singer & Singer 1990; Pagani et al. 2010; Romano et al. 2010; Gray 2013) and language and literacy (e.g., Neuman & Roskos 1992). Through play, children explore and make sense of their world, develop imaginative and symbolic thinking, and develop physical competence. The kindergarten children in the example above were developing their fine motor and collaboration skills, displaying their understanding of science concepts (such as the needs of animals and living things), and exercising their literacy and writing skills. Such benefits are precisely why free play has an important role in developmentally appropriate practice. To maximize learning, teachers also provide guided play experiences.

Guided Play

While free play has great value for children, empirical evidence suggests that it is not always sufficient  when there is a pedagogical goal at stake  (Smith & Pellegrini 2008; Alfieri et al. 2011; Fisher et al. 2013; Lillard 2013; Weisberg, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff 2013; Toub et al. 2018). This is where guided play comes in.

Guided play allows teachers to focus children’s play around specific learning goals (e.g., standards-based goals), which can be applied to a variety of topics, from learning place value in math to identifying rhyming words in literacy activities. Note, however, that the teacher does not take over the play activity or even direct it. Instead, she asks probing questions that guide the next level of child-directed exploration. This is a perfect example of how a teacher can initiate a context for learning while still leaving the child in charge. In the previous kindergarten vignette, the teacher guided the children in developing their literacy skills as she embedded writing activities within the free play at the centers.

Facilitating Guided Play

Skilled teachers set up environments and facilitate development and learning throughout the early childhood years, such as in the following:

• Ms. Taglieri notices what 4-month-old Anthony looks at and shows interest in. Following his interest and attention, she plays Peekaboo, adjusting her actions (where she places the blanket and peeks out at him) to maintain engagement.
• Ms. Eberhard notices that 22-month-old Abe knows the color yellow. She prepares her environment based on this observation, placing a few yellow objects along with a few red ones on a small table. Abe immediately goes to the table, picking up each yellow item and verbally labeling them (“Lellow!”).
• Mr. Gorga creates intrigue and participation by inviting his preschool class to “be shape detectives” and to “discover the secret of shapes.” As the children explore the shapes, Mr. Gorga offers questions and prompts to guide children to answer the question “What makes them the same kind of shapes?”

An analogy for facilitating guided play is bumper bowling. If bumpers are in place, most children are more likely than not to knock down some pins when they throw the ball down the lane. That is different than teaching children exactly how to throw it (although some children, such as those who have disabilities or who become frustrated if they feel a challenge is too great, may require that level of support or instruction). Guided play is not a one-size-fits-all prescriptive pedagogical technique. Instead, teachers match the level of support they give in guided play to the children in front of them.

Critically, many teachers already implement these kinds of playful activities. When the children are excited by the birds they have seen outside of their window for the past couple of days, the teachers may capitalize on this interest and provide children with materials for a set of playful activities about bird names, diets, habitats, and songs. Asking children to use their hands to mimic an elephant’s trunk when learning vocabulary can promote learning through playful instruction that involves movement. Similarly, embedding vocabulary in stories that are culturally relevant promotes language and early literacy development (García-Alvarado, Arreguín, & Ruiz-Escalante 2020). For example, a teacher who has several children in his class with Mexican heritage decides to read aloud  Too Many Tamales  (by Gary Soto, illus. Ed Martinez) and have the children reenact scenes from it, learning about different literary themes and concepts through play. The children learn more vocabulary, have a better comprehension of the text, and see themselves and their experiences reflected. The teacher also adds some of the ingredients and props for making tamales into the sociodramatic play center (Salinas-González, Arreguín-Anderson, & Alanís 2018) and invites families to share stories about family  tamaladas  (tamale-making parties).

Evidence Supporting Guided Play as a Powerful Pedagogical Tool

Evidence from the science of learning suggests that discovery-based guided play actually results in increased learning for all children relative to both free play and direct instruction (see Alferi et al. 2011). These effects hold across content areas including spatial learning (Fisher et al. 2013), literacy (Han et al. 2010; Nicolopoulou et al. 2015; Hassinger-Das et al. 2016; Cavanaugh et al. 2017; Toub et al. 2018; Moedt & Holmes 2020), and mathematics (Zosh et al. 2016).

There are several possible reasons for guided play’s effectiveness. First, it harnesses the joy that is critical to creativity and learning (e.g., Isen, Daubman, & Nowicki 1987; Resnick 2007). Second, during guided play, the adults help “set the stage for thought and action” by essentially limiting the number of possible outcomes for the children so that the learning goal is discoverable, but children still direct the activity (Weisberg et al. 2014, 276). Teachers work to provide high-quality materials, eliminate distractions, and prepare the space, but then, critically, they let the child play the active role of construction. Third, in guided play, the teacher points the way toward a positive outcome and hence lessens the ambiguity (the degrees of freedom) without directing children to an answer or limiting children to a single discovery (e.g., Bonawitz et al. 2011). And finally, guided play provides the opportunity for new information to be integrated with existing knowledge and updated as children explore.

Reinforcing Numeracy with a Game

The children in Mr. Cohen’s preschool class are at varying levels of understanding in early numeracy skills (e.g., cardinality, one-to-one correspondence, order irrelevance). He knows that his children need some practice with these skills but wants to make the experience joyful while also building these foundational skills. One day, he brings out a new game for them to play—The Great Race. Carla and Michael look up expectantly, and their faces light up when they realize they will be playing a game instead of completing a worksheet. The two quickly pull out the box, setting up the board and choosing their game pieces. Michael begins by flicking the spinner with his finger, landing on 2. “Nice!” Carla exclaims, as Michael moves his game piece, counting “One, two.” Carla takes a turn next, spinning a 1 and promptly counting “one” as she moves her piece one space ahead. “My turn!” Michael says, eager to win the race. As he spins a 2, he pauses. “One . . . two,” he says, hesitating, as he moves his piece to space 4 on the board. Carla corrects him, “I think you mean ‘three, four,’ right? You have to count up from where you are on the board.” Michael nods, remembering the rules Mr. Cohen taught him earlier that day. “Right,” he says, “three, four.”

Similar to guided play, games can be designed in ways that help support learning goals (Hassinger-Das et al. 2017). In this case, instead of adults playing the role of curating the activity, the games themselves provide this type of external scaffolding. The example with Michael and Carla shows how children can learn through games, which is supported by research. In one well-known study, playing a board game (i.e., The Great Race) in which children navigated through a linear, numerical-based game board (i.e., the game board had equally spaced game spaces that go from left to right) resulted in increased numerical development as compared to playing the same game where the numbers were replaced by colors (Siegler & Ramani 2008) or with numbers organized in a circular fashion (Siegler & Ramani 2009). Structuring experiences so that the learning goal is intertwined naturally with children’s play supports their learning. A critical point with both guided play and games is that children are provided with support but still lead their own learning.

Digital educational games have become enormously popular, with tens of thousands of apps marketed as “educational,” although there is no independent review of these apps. Apps and digital games may have educational value when they inspire active, engaged, meaningful, and socially interactive experiences (Hirsh-Pasek et al. 2015), but recent research suggests that many of the most downloaded educational apps do not actually align with these characteristics that lead to learning (Meyer et al. 2021). Teachers should exercise caution and evaluate any activity—digital or not—to see how well it harnesses the power of playful learning.

Next Steps for Educators

Educators are uniquely positioned to prepare today’s children for achievement today and success tomorrow. Further, the evidence is mounting that playful pedagogies appear to be an accessible, powerful tool that harnesses the pillars of learning. This approach can be used across ages and is effective in learning across domains.

By leveraging children’s own interests and mindfully creating activities that let children play their way to new understanding and skills, educators can start using this powerful approach today. By harnessing the children’s interests at different ages and engaging them in playful learning activities, educators can help children learn while having fun. And, importantly, educators will have more fun too when they see children happy and engaged.

As the tide begins to change in individual classrooms, educators need to acknowledge that vast inequalities (e.g., socioeconomic achievement gaps) continue to exist (Kearney & Levine 2016). The larger challenge remains in propelling a cultural shift so that administrators, families, and policymakers understand the way in which educators can support the success of all children through high-quality, playful learning experiences.

Consider the following reflection questions as you reflect how to support equitable playful learning experiences for each and every child:

• One of the best places to start is by thinking about your teaching strengths. Perhaps you are great at sparking joy and engagement. Or maybe you are able to frequently leverage children’s home lives in your lessons. How can you expand practices you already use as an educator or are learning about in your courses to incorporate the playful learning described in this article?
• How can you share the information in this chapter with families, administrators, and other educators? How can you help them understand how play can engage children in deep, joyful learning?

This piece is excerpted from NAEYC’s recently published book  Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8,  Fourth Edition. For more information about the book, visit  NAEYC.org/resources/pubs/books/dap-fourth-edition .

Teaching Play Skills

Pamela Brillante

While many young children with autism spectrum disorder enjoy playing, they can have difficulty engaging in traditional play activities. They may engage in activities that do not look like ordinary play, including playing with only a few specific toys or playing in a specific, repetitive way.

Even though most children learn play skills naturally, sometimes families and teachers have to teach children how to play. Learning how to play will help develop many other skills young children need for the future, including

• social skills:  taking turns, sharing, and working cooperatively
• cognitive skills:  problem-solving skills, early academic skills
• communication skills:  responding to others, asking questions
• physical skills:  body awareness, fine and gross motor coordination

Several evidence-based therapeutic approaches to teaching young children with autism focus on teaching play skills, including

• The Play Project:  https://playproject.org
• The Greenspan Floortime approach: https://stanleygreenspan.com
• Integrated Play Group (IPG) Model: www.wolfberg.com

While many children with autism have professionals and therapists working with them, teachers and families should work collaboratively and provide multiple opportunities for children to practice new skills and engage in play at their own level. For example, focus on simple activities that promote engagement between the adult and the child as well as the child and their peers without disabilities, including playing with things such as bubbles, cause-and-effect toys, and interactive books. You can also use the child’s preferred toy in the play, like having the Spider-Man figure be the one popping the bubbles.

Pamela Brillante , EdD, has spent 30 years working as a special education teacher, administrator, consultant, and professor. In addition to her full-time faculty position in the Department of Special Education, Professional Counseling and Disability Studies at William Paterson University of New Jersey, Dr. Brillante continues to consult with school districts and present to teachers and families on the topic of high-quality, inclusive early childhood practices.  

Photographs: © Getty Images Copyright © 2022 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See Permissions and Reprints online at  NAEYC.org/resources/permissions .

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Bassok, D., S. Latham, & A. Rorem. 2016. “Is Kindergarten the New First Grade?” AERA Open 2 (1): 1–31. doi.10.1177/2332858415616358. 

Bergen, D., ed. 1988. Play as a Medium for Learning and Development: A Handbook of Theory and Practice . Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books. 

Bonawitz, E.B., P. Shafto, H. Gweon, N.D. Goodman, E.S. Spelke, & L. Schulz. 2011. “The Double-Edged Sword of Pedagogy: Instruction Limits Spontaneous Exploration and Discovery.” Cognition 120 (3): 322–30. 

Cavanaugh, D.M., K.J. Clemence, M.M. Teale, A.C. Rule, & S.E. Montgomery. 2017. “Kindergarten Scores, Storytelling, Executive Function, and Motivation Improved Through Literacy-Rich Guided Play.” Journal of Early Childhood Education 45 (6): 1–13. 

Christakis, E. 2016. The Importance of Being Little: What Preschoolers Really Need from Grownups . New York: Penguin Books.  

Duncan, G. J., A. Claessens, A.C. Huston, L.S. Pagani, M. Engel, H. Sexton, C.J. Dowsett, K. Magnuson, P. Klebanov, L. Feinstein, J. Brooks-Gunn, K. Duckworth, & C. Japel. 2007. “School Readiness and Later Achievement.” Developmental Psychology 43 (6): 1428–46. https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1428 .  

Fisher, K.R., K. Hirsh-Pasek, N. Newcombe, & R.M. Golinkoff. 2013. “Taking Shape: Supporting Preschoolers’ Acquisition of Geometric Knowledge Through Guided Play.” Child Development 84 (6): 1872–78. 

García-Alvarado, S., M.G. Arreguín, & J.A. Ruiz-Escalante. 2020. “Mexican-American Preschoolers as Co-Creators of Zones of Proximal Development During Retellings of Culturally Relevant Stories: A Participatory Study.” Journal of Early Childhood Literacy : 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1468798420930339 . 

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Hassinger-Das, B., K. Ridge, A. Parker, R.M. Golinkoff, K. Hirsh-Pasek, & D.K. Dickinson. 2016. “Building Vocabulary Knowledge in Preschoolers Through Shared Book Reading and Gameplay.” Mind, Brain, and Education 10 (2): 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12103 . 

Hassinger-Das, B., T.S. Toub, J.M. Zosh, J. Michnick, R. Golinkoff, & K. Hirsh-Pasek. 2017. “More Than Just Fun: A Place for Games in Playful Learning.” Infancia y aprendizaje: Journal for the Study of Education and Development 40 (2): 191–218. https://doi.org/10.1080/02103702.2017.1292684 . 

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Hirsh-Pasek, K., H. S. Hadani, E. Blinkoff, & R. M. Golinkoff. 2020. A new path to education reform: Playful learning promotes 21st-century skills in schools and beyond . The Brookings Institution: Big Ideas Policy Report. www.brookings.edu/policy2020/bigideas/a-new-path-to-education-reform-playful-learning-promotes-21st-century-skills-in-schools-and-beyond . 

Hirsh-Pasek, K., J.M. Zosh, R.M. Golinkoff, J.H. Gray, M.B. Robb, & J. Kaufman. 2015. “Putting Education in ‘Educational’ Apps: Lessons from the Science of Learning.” Psychological Science in the Public Interest 16 (1): 3–34. 

Isen, A.M., K.A. Daubman, & G.P. Nowicki. 1987. “Positive Affect Facilitates Creative Problem Solving.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 52 (6): 1122–31. 

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Meyer, M., J.M. Zosh, C. McLaren, M. Robb, R.M. Golinkoff, K. Hirsh-Pasek, & J. Radesky. 2021. “How Educational Are ‘Educational’ Apps for Young Children? App Store Content Analysis Using the Four Pillars of Learning Framework.” Journal of Children and Media . Published online February 23. 

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Siegler, R.S., & G.B. Ramani. 2009. “Playing Linear Number Board Games—but Not Circular Ones—Improves Low-Income Preschoolers’ Numerical Understanding. Journal of Educational Psychology 101 (3): 545–60. 

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Smith P.K., & A. Pellegrini. 2008. “Learning Through Play.” In Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online], eds. R.E. Tremblay, M. Boivin, & R.D. Peters, 1–6. Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development and Strategic Knowledge Cluster on Early Child Development. https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/pdf/expert/play/according-experts/learning-through-play . 

Souto-Manning, M. 2017. “Is Play a Privilege or a Right? And What’s Our Responsibility? On the Role of Play for Equity in Early Childhood Education.” Foreword. Early Child Development and Care 187 (5–6): 785–87. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03004430.2016.1266588 . 

Toub, T.S., B. Hassinger-Das, K.T. Nesbitt, H. Ilgaz, D.S. Weisberg, K. Hirsh-Pasek, R.M. Golinkoff, A. Nicolopoulou, & D.K. Dickinson. 2018. “The Language of Play: Developing Preschool Vocabulary Through Play Following Shared Book-Reading.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly 45 (4): 1–17.  

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Zosh, J.M., B. Hassinger-Das, T.S. Toub, K. Hirsh-Pasek, & R. Golinkoff. 2016. “Playing with Mathematics: How Play Supports Learning and the Common Core State Standards.” Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College 7 (1): 45–49. https://doi.org/10.7916/jmetc.v7i1.787 . 

Zosh, J.M., K. Hirsh-Pasek, E.J. Hopkins, H. Jensen, C. Liu, D. Neale, S.L. Solis, & D. Whitebread. 2018. “Accessing the Inaccessible: Redefining Play as a Spectrum.” Frontiers in Psychology 9: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01124 . 

Jennifer M. Zosh, PhD, is professor of human development and family studies at Penn State Brandywine. Most recently, her work has focused on technology and its impact on children as well as playful learning as a powerful pedagogy. She publishes journal articles, book chapters, blogs, and white papers and focuses on the dissemination of developmental research.

Caroline Gaudreau, PhD, is a research professional at the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health at the University of Chicago. She received her PhD from the University of Delaware, where she studied how children learn to ask questions and interact with screen media. She is passionate about disseminating research and interventions to families across the country.

Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, PhD, conducts research on language development, the benefits of play, spatial learning, and the effects of media on children. A member of the National Academy of Education, she is a cofounder of Playful Learning Landscapes, Learning Science Exchange, and the Ultimate Playbook for Reimagining Education. Her last book, Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children (American Psychological Association, 2016), reached the New York Times bestseller list.

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, PhD, is the Lefkowitz Faculty Fellow in the Psychology and Neuroscience department at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She is also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Her research examines the development of early language and literacy, the role of play in learning, and learning and technology. [email protected]

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Children, Play and Creativity, Essay Example

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Play is essential for every growing child. Play supports the learning process and the learning outcomes.  Children’s motivations to play are directly linked to their motivation to learn. Children always want to be more skilful more knowledgeable and establish their own agency. Since play is very flexible and open-ended, children learn to control their processes and outcomes. Children are always exploring, thinking, inventing, communicating, and creating meaning. They use their everyday knowledge in play and combine this knowledge with their imaginative interpretation of concepts. In play, children take the form they want to be. They can be explorers, scientists, artists, designers or technologist. Play creates meaning in children, which they use in communication in different ways through body movements, facial expressions, gestures, and verbal language. Therefore, play contributes to the identity of children as they develop a sense in mastery of their play and learning. It changes them as it gives them options and opportunities (Marcus & Nyilsztor, 2008).

Children and develop in various ways and at diverse rates. Social and cultural experiences influence their learning journeys. This takes place through their gender, their ethnicity, languages, their special needs, the family composition and the social class a child comes from. Decision-making during play and control of actions by the child are the key elements that distinguish play from other experiences that occur during childhood.

As educators pay attention to children’s play, they keenly observe the myriad of skills developing and concepts forming. Play in its most concentrated form is demonstrated when a child has full control of the actions of pretend, the structure, and materials used in play.

Teachers support children’s play in every way possible that they can. Teachers should be able to arrange for long periods for play and choosing it to intervene. Teachers also make available props, materials, and objects that sustain and enhance the children’s play. Teachers nurture, support, scaffold, teach, encourage, ignite imaginations and playfully participate in the game the children play.

As children play, they incorporate, use and talk about ideas. Content refers to the ideas and information that a child gathers during play. They apply concepts they come up with. Concept is thus the broad understanding of ideas that children put together to explain the relationships and the way the world works. For example, why we serve certain foods during holidays and celebrations, or how it feels to be in hospital.

The child’s lens is different from the teacher’s lens. Children think about their play, having fun while playing, re-orient its direction, create story lines, and plan for extended explorations and make decisions about materials. On the other hand, teachers pay attention to what happens during play. They observe the skill development and learning process in the child.

Scaffold refers to the  this is the role played by the teacher or an educator in supporting a child’s development and providing the child with support structures to get him/her to the next level.

• Myriad this refers to a large number of people or things
• Selective having the power of being choosy or picky.
• Intuitive being sensitive or instuitive
• Organic developing naturally having the characteristics of living things
• Intentional-doing something purposely, intended and planned
• Intervene to take place between two events or points of time

Play is essential in children. Play provides a child with an opportunity for imaginative and adaptive ways of judging and acting. Much of a child’s play takes place in the mind. This is because they have creative and unique ideas about adjusting everyday materials and occurrences into play events. They also take pleasure in using their knowledge as they move around roles, rules and relationships. Children are selective in their games. The most fascinating thing lies in the combination of ideas and skills that they use in their intuitive organic play. Enhancing children’s play is the role of the educator, who intervenes in what the child does regarding his development and learning. This way they can intentionally extend and enhance development and learning. An educator teaches, scaffold, nurtures and encourages a child throughout play. As educators pay attention to children’s play, they keenly observe the myriad of skills developing and concepts forming. They also observe the changes closely and use anecdotes and checklists to note that skills each child is demonstrating.

Supporting children’s play is crucial. There are several ways one can incorporate this. Paying attention to skill development, content and concept formation during play is vital. This informs the educator on the choices and the materials to include in the play environment. It also enables one aware of when to intervene with questions and suggestions while providing opportunities to discover emerging interests.

Though not the same, play is compatible to development and learning. Man authors feel that because lay is creative it ought to be separate. However, based on research, development and learning are increasingly evolving into interactive parts of human activities (Samuelsson & Johansson, 2006). Children focus great on play while making decisions about the materials and ideas to use. The teachers have a task of staying attentive to what happens during the play. They monitor development of skills and learning.

Hewes, J. (2006). Let the children play: natures answers to early learning . Lessons in learning. Ottawa: Canadian council on learning. Early childhood development knowledge centre.

Marcus, B. & Nylsztor, D. (2008). Balanced curriculum for young children . Toronto. Pearson education Canada.

Samuelsson, I. P., & Johansson, E. (2006). Play and learning inseparable dimensions in  preschool practice, Early child development and care , 175 (1), 47-65.

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Course Syllabus

Play with Pattern: Crafting the Braided and Collage Essays

Often, experimenting with a new form is the best way to get unstuck and gain a fresh perspective on your writing. Perhaps you’re wondering how to become more experimental or looser in your writing, or you may be at an impasse with material you’ve been working with. In this generative course, we will examine the creative potential of juxtaposing themes through collage or a braided technique. Using writing prompts, readings, and discussion questions, you will explore how to breathe life into a subject through weaving of material and use of space. This class will provide tips and practice in using these forms as a way to make your writing fresh and engaging, both for your reader and for yourself.

Week 1 – Space and Juxtaposition

In this first week, you will examine models of collage essays, thinking about how they ask the reader to participate in the construction of meaning. What does this look like from the writer’s side?  Through directed prompts, you will investigate how collage can be a tool of creative investigation.

Week 2 – Creating Resonance in Collage Pieces

You will further explore collage, pacing, and revision. How can collaged pieces draw a reader along?  What is that engine?  You will look for repetitions (of motifs/images/language) in pieces by others and analyze how that is working in your own responses to writing exercises.

Week 3 – Braided Pieces and How the Weaving Works

This week will address models of braided pieces and how they work. You’ll look at your own interests and begin mining your life for threads of language or subject matter, unlocking their creative potential.

Week 4 – Following the Threads

You will build on your thinking about collage and braiding, investigating how these techniques can enliven old drafts or help you find your way into new work. Whether or not the final piece is strictly in the form of collage or braided essay, how can you bring these techniques into your writing practice? End the course with a better understanding of how loose connections,  juxtapositions, and the joining of disparate ideas are central to the creative life.

“Play with Pattern,” was developed by Joanna Cooper. Joanna Penn Cooper writes and teaches flash memoir, lyric essays, and poetry, and she is the author of  The Itinerant Girl’s Guide to Self-Hypnosis   (Brooklyn Arts Press) and   What Is a Domicile  (Noctuary Press). Her work has appeared in  The Academy of American Poets  Poem-a-Day feature, as well as  South Dakota Review, Vinyl, On the Seawall, Poetry International , and other journals. Joanna holds a Ph.D. in English from Temple University and an MFA from New England College, and in her teaching career, she has held full-time visiting positions at Marquette University and Fordham University.  Joanna is a frequent contributor to  Good Letters , the online component of  Image Journal . She lives in Durham, North Carolina.

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