Why children must play

Authored by Liz Khaemba – Learning Specialist, Transformative Learning  Kilonzo is sitting in a sand pit; his chubby two year old hands are deep inside the sand.  He picks handfuls of sand from as deep as his hands can go, lifts his hands up, and gleefully lets the sand trickle back into the sandpit.  Baby Kim kicks the mobile that has been strategically placed above his cot by his parents.  With every successful hit, he chuckles loudly.  Four year old Sandra is play with two plastic cups of water.  She attempts to fill an empty cup of water from an almost full one without spilling any on the floor.  What is play?  Play is one of those concepts that are easy to imagine or do, but tough to define.  I particularly like the definition by Csikszentmihalyi (1981) who described play as “a subset of life…, an arrangement in which one can practice behaviour without dreading its consequences”.  Play is the work of children – Just like parents go to the office to earn a living, or school to further their education, children play to learn how to survive in the real world.How, one may ask? Play serves four main purposes:

• • Mental HealthAs a mental health professional, I can mention hundreds of ways in which play impacts a child’s mental health.   Play not only teaches a child how to interact with others, but also how others perceive them.  This enables them to adapt to their environment thus creating a psychologically healthy and balanced child.  Play provides an opportunity for the child to develop confidence, resilience (the belief that we can cope with life), and a positive self concept, all important bases of positive mental health.

• • Physical Development through functional playThrough play, physical milestones are better achieved.  Functional is play that involves running, skipping, jumping, laughing, etc.  This type of play works all the muscles and most organs of the child’s body.  The child becomes physically fit and healthy.

• • Regulation of emotionsDid you know that children also suffer from depression and other affect difficulties?  This may be due to low levels of neurotransmitters necessary for mood regulation, heredity, or lack of activity.  Play provides the child with an opportunity to warm up the large muscles through activities like chasing each other, riding bicycles or kicking a ball.  When these muscles are warm, chemicals called endorphins are produced in the brain.  These chemicals are also called ‘feel good’ chemicals because they lift mood and make us feel happy.  Is it any wonder that most playful children are always laughing or smiling?

• • Forming relationships through social playSocial play is play in which children interact with others.  Many older Kenyans remember games we played as children like ‘bano’, ‘kati’, ‘kalongolongo, ‘cha mama’, etc.  When playing ‘kalongolongo’ when I was young, roles were often divided up among participating children.  Girls played stereotyped female roles like that of the mother, daughter, maid, or the grandmother, while boys took the roles of father, son, and sometimes, were even given the role of the family dog!  The game was predominantly about cooking and we would get some burning charcoal from the coal stove and use old metallic Bluebandor Kimbo tins to ‘cook’.  The ‘child’ would come home from school, the ‘dog’ would bark for leftovers and chase the child, the father would come from work, and the whole ’household’ would be doing one thing or the other as is done in real families.  Children would learn proper role norms and expectations, communications skills, conflict resolution, problem solving skills, and many more important aspects of daily life. With the increasing number of high-rise apartments in our cities, children must not only play indoors but designated common playgrounds must be made available to enable children find full expression of self, learn important social skills and maintain optimal physical and psychological health through play.