What happens in the brain when children play?
What kind of play is most important for children?
How can schools fit more play into the day?
This week, The Hechinger Report, in partnership with MindShift, answered those questions and more in a four-part series that examines the often overlooked, yet deeply consequential role of play in child development.
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 The Series |
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Part 1:
Senior reporter Jackie Mader spoke with some of the nation’s foremost experts on play to learn the benefits of different types of play, why it is so important to the development of young children, and what happens if children do not receive enough opportunities to engage in play.
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Part 2:
Mader visited a school in Seattle where the littlest learners spend most of their day engaged in all kinds of play. While such activity comes naturally to young children, experts have differing opinions on the types of play that are most beneficial. Play itself can be much more complex than observers realize.
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Part 3:
Opportunities for play in the classroom often dwindle by the time children reach third or fourth grade. Reporter Ariel Gilreath visited Oklahoma City where efforts are underway to buck that trend.
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Part 4:
Adolescents crave unstructured time with their friends and embrace playful learning as much as younger children, but there is often no time for play in a middle school environment. Senior editor Christina A. Samuels looks at the ways some schools are working in break time and play-based learning for older students.
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As you can see, our team of reporters found that although play is natural for children, opportunities to play in a school setting, and even outside of it, can be minimal and uneven. Hechinger reporters talked to educators across the country to discover how they overcome the many obstacles that stand in the way of increasing and improving play time.
All these stories can be found here, along with other Hechinger stories on play and activity. For more essential news and research about issues affecting young children, families and schools, please invite your friends and colleagues to sign up for the Hechinger Report’s early childhood newsletter. Please reach out to me with your thoughts, [email protected].
Christina A. Samuels
Deputy Managing Editor
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