Let the Children Play, It's Good for Them!
A leading researcher in the field of cognitive development says when children pretend, they’re not just being silly—they’re doing science
- By Alison Gopnik
- Smithsonian magazine, July-August 2012, Subscribe
Walk into any preschool and you’ll find toddling superheroes battling imaginary monsters. We take it for granted that young children play and, especially, pretend. Why do they spend so much time in fantasy worlds?
People have suspected that play helps children learn, but until recently there was little research that showed this or explained why it might be true. In my lab at the University of California at Berkeley, we’ve been trying to explain how very young children can learn so much so quickly, and we’ve developed a new scientific approach to children’s learning.
Where does pretending come in? It relates to what philosophers call “counterfactual” thinking, like Einstein wondering what would happen if a train went at the speed of light.
In one study, my student Daphna Buchsbaum introduced 3- and 4-year-olds to a stuffed monkey and a musical toy and told them, “It’s Monkey’s birthday, and this is a birthday machine we can use to sing to Monkey. It plays “Happy Birthday” when you put a zando” (a funny-looking object) “on it like this.” Then she held up a different object and explained that it wasn’t a zando and therefore wouldn’t make the music play. Then she asked some tricky counterfactual questions: “If this zando wasn’t a zando, would the machine play music or not?” What if the non-zando was a zando? About half the 3-year-olds answered correctly.
Then a confederate took away the toys and Daphna said, “We could just pretend that this box is the machine and that this block is a zando and this other one isn’t. Let’s put the blocks on the machine. What will happen next?” About half said the pretend zando made pretend music, while the pretend non-zando did nothing (well, pretend nothing, which is quite a concept even if you’re older than 3).
We found children who were better at pretending could reason better about counterfactuals—they were better at thinking about different possibilities. And thinking about possibilities plays a crucial role in the latest understanding about how children learn. The idea is that children at play are like pint-sized scientists testing theories. They imagine ways the world could work and predict the pattern of data that would follow if their theories were true, and then compare that pattern with the pattern they actually see. Even toddlers turn out to be smarter than we would have thought if we ask them the right questions in the right way.
Play is under pressure right now, as parents and policymakers try to make preschools more like schools. But pretend play is not only important for kids; it’s a crucial part of what makes all humans so smart.
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Comments (7)
A very worthy campaign. I was very lucky as a child to have imaginative and creative thinking parents who supported and recognised the development of my imagination. This in itself has served me well through my life and certainly sharpened my intellect.
Posted by on January 22,2013 | 01:07 PM
To take this understanding of play a little further; when a child has video images impressed upon her, she expresses and digests them through play. This type of play, however, is basically limited to re-enacting what she has seen, and does not promote "counterfactual" thinking. In the type of play referred to in the article, where children are connected to the realm of possibilities, play arises instead out of their own fantasy and inner picturing. The capacity to imagine, to create one's own images, is developed in early childhood, especially when attention is given to protecting children from premature exposure to the "counterforce" of media.
Posted by Cyndia on August 1,2012 | 10:19 PM
As the Coordinator for the New England Symposium on Play I have had the honor of presenting three hour symposia across the New England States over the past 16 years! One very powerful comment came from some of the children in the local schools. This related to the fact that there is a discussion in some schools, in favor of the continued REDUCTION of recess time. The 5th graders were incensed. They wrote great letters and illustrations about the importance of getting outside to breath Real Air, to run, skip, jump and have the freedom to choose, the freedom to laugh and scream and enjoy each other's company. They went on to say, "Don't take away the only time that we have to see and be with each other and our friends in other classes. Dr. William H. Strader, Coordinator, New England Symposium on Play
Posted by William H. Strader on July 23,2012 | 02:26 PM
When my nephews were younger my sister used to let them watch a little TV as a way of giving herself break from two very active children. I noticed that when they were playing with each other or exploring their environment, they were "all movement". Their little hands were exploring, their eyes looking around at their world, their mouths making sounds, etc. When she would sit them in from the the TV, they would stop moving completely, as if frozen in space and time, their mouths would be slightly open, bodies completely still, mesmerized by the "idiot box". The transformation was really profound. I remember reading an article some years ago that talked about how young people have lost the ability to imagine/create because they did not grow up listening to stories, they have grown up watching stories. I encourage new parents to think about reducing the number of toys/video games, etc they give their children and instead just let them find everyday things they can use to create imaginary worlds. Surely this can benefit all of us in the long run. Cynthia Calmenson www.imcsr.com
Posted by Cynthia on July 18,2012 | 11:55 AM
I have been teaching Creative Drama to pre-schoolers for almost thirty years. I do not need study results or a scientist to tell me how important (I would say vital) creative play is for children. I only have to walk into a room of pre-schoolers, tell them we are going to act out a story, and watch their eyes light up, and their minds become engaged, and their ideas start pouring out. As a group we become creative problem solvers and discoverers of endless possibilities AND abilities. It never ceases to amaze and delight me.
Posted by Julie Krieckhaus on July 8,2012 | 04:44 PM
In nursery school my four year old daughter was asked if she would like to draw a Halloween picture with crayons. She drew an orange pumpkin with a small green pumpkin inside. When asked what the picture was about, she said the green pumpkin was the baby inside the mama pumpkin. Two concepts: babies grow inside mothers; green is new and unripe. This was a generation ago. Nowadays the nursery ("pre") schools seem to concentrate on school subjects and very "directed" activites rather than encouraging imagination and free play. A very sad development.
Posted by jill mack on July 1,2012 | 02:26 PM
When I worked in Orange County < NY , for the Child Care Council, I use to lecture about the importance of play, This was about 5 yrs ago. there are several books on the subject. Play is more important for social skills and self control among other things learning how to wait a turn , play fair, see wonder. Children are being asked to grow up too fast. Let them play. Let preschool be preschool where learning is balanced with play.
Posted by marlene on June 28,2012 | 05:53 PM