essay the power of play

Family Life

The power of play: how fun and games help children thrive.

​By: Michael Yogman, MD, FAAP

More than just a chance to have fun, play is serious business when it comes to a child's health and development. From peek-a-boo to pat-a-cake and hide-and-seek to hopscotch, the many forms of play enrich a child's brain, body and life in important ways.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) clinical report, The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children , explains how and why playing with both parents and peers is key to building thriving brains, bodies and social bonds―all important in today's world. Research shows play can improve children's abilities to plan, organize, get along with others and regulate emotions. In addition, play helps with language, math and social skills, and even helps children cope with stress.

Age-specific ideas for playful learning

Learning is best fueled by tapping into a child's natural urge to play, rather than just outside factors like test scores. As they actively engage with and joyfully discover their world, children gain 21st century skills that increasingly call for teamwork and innovation.

The AAP encourages parents to use play to help meet their child's health and developmental milestones, beginning from birth. Some examples of ways to do this:

Birth to 6 months old

Playful learning can start with a baby's first smile . Responding with a smile of your own is a form of play that also teaches a baby a critical social-emotional skill : "You can get my attention and a smile from me anytime you want―just by smiling yourself."

Imitate your baby's coos and babbles and have back-and-forth "conversation" using your baby's sounds as a prompt. This sort of vocal turn-taking forms the basis of social language skills.

Show your baby interesting objects such as a brightly colored toy. Let them bring safe objects to their mouth to explore and experience new textures.

Place your baby in different positions so they can see the world from different angles. Supervised tummy time play is great for this.

7 to 12 months old

Make sure your baby has a safe environment to crawl and explore.

Give your baby opportunities to learn that their actions have effects —for example, when they drop a toy and it falls to the ground. Put a few toys within reach of your baby so they can take toys out and play with them.

Use a mirror to show your baby their different facial expressions.

Play peek-a-boo. This reinforces object permanence, the idea that something still exists even if you can see it. You'll know your baby gets the idea if you hide a toy under a blanket and they go looking for it.

Expose your baby to a variety of sensory experiences. Taking them outside to play on the grass or catch bubbles , for example, is a great way to do this.

1 to 3 years old

When choosing child care and preschools , look for those that include unstructured playtime. Playful learning, where children take the lead and follow their own curiosity, should be the main focus of high-quality early childhood education.

Let your child play with blocks, empty containers, wooden spoons, shape sorters and puzzles. Simple and inexpensive objects are some of the best ways to support a child's creativity and grasp of how the world works. Remember, it is parents and caregivers' presence and attention that enriches children―not fancy electronic gadgets.

Give your child opportunities to play with peers. This is a good age to try a parent-supervised playdate.

Help your child explore her body through different movements —for example, walking, jumping and standing on one leg.

Provide opportunities for make-believe play —for example, pretending to drink out of an empty cup or offering toys that enable pretend play.

Read regularly to and with your child. Encourage pretend play based on these stories. Ask your child to tell you what else might happen in the story.

Sing songs and play rhythms so that your child can learn and join in the fun. Encourage moving to the beat. Begin to introduce some age-appropriate games like Simon Says .

4 to 6 years old

Provide opportunities for your child to sing, dance and draw. Activities that involve music and art support cognitive, social-emotional and multisensory skills.

Tell stories to your child and ask questions about what they remember.

Give your child time and space to act out imaginary scenes , roles and activities. You can provide dress-up clothes and props, but allow play to be unstructured. Remember that some boredom allows for creativity.

Allow your child to move between make-believe games and reality —for example, playing house and helping you with chores.

Schedule time for your child to interact with friends to practice socializing and building friendships. This are great opportunities to encourage sharing and cooperative play.

Encourage your child to try a variety of movements in a safe environment—for example, hopping, swinging, climbing and doing somersaults.

Balance media use and screen time to with "real world" activities. Age-appropriate media can have benefits for older children, especially if you watch and play with them. But real-time social interactions and play are much better for children than digital media for learning. Create a family media plan to set some ground rules such as no media at the dinner table or in the bedroom.

Encourage your child's school to offer recess and playful learning approaches in addition to more structured learning activities like reading, memorization and worksheets.

Play as a toxic stress buster

In addition to boosting a child's health and development, play helps to build the safe, stable and nurturing relationships that buffer against toxic stress and build social-emotional resilience. The mutual joy and one-on-one interaction that happens during play can manage the body's stress response . In one study, 3- to 4-year-old children, anxious about entering preschool, were two times more likely to feel less stressed when allowed to play for 15 minutes, compared to classmates who listened to a story.

Giving your child plenty of opportunities to play is one of the best ways to help them grow into curious, creative, healthy, and happy adults equipped with the skills they need today. Next time your child asks to play with you, jump at the opportunity! Share the joy of discovery as you connect with each other and the world around you.

More information

• 10 No-Cost, Screen-Free Activities to Play with Your Preschooler
• 3 Ways Your Child Learns Important Life Skills Through Play
• Create a Family Media Use Plan
• The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children (AAP Clinical Report)
• Playful Learning Landscapes Action Network

Home » Learn » What is Play » The Power of Play

• The Power of Play

The Power of Play is a literature review which presents a strong body of evidence and expert opinion demonstrating the crucial role of play, especially outdoor play, in children’s enjoyment of their childhood, their health and their development.  It also discusses the importance of creating spaces and opportunities where children can play freely in their local neighbourhoods.

The importance of play in children’s daily lives and healthy development has become increasingly recognised in recent years. A growing body of evidence supports the view that playing, throughout childhood, is not only an innate behaviour but also contributes to children’s quality of life, their well-being and their physical, social, emotional and cognitive development. The type of environment for play is also important, having an impact on children’s experience, choices and relationships, both with other people and with the environment itself.

Much debate has taken place over the years about the precise role of play in children’s development. It has frequently been suggested that through playing children are practising skills for adult life. It is now becoming more widely accepted that play is a behaviour that exists for its own sake and has a fundamental developmental role. From the early stages of brain development and bonding with parents, to the independence and autonomy of the teenage years, play makes its contribution. As they grow, play offers children the opportunity to develop and hone a range of physical, emotional and social skills, helping them make sense of and relate to an increasingly complex physical and social world.

The right to play is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the importance of ensuring children have opportunities and spaces to play, where they feel safe and can enjoy themselves without adult direction, is now widely accepted.

It is also recognised in Scottish Government policy relating to early childhood, spatial planning and roads and traffic management. However, despite this, there are still some people who do not consider the need to invest in play spaces is as important as other types of investment.

“Children today still need the peace of a long, slow-paced, active and engaged childhood, with plenty of time to finger slime, peer into water, and make hosts of new discoveries that consolidate the process of knowing self and the world.”

Play in children’s health and wellbeing

There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the vital role of play to many aspects of children’s lives. Because playing includes such a wide variety of experiences it contributes in many different ways to children’s enjoyment and well-being. Imaginative and constructive play are thought to be particularly important for cognitive development whilst play involving art, craft and design help children develop the fine motor skills needed for handwriting. A range of play experiences contribute to, for example, language development, problem-solving, memory and creativity and the exercise involved in physically active play helps increase fitness.

Play in early childhood

Play in early childhood has been shown to influence the way the child’s brain develops. The neural and chemical reactions in the brain, created by the act of playing, support the development of coordinated physical and mental capabilities. The way in which parents play with their young children can also have an effect on their behaviour as they develop and there is some evidence that children whose parents play with them are less likely to have behaviour problems later on. In addition, active play in early childhood helps build strong bones, muscle strength and lung capacity and, whilst playing, children use their physical skills in spontaneous ways that help them develop sophisticated physical skills and coordinated movements.

Play and children’s cognitive development

There is considerable evidence that playing helps support children’s cognitive development. This includes the development of language skills, problem solving, gaining perspective, representational skills, memory and creativity. Although, to many adults, children’s activities whilst they are playing may look meaningless, they are important to and for the child, promoting the development of concentration and attention. Playing in outdoor environments with natural features can also support better concentration and self-discipline in children.

Play and children’s physical activity

Physical activity, through play and other activities, is important for children’s mental and cognitive development as well as their physical health. There is also some evidence that if children are physically active when they are young they are more likely to adopt healthy lifestyles as they grow up.

Active play is the most common form of physical activity for children outside of school and children get more exercise from play than from time spent at clubs and organised activities. Children who walk and play a lot tend also to exhibit greater levels of activity in other areas of their lives. The aspects of physically active play most enjoyed by children include choice, fun, friends, achievement and the possibilities of competition. The element of fun tends to over-ride any known health benefits.

Play and children’s mental health

Playing allows children the opportunity to explore their feelings and express themselves in a relatively safe environment, even if these feelings are confusing or painful, and the development of a sense of self through play can influence children’s ability to cope with stress. In addition there is increasing evidence that spending time in natural environments can help children who are regularly exposed to stressful events, to be less anxious and have a stronger sense of self-worth. Playing and spending time in more natural environments has also been shown to help alleviate the symptoms of ADHD in some children.

Play and children’s emotional well-being

When children are playing they are emotionally immersed in what they are doing, often expressing and working out the emotional aspects of their everyday lives. This helps them understand their own feelings and those of others. In addition, play helps children build resilience through supporting the development and understanding of relationships and through experiencing positive feelings and reactions. The pleasure and satisfaction children experience whilst playing encourages them to extend their interests and creativity, and the excitement and anxiety linked to trying new things helps children learn ways of reacting to other unknown situations.

Play and children’s social development

For children play is often a social experience, shared with others. Through play children create and establish friendships. The extent to which they feel part of a group is linked to their opportunities to play with other children. Playing freely with others helps children learn how to see things from differing points of view through cooperating, sharing, helping and solving problems. For children, the social skills they learn through playing can be as important as what they learn at school. Having friends at school and outside of school is important both for protection and companionship, and friendships allow children some independence from family life.

For disabled children at specialist schools opportunities to make friends locally through play can be particularly important. The nature of the relationships children develop through play can be influenced by the type of environment as well as the social backgrounds of the children.

Play and learning about risk and challenge

As they grow and develop children need to learn about risk and how to manage it. It is argued that experiencing the unexpected during play offers children the chance to challenge their physical, emotional and social boundaries, building the skills to understand risk. Risk takes many different forms and, although not always welcome, is seen by children as something they need to manage. If children’s activities are dominated by adults their opportunities for testing themselves at their own pace are inhibited. Adult restrictions on children’s play can create situations where children will look elsewhere, often to seriously dangerous situations, to get the excitement they might otherwise find through play.

Play as therapy

Play and play work practice is used throughout hospitals and other places caring for children to increase their enjoyment, aid their recovery and support both their physical and mental health.

If children are to enjoy the full benefits of play, the adults around them must understand and value the power of free play and ensure the provision of good quality spaces and opportunities that meet the needs of children of differing ages, abilities, interests and cultures. The local spaces where children might play must be good quality, near their homes, where they and their parents feel safe, and offer natural features, space to move around and a variety of opportunities for physical, emotional and social activity.

Getting it Right for Play: The Power of Play

Getting it Right for Play: Childrens Play in Scotland – the policy context

Getting it Right for Play: The Power of Play: an evidence base – summary

Getting it Right for Play: The Power of Play: an evidence base

Getting it Right for Play Toolkit: To assess and improve local play opportunities

Power Of Play Leaflet

What is Play

Resource library:, upcoming events.

No Events Found

The Power of Play

Research shows that there is real power in play. Through play, children develop the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills they need to thrive both now and into their futures. 

Play is both fun and a vital way that children learn about themselves and the world around them. It’s the very best way for them to think creatively and take healthy risks as they develop their own interests, capabilities, and lifelong learning skills. From exploring new things to overcoming fears and obstacles to making new friends, play matters in children’s lives. Play builds the skills, emotional wellbeing, and resilience that children need to succeed in even the most challenging situations.

Children benefit from playing alone, with other children, and with the adults in their lives. Playing together builds strong, healthy relationships. It allows adults to relax and see their children as the smart, capable young people they are—especially when children lead the play! 

At Boston Children’s Museum, we are experts in creating opportunities for children (and their adults) to use the power of play to build curiosity, skills, and confidence. To us—and to children—there is purpose in play. But it’s not play and learning. It’s play for learning. Play for social connection. Play for health. Play for wellbeing. Play for success. And play for joy.

Resources on play: 

• Play in early childhood: The role of play in any setting (Center on the Developing Child)
• Learning Through Play Lego Foundation 
• The Power of Play from the American Academy of Pediatrics
• Articles for Families on Play from the National Association for the Education of Young Children
• Twenty-six studies point to more play-based learning from the Hechinger Report

Play and Learning

Laura Schultz, Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at MIT, discusses the important relationship between play and learning and how play impacts cognitive development in children.

Prescription for Play

Dr. Ken Ginsburg, Pediatrician and Child Development Researcher, Children’s Hospital Philadelphia, & Marilyn Benoit, Chief Clinical Officer at Devereux Behavioral Health discuss the importance self-directed play for the healthy development of children.

Play in Early Childhood: The Role of Play in Any Setting

Learn more about how play can foster children’s resilience to hardship, and how the complex interactions involved when children play help build their brains.

InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood Development

This video addresses basic concepts of early childhood development, which help illustrate why child development—particularly from birth to five years—is a foundation for a prosperous and sustainable society. 

100 Ideas for Play

What are we learning?

Find out how the Museum prioritizes exploration and play as two fundamental processes for learning. 

Disclaimer » Advertising

• HealthyChildren.org

• Previous Article
• Next Article

INTRODUCTION

The benefits of play, reduced child-driven play and the potential repercussions, factors that have changed the routine of childhood, why is it a problem, family considerations, what are the solutions, advice for pediatricians *, conclusions, committee on communications, 2006–2007, committee on psychosocial aspects of child and family health, 2006–2007, consultants, the importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds.

• Split-Screen
• Article contents
• Figures & tables
• Supplementary Data
• Peer Review
• CME Quiz Close Quiz
• Open the PDF for in another window
• Get Permissions
• Cite Icon Cite
• Search Site

Kenneth R. Ginsburg , and the Committee on Communications , and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds. Pediatrics January 2007; 119 (1): 182–191. 10.1542/peds.2006-2697

Download citation file:

• Ris (Zotero)
• Reference Manager

Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children. Despite the benefits derived from play for both children and parents, time for free play has been markedly reduced for some children. This report addresses a variety of factors that have reduced play, including a hurried lifestyle, changes in family structure, and increased attention to academics and enrichment activities at the expense of recess or free child-centered play. This report offers guidelines on how pediatricians can advocate for children by helping families, school systems, and communities consider how best to ensure that play is protected as they seek the balance in children’s lives to create the optimal developmental milieu.

Play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child. 1   This birthright is challenged by forces including child labor and exploitation practices, war and neighborhood violence, and the limited resources available to children living in poverty. However, even those children who are fortunate enough to have abundant available resources and who live in relative peace may not be receiving the full benefits of play. Many of these children are being raised in an increasingly hurried and pressured style that may limit the protective benefits they would gain from child-driven play. Because every child deserves the opportunity to develop to their unique potential, child advocates must consider all factors that interfere with optimal development and press for circumstances that allow each child to fully reap the advantages associated with play.

No single set of guidelines could do justice to the many factors that impact on children’s play, even if it was to focus only on children living in the United States. These guidelines will focus on how American children with adequate resources may be limited from enjoying the full developmental assets associated with play because of a family’s hurried lifestyle as well as an increased focus on the fundamentals of academic preparation in lieu of a broader view of education. Those forces that prevent children in poverty and the working class from benefiting fully from play deserve full, even urgent, attention, and will be addressed in a future document. Those issues that impact on play for children with limited resources will be mentioned briefly here to reinforce that play contributes to optimal child development for all children and that we must advocate for the changes specific to the need of each child’s social and environmental context that would enhance the opportunities for play.

These guidelines were written in response to the multiple forces that challenge play. The overriding premise is that play (or some available free time in the case of older children and adolescents) is essential to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. Although the guidelines were written in defense of play, they should not be interpreted as being against other forces that compete for children’s time. Academic enrichment opportunities are vital for some children’s ability to progress academically, and participation in organized activities is known to promote healthy youth development. 2 , 3   It is essential that a wide variety of programming remain available to meet the needs of both children and families. Rather, these guidelines call for an inclusion of play as we seek the balance in children’s lives that will create the optimal developmental milieu to prepare our children to be academically, socially, and emotionally equipped to lead us into the future.

Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. 4 – 6   It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them. Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers. 7 – 14   As they master their world, play helps children develop new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and the resiliency they will need to face future challenges. 7 , 10 , 15   Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills. 7 , 10 , 11 , 16   When play is allowed to be child driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest, and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue. 7 , 10 , 11   Ideally, much of play involves adults, but when play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some of the benefits play offers them, particularly in developing creativity, leadership, and group skills. 17   In contrast to passive entertainment, play builds active, healthy bodies. In fact, it has been suggested that encouraging unstructured play may be an exceptional way to increase physical activity levels in children, which is one important strategy in the resolution of the obesity epidemic. 18 , 19   Perhaps above all, play is a simple joy that is a cherished part of childhood.

Children’s developmental trajectory is critically mediated by appropriate, affective relationships with loving and consistent caregivers as they relate to children through play. 4   When parents observe their children in play or join with them in child-driven play, they are given a unique opportunity to see the world from their child’s vantage point as the child navigates a world perfectly created just to fit his or her needs. (The word “parent” is used in this report to represent the wide range of adult caregivers who raise children.) The interactions that occur through play tell children that parents are fully paying attention to them and help to build enduring relationships. 6 , 13 , 14 , 20 , 21   Parents who have the opportunity to glimpse into their children’s world learn to communicate more effectively with their children and are given another setting to offer gentle, nurturing guidance. Less verbal children may be able to express their views, experiences, and even frustrations through play, allowing their parents an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of their perspective. Quite simply, play offers parents a wonderful opportunity to engage fully with their children.

Play is integral to the academic environment. It ensures that the school setting attends to the social and emotional development of children as well as their cognitive development. It has been shown to help children adjust to the school setting and even to enhance children’s learning readiness, learning behaviors, and problem-solving skills. 22 – 32   Social-emotional learning is best integrated with academic learning; it is concerning if some of the forces that enhance children’s ability to learn are elevated at the expense of others. Play and unscheduled time that allow for peer interactions are important components of social-emotional learning. 33 , 34  

Despite the numerous benefits derived from play for both children and parents, time for free play has been markedly reduced for some children. This trend has even affected kindergarten children, who have had free play reduced in their schedules to make room for more academics. A 1989 survey taken by the National Association of Elementary School Principals found that 96% of surveyed school systems had at least 1 recess period. Another survey a decade later found that only 70% of even kindergarten classrooms had a recess period. 35 , 36  

Currently, many schoolchildren are given less free time and fewer physical outlets at school; many school districts responded to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 37   by reducing time committed to recess, the creative arts, and even physical education in an effort to focus on reading and mathematics. 38 , 39   This change may have implications on children’s ability to store new information, because children’s cognitive capacity is enhanced by a clear-cut and significant change in activity. 35 , 40   A change in academic instruction or class topic does not offer this clear-cut change in cognitive effort and certainly does not offer a physical release. Even a formal structured physical education class may not offer the same benefit as free-play recess. 35 , 41   Reduced time for physical activity may be contributing to the discordant academic abilities between boys and girls, because schools that promote sedentary styles of learning become a more difficult environment for boys to navigate successfully. 42 , 43  

Some children are given less time for free exploratory play as they are hurried to adapt into adult roles and prepare for their future at earlier ages. 44 – 46   Parents are receiving carefully marketed messages that good parents expose their children to every opportunity to excel, buy a plethora of enrichment tools, and ensure their children participate in a wide variety of activities. 45 , 47   Children are exposed to enrichment videos and computer programs from early infancy as well as specialized books and toys designed to ensure that they are well-rounded and adequately stimulated for excelled development. Specialized gyms and enrichment programs designed for children exist in many communities, and there is an abundance of after-school enrichment activities. These tools and programs are heavily marketed, and many parents have grown to believe that they are a requirement of good parenting and a necessity for appropriate development. As a result, much of parent-child time is spent arranging special activities or transporting children between those activities. In addition to time, considerable family financial resources are being invested to ensure that the children have what are marketed as the “very best” opportunities. 33 , 34 , 47 – 49  

It is clear that organized activities have a developmental benefit for children, especially in contrast to completely unsupervised time. 2   Some research substantiates that for most children, benefits increase with higher levels of participation. 2   In addition, it has been suggested that because this lifestyle is associated with middle-class families, it may have a benefit in maintaining social class or in creating upward mobility. 50   It is less clear, however, at what point a young person may be “overscheduled” to their developmental detriment or emotional distress. Free child-driven play known to benefit children is decreased, and the downtime that allows parents and children some of the most productive time for interaction is at a premium when schedules become highly packed with adult-supervised or adult-driven activities. 45 – 47 , 51 , 52  

It is left to parents to judge appropriate levels of involvement, but many parents seem to feel as though they are running on a treadmill to keep up yet dare not slow their pace for fear their children will fall behind. In addition, some worry they will not be acting as proper parents if they do not participate in this hurried lifestyle. 45 – 47 , 51 , 52  

Although most highly scheduled children are thriving, 2   some are reacting to the associated pressures with anxiety and other signs of increased stress. 45 , 46 , 53   In this regard, highly scheduled children have less time for free, child-driven, creative play, 45 , 46 , 47 , 54   which offers benefits that may be protective against the effects of pressure and stress. 45 , 54   There is evidence that childhood and adolescent depression is on the rise through the college years. 55 – 60   Although there are certainly many factors involved, and a direct link between the early pressure-filled intense preparation for a high-achieving adulthood and these mental health concerns cannot be made on the basis of current research, it is important that we consider the possibility of this linkage. We can be certain that in some families, the protective influences of both play and high-quality family time are negatively affected by the current trends toward highly scheduling children.

As trusted child advocates, pediatric health professionals are ideally suited to help parents consider the appropriate balance between preparing for the future and living fully in the present through play, child-centered organized activities, and rich parent-child interaction. It is likely that the balance that needs to be achieved will be different for every child on the basis of the child’s academic needs, temperament, environment, and the family’s needs. Because there are so many forces that influence the trend toward focusing on future preparation, it is important that parents have a medical home that can reinforce the importance of some of the basic, tried-and-true aspects of child rearing.

There may be as many explanations for the current trends as there are families, but several key factors that have led to decreased free play should be considered.

There are more families with a single head of household or 2 working parents and fewer multigenerational households in which grandparents and extended family members can watch the children. Therefore, fewer families have available adult supervision in the home during the workday, which makes it necessary for children to be in child care or other settings in which they can be monitored by adults throughout the day. 61   Organized after-school activities and academic enrichment opportunities offer valuable alternatives to children who might otherwise be left with minimal or no adult supervision.

Many parents have learned how to become increasingly efficient in balancing work and home schedules. They wish to make the most effective use of limited time with their children and believe that facilitating their children to have every opportunity is the best use of that time. Some may use some of the standards of efficiency and productivity they have mastered at work to judge their own effectiveness as parents; this is sometimes referred to as the professionalization of parenthood. 51   This phenomenon may create guilt in parents who find it difficult to balance competing demands after a taxing workday. Parents who understand that high-interaction, at-home activities (eg, reading or playing with children) present opportunities for highly effective parenting may feel less stress than those who feel compelled to arrange out-of-home opportunities.

Parents receive messages from a variety of sources stating that good parents actively build every skill and aptitude their child might need from the earliest ages. They are deluged in parenting magazines and in the media with a wide range of enrichment tools and activities that tout their ability to produce super-achieving children. They read about parents who go to extreme efforts, at great personal sacrifice, to make sure their children participate in a variety of athletic and artistic opportunities. They hear other parents in the neighborhood talk about their overburdened schedules and recognize it is the culture and even expectation of parents. 51 , 52  

The college-admissions process has become much more rigorous in recent years, largely because of a baby boom hitting the college years. Parents receive the message that if their children are not well prepared, well balanced, and high-achieving, they will not get a desired spot in higher education. Even parents who wish to take a lower-key approach to child rearing fear slowing down when they perceive everyone else is on the fast track. 62 , 63   Children are encouraged to build a college resume through both academic excellence and a wide variety of activities and volunteer efforts starting at younger ages. In some cases, parents feel pressured to help their child build a strong resume.

In response to the increasingly rigorous college-admissions process, many secondary schools are judged by the rates in which their students are accepted by the most prestigious centers of higher learning. Partly in response to this, many students have been encouraged to carry increasingly rigorous academic schedules, including multiple advanced-placement courses. In addition, many students are taking preparation courses for standardized entrance examinations. These students are left with less free time because of the home preparatory time needed for their classes.

The pressure for admission to select schools begins for some families long before college. Selection for private preschool programs can even be competitive, and parents may need to consider how best to “package” their preschoolers.

There is a national trend to focus on the academic fundamentals of reading and arithmetic. This trend, spearheaded by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, is a reaction to the unacceptable educational performance of America’s children in some educational settings. One of the practical effects of the trend is decreased time left during the school day for other academic subjects, as well as recess, creative arts, and physical education. 38 , 39   This trend may have implications for the social and emotional development of children and adolescents. 33   In addition, many after-school child care programs prioritize an extension of academics and homework completion over organized play, free play, and physical activity. 64  

The decrease in free play can also be explained by children being passively entertained through television or computer/video games. In sharp contrast to the health benefits of active, creative play and the known developmental benefits of an appropriate level of organized activities, there is ample evidence that this passive entertainment is not protective and, in fact, has some harmful effects. 65 – 68  

In many communities, children cannot play safely outside of the home unless they are under close adult supervision and protection. This is particularly true in areas that are unsafe because of increased violence or other environmental dangers.

It would be wrong to assume that the current trends are a problem for all children; some excel with a highly driven schedule. Because we need skilled young people to be well prepared to be tomorrow’s leaders, we must recognize the advantages to the increased exposures and enriched academics some of our children are receiving. In fact, many of our children, particularly those in poverty, should receive more enrichment activities. But even children who are benefiting from this enrichment still need some free unscheduled time for creative growth, self-reflection, and decompression and would profit from the unique developmental benefits of child-driven play.

However, for some children, this hurried lifestyle is a source of stress and anxiety and may even contribute to depression. 45 , 46   Increased pressure to achieve is likely to manifest in school avoidance and somatic symptoms. 69 – 72   The challenge for society, schools, and parents is to strike the balance that allows all children to reach their potential without pushing them beyond their personal comfort limits and while allowing them personal free playtime.

It appears that the increased pressures of adolescence have left some young people less equipped to manage the transition toward the college years. Many student health services and counseling centers on college campuses have not been able to keep pace with the increased need for mental health services, and surveys have substantiated this need by reporting an increase in depression and anxiety among college students. 57 – 59   A survey by the American College Health Association reported that 61% of college students had feelings of hopelessness during the previous academic year, 45% felt so depressed they had trouble functioning, and 9% suffered suicidal ideation. 57   Several studies have linked feelings of anxiety and depression with that of perfectionism and an overly critical self-evaluation. 72 – 77   Other studies have linked this perfectionism with highly critical parents who instill pressures to excel. 78 – 82   Perfectionism is challenging to the individual and has a broader effect on society because it may stifle creativity and unencumbered thinking. 83   There are no longitudinal studies that directly link intense preparation for adulthood during childhood to this rise in mental health needs, and there certainly are other causes, but some experts believe today’s pressured lifestyle is an important contributor. 46 , 84  

Children may also have received an unintended message from this hurried, intense preparation for adulthood. They may have learned that the end-point goal—the best school or the best job—must be reached at all costs. High schools, colleges, and universities throughout the country are reporting that more students may be cheating to achieve the desired end result of a superior grade. 85 , 86   Despite grade inflation over the last decades, many teachers report increased stress in students when they achieve less-than-perfect scores. 87 – 89   This competitive era may be producing a minority of young people so intensely worried about the appearance of high achievement that they will forsake core values such as fairness and honesty for the sake of acquiring good grades.

Some families whose children are highly scheduled may also suffer. Adults who may already be burdened by work responsibilities and maintaining a household find themselves sacrificing their downtime because they need to arrange activities and transport children between appointments. 45 – 47   In addition, because of the pressures they feel to meet every one of the needs they perceive (or are told) their child requires to excel, they may feel inadequate and ultimately have less personal satisfaction in parenting. 51 , 52   Most importantly, parents lose the opportunity for perhaps the highest-quality time with their children. Some of the best interactions occur during downtime—just talking, preparing meals together, and working on a hobby or art project, playing sports together, or being fully immersed in child-centered play.

As parents prepare their children for the future, they cannot know precisely which skills each will need for the workforce. With added anxiety over their inability to adequately predict the future, they become susceptible to the promises of success and full preparation offered by all of the special enrichment programs and vulnerable to the belief that if their children are at least exposed to everything, they will have the best chance to be prepared. Although no one can be sure what skills will be needed, certain character traits will produce children capable of navigating an increasingly complex world as they grow older. These traits include confidence, competence or the ability to master the environment, and a deep-seated connectedness to and caring about others that create the love, safety, and security that children need to thrive. In addition, to be resilient—to remain optimistic and be able to rebound from adversity—young people need the essential character traits of honesty, generosity, decency, tenacity, and compassion. Children are most likely to gain all of these essential traits of resiliency within a home in which parents and children have time to be together and to look to each other for positive support and unconditional love. 90 – 95   Many families are successfully navigating a wide variety of commitments without sacrificing high-quality parent-child time, 2   but some families’ ability to maintain essential parent-child time may be compromised by this hurried lifestyle. In these families, overscheduling may lead to less emotionally competent, well-buffered children.

Because there are at least several causes for the decreased amount of child-directed play, there is no single position that child advocates should take. For example, in the case of a child who is economically disadvantaged and does not reside in a safe neighborhood, it may be unwise to simply propose more child-centered play. Although parents can be encouraged to optimize conditions for this kind of play in the home, there must be broad societal responses that address poverty, social inequities, and violence before we can advise parents to allow unsupervised play. In addition, for children in poverty, enhanced child care services, early community-based education (eg, Head Start), increased academic programming, more enrichment activities, and greater opportunities for community-based adult-supervised activities are warranted. Some of the needed solutions for this group of disadvantaged children remain beyond the scope of this article and are raised here to emphasize that the suggestions offered here need to be individualized; one size does not fit all.

For all children, however, advocates need to promote the implementation of those strategies known to promote healthy youth development and resiliency. Some of those strategies are community based, and others are school based, but many reside within the family. They are rooted in the deep connection that develops when parents engage with their children. 92 , 93 , 95   Play remains an ideal venue for parents to engage fully, and child professionals must reinforce the value of this play. Some play must remain entirely child driven, with parents either not present or as passive observers, because play builds some of the individual assets children need to develop and remain resilient.

Parents need to feel supported to not passively accept the media and advertising messages that suggest there are more valuable means of promoting success and happiness in children than the tried, trusted, and traditional methods of play and family togetherness. Purveyors of these special programs should be encouraged to produce long-term evidence that define how their products/strategies produce more successful children. In parallel, we would encourage independent researchers to evaluate both the benefits and problems associated with these enrichment tools. Researchers should also continue to explore the type and quantity of activities that are likely to be enriching for children with different needs.

Colleges are seeing a generation of students who appear to be manifesting increased signs of depression, anxiety, perfectionism, and stress. They should clarify their messages about the type of students they seek in the face of widespread folklore that they seek only super-achieving students. Colleges certainly seek a physically and emotionally healthy student body with the character traits that support learning. Colleges could reduce the stress levels of young people and their parents if they offered clear, more realistic expectations about the type of students they seek and helped families to understand that there is a match for each reasonably prepared student. In addition, colleges should address the myth that desirable students are those who excel in every area. In the adult world, people rarely excel in more than 1 or 2 areas, while well-balanced individuals enjoy several others. Colleges should recognize the possibility that when children believe that they must excel in all areas to gain admission, they might respond to those perceived and unrealistic expectations with stress and anxiety. 62 , 63  

In the midst of so many conflicting messages about what parents should do to prepare their child for what is perceived to be an increasingly complicated, competitive world, pediatricians have a natural role to serve as caring, objective child professionals with whom parents can discuss their approach to child rearing and reflect on their own desires for their children. Because pediatricians have a unique and important role in promoting the physical, emotional, and social well-being of children and adolescents, it is important that they promote strategies that will support children to be resilient and to reduce excessive stressors in their lives.

Pediatricians can promote free play as a healthy, essential part of childhood. They should recommend that all children are afforded ample, unscheduled, independent, nonscreen time to be creative, to reflect, and to decompress. They should emphasize that although parents can certainly monitor play for safety, a large proportion of play should be child driven rather than adult directed.

Pediatricians should emphasize the advantages of active play and discourage parents from the overuse of passive entertainment (eg, television and computer games).

Pediatricians should emphasize that active child-centered play is a time-tested way of producing healthy, fit young bodies.

Pediatricians should emphasize the benefits of “true toys” such as blocks and dolls, with which children use their imagination fully, over passive toys that require limited imagination.

Pediatricians can educate families regarding the protective assets and increased resiliency developed through free play and some unscheduled time.

Pediatricians can reinforce that parents who share unscheduled spontaneous time with their children and who play with their children are being wonderfully supportive, nurturing, and productive.

Pediatricians can discuss that, although very well intentioned, arranging the finest opportunities for their children may not be parents’ best opportunity for influence and that shuttling their children between numerous activities may not be the best quality time. Children will be poised for success, basking in the knowledge that their parents absolutely and unconditionally love them. This love and attention is best demonstrated when parents serve as role models and family members make time to cherish one another: time to be together, to listen, and to talk, nothing more and nothing less. Pediatricians can remind parents that the most valuable and useful character traits that will prepare their children for success arise not from extracurricular or academic commitments but from a firm grounding in parental love, role modeling, and guidance.

Pediatricians should be a stable force, reminding parents that the cornerstones of parenting—listening, caring, and guiding through effective and developmentally appropriate discipline—and sharing pleasurable time together are the true predictors of childhood, and they serve as a springboard toward a happy, successful adulthood.

Pediatricians should help parents evaluate the claims made by marketers and advertisers about the products or interventions designed to produce super-children.

Pediatricians should emphasize the proven benefits of reading to their children, even at very early ages.

Pediatricians can be available to parents as sounding boards to help parents evaluate the specific needs of their child in terms of promoting resiliency, developing confidence and competence, and ultimately enhancing that child’s trajectory toward a successful future.

Pediatricians can support parents to organize playgroups beginning at an early preschool age of approximately 2.5 to 3 years, when many children move from parallel play to cooperative play in the process of socialization.

Pediatricians can advocate for developing “safe spaces” in underresourced neighborhoods, perhaps by opening school, library, or community facilities to be used by children and their parents after school hours and on weekends.

Pediatricians can educate themselves about appropriate resources in their own community that foster play and healthy child development and have this information available to share with parents.

Pediatricians should support children having an academic schedule that is appropriately challenging and extracurricular exposures that offer appropriate balance. What is appropriate has to be determined individually for each child on the basis of their unique needs, skills, and temperament, not on the basis of what may be overly pressurized or competitive community standards or a perceived need to gain college admissions.

Pediatricians should encourage parents to allow children to explore a variety of interests in a balanced way without feeling pressured to excel in each area. Pediatricians should encourage parents to avoid conveying the unrealistic expectation that each young person needs to excel in multiple areas to be considered successful or prepared to compete in the world. In parallel, they should promote balance in those youth who are strongly encouraged to become expert in only 1 area (eg, a particular sport or musical instrument) to the detriment of having the opportunity to explore other areas of interest.

As parents choose child care and early education programs for their children, pediatricians can reinforce the importance of choosing settings that offer more than “academic preparedness.” They should be guided to also pay attention to whether the settings attend to the social and emotional developmental needs of the children.

Pediatricians can join with other child professionals and parents to advocate for educational settings that promote optimal academic, cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development for children and youth.

Pediatricians should assess their patients for the manifestations of stress, anxiety, and depression in family-centered interviews for children and privately conducted interviews with adolescents.

Because stress often manifests with physical sensations, pediatricians should be highly sensitized to stress as an underlying cause of somatic illness.

Pediatricians should refer to appropriate mental health professionals when children or their parents show signs of excessive stress, anxiety, or depression.

Play is a cherished part of childhood that offers children important developmental benefits and parents the opportunity to fully engage with their children. However, multiple forces are interacting to effectively reduce many children’s ability to reap the benefits of play. As we strive to create the optimal developmental milieu for children, it remains imperative that play be included along with academic and social-enrichment opportunities and that safe environments be made available to all children. Additional research is needed to explore the appropriate balance of play, academic enrichment, and organized activities for children with different temperaments and social, emotional, intellectual, and environmental needs.

Donald L. Shifrin, MD, Chairperson

Daniel D. Broughton, MD

Benard P. Dreyer, MD

Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD

Regina M. Milteer, MD

Deborah A. Mulligan, MD

Kathleen G. Nelson, MD

Tanya R. Altmann, MD

Media Resource Team

Michael Brody, MD

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Michelle L. Shuffett, MD

Brian Wilcox, PhD

American Psychological Association

Carolyn Kolbaba

Veronica L. Noland

Marjorie Tharp

William L. Coleman, MD, Chairperson

Marian F. Earls, MD

Edward Goldson, MD

Cheryl L. Hausman, MD

Benjamin S. Siegel, MD

Thomas J. Sullivan, MD

J. Lane Tanner, MD

Ronald T. Brown, PhD

Society of Pediatric Psychology

Mary Jo Kupst, Phd, MD

Sally E.A. Longstaffe, MD

Canadian Paediatric Society

Janet Mims, MS, CPNP

National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners

Frances J. Wren

George J. Cohen, MD

Karen Smith

All clinical reports from the American Academy of Pediatrics automatically expire 5 years after publication unless reaffirmed, revised, or retired at or before that time.

The guidance in this report does not indicate an exclusive course of treatment or serve as a standard of medical care. Variations, taking into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate.

This guidance is offered by the American Academy of Pediatrics and, therefore, is targeted to pediatricians. Other health professionals who serve children and adolescents, including other physicians, pediatric and family nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, are welcome to consider incorporating these guidelines into practice.

Play Beyond the Kids

As a clinician specializing in working with children and an advocate/practitioner of Play Therapy, I must applaud the alert this article provides about the risks of the lost learning opportunities and the “unintended message from this hurried, intense preparation for adulthood” of our increasingly less ‘playful’ society. Research has for many years recognized the cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral benefits of providing children with unstructured, child-centered play time; HOWEVER, as important as play is for children, it is (at least) nearly equally important for adults. Popular phrases are popular because of their resonance of truth and what is it we do when we are struggling with the challenges of life? What is the process we engage in to reach a resolution? We “play with an idea”!! Most adults do so in their thoughts alone whereas others also interact with their environment as part of this process. I suggest that this devaluation and denial of play’s importance to adult health is a second major contributant to the general devaluation by our society of the power and importance of play. I would contend that play is, even for adults, the foundation of contentment and achievement. We need to advocate for adults, just as for children, to engage the world with that ‘playfulness’ that allows us to see the many possibilities and options each of our life experiences exposes. We need to remember what these people knew:

G.B. Shaw: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing”

R. von Oech: “Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father.”

G.K. Chesterson:“The true object of all human life is play.”

Respectfully submitted: T.G. Borkan, PhD-Psychologist

Conflict of Interest:

None declared

Advertising Disclaimer »

Citing articles via

Email alerts.

Affiliations

• Editorial Board
• Editorial Policies
• Journal Blogs
• Pediatrics On Call
• Online ISSN 1098-4275
• Print ISSN 0031-4005
• Pediatrics Open Science
• Hospital Pediatrics
• Pediatrics in Review
• AAP Grand Rounds
• Latest News
• Pediatric Care Online
• Red Book Online
• Pediatric Patient Education
• AAP Toolkits
• AAP Pediatric Coding Newsletter

First 1,000 Days Knowledge Center

Institutions/librarians, group practices, licensing/permissions, integrations, advertising.

• Privacy Statement | Accessibility Statement | Terms of Use | Support Center | Contact Us
• © Copyright American Academy of Pediatrics

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Learning through play: what the science says

Do you know that play builds brains? We look at research that shows how playful learning experiences lay the foundations for brain development and develops 21st century skills

Our brains literally change as we learn

In a sense, what we do is who we are. We now have a large – and growing – pool of evidence to show that learning through play is the best way to support learning. Children are natural scientists – they come into the world ready to experiment and learn through play. And they use what they discover to not only adapt the structure of their brains, but also strengthen the skills they need to continue being engaged, flexible learners for their whole lives.

The evidence keeps mounting that play is the best way for children to learn – and thrive

From our earliest days, play is how we relate to the world, and to each other. When children have plenty of opportunities to learn playfully, they do what they do best: pursue their natural curiosity. And, as they do, they build skills and aptitudes they’ll keep for life. There’s a wealth of science behind our understanding of learning through play: studies in teaching and learning, play, and neuroscience. Here are three key things to take from the research.

Five key characteristics unlock playful learning

Research shows that people learn best from experiences that are joyful, that meaningfully connect the play to their lives, actively engaging, allow testing things iteratively and are socially interactive. Children won’t always experience all of those characteristics at the same time – and that’s fine. But it’s another reason children need lots of different kinds of play. Each strand helps them weave a strong and flexible tapestry of skills to use throughout their lives.

How the five characteristics of playful learning experiences help children grow and thrive

Here’s a quick look at how these qualities help children build their brains as they play

Access the full research papers

Play unlocks essential skills

Our world never stops changing, so how do we prepare children to navigate it? We let them play. Children thrive on play. It’s also perfect practice for tomorrow. Given the chance to think, negotiate, adapt to new rules and try again when things don’t go to plan, children develop essential skills that’ll last a lifetime.

Dive into our latest news, research, blogs and project stories

Ready to play?

When children play, they learn. They solve problems, think strategically, relate to others, and manage life’s ups and downs. Play helps children learn how to learn – and love learning. We've gathered some of our favourite games. You can play them anywhere – using things you find at home.

Ages: 6-9 years

Duration: 60+ minutes

Act Like an Animal

Ages: 0-3 years

Duration: 15-30 minutes

Cotton Colours

Duration: 30-60 minutes

Colour Hunt

Ages: 3-6 years

Duration: Under 15 minutes

Funny Statistics

More research

• NAEYC Login
• Member Profile
• Hello Community
• Accreditation Portal
• Online Learning
• Online Store

Popular Searches:   DAP ;  Coping with COVID-19 ;  E-books ;  Anti-Bias Education ;  Online Store

You are here

Play is an important part of children's learning and development. Find articles on how to intentionally connect play and learning, ideas to share with families, and the latest research about learning and play.

How Play Connects to Learning

The Case of Brain Science and Guided Play: A Developing Story

Preschoolers Play With Bamboo

Play Games, Learn Math! Explore Numbers and Counting with Dot Card and Finger Games

The Beauty of Early Childhood Mathematics: Playful Math = Engaged Learning

Rocking and Rolling: It's Never "Just Play"!

Our Proud Heritage: Outdoor Play Is Essential to Whole Child Development

Must read books about play and learning.

Serious Fun: How Guided Play Extends Children's Learning

From Play to Practice: Connecting Teachers' Play to Children's Learning

Spotlight on Young Children: Exploring Play

To share with families.

10 Things Every Parent Should Know About Play

Five Essentials to Meaningful Play

How to Support Children’s Approaches to Learning? Play with Them!

Self-Directed Play: In the Moment Children Can’t Always Answer “What Are You Doing?”

Why This Toy?

Top 10 No-Cost Toys for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers

Most recent.

Rocking and Rolling. Supporting Curiosity and Inquiry in Early Social Studies

Authored by.

Winter 2023

Shifting from a Classroom of Reluctant Compliance to a Classroom of Responsive Curiosity

Eight Ways to Encourage Math Learning During Risky Outdoor Play

Eliminate Barriers to Risk Taking in Outdoor Play

Ask Hello. How Do You Use Loose Parts and Other Objects in the Dramatic Play and Kitchen Centers?

Planning to Play: Empowering Teachers to Empower Children (Voices)

Rainy day, let’s play outdoor learning for all (voices).

Rocking and Rolling. Nurturing Early Math Play and Discovery

Preschoolers at Play: Choosing the Right Stuff for Learning and Development (E-Book)

Learning Together: Collaborative, Play-Based STEAM Practices in the COVID Era

Message in a Backpack™ Harnessing the Joy of Open-Ended Materials with Your Child 

"How Do You Spell Butterfly?" Connecting Play to Content Learning

Summer 2022

Teachers’ Reflections on DAP in Action: Share Your Own Story 

DAP During the Time of COVID: Opportunities for Joyful, Engaged Learning

The What and How of Using Play Materials: Supporting Learning, Development, and Well-Being in Birth to Age 3

Learning Through Play in Teacher Education

Through a Child’s Eyes: Using Floor Play to Connect with Children and Families

ALA User Menu

• Contact ALSC

Breadcrumb navigation

• ALSC on Connect
• Get Involved
• Paraprofessionals

Importance of Play

• Share This Page

ALSC is committed to examining the role of play in early literacy. Among the resources you will find here are programming ideas, a librarian toolkit, and a white paper that addresses the importance of play in the lives of young children. We hope that you will use these resources in your library to promote the critical aspect of play. 

White Paper

Constructive Play at Libraries

Ashburn Library, Ashburn, Virginia. Submitted by Rosanne North, Library Assistant.

My co-worker and I designed a program using Legos based on the 1,2,3 Math and Science curriculum that our library has (aimed at children ages 8-11).We have had these classes each week throughout the year and wanted to tie in the theme of our Summer Reading program, "Invade Your Library" for the Summer classes. We designed the class teaching the children about physics and how rockets and spaceships are propelled into space. We also talked about Unidentified Flying Objects and identified different parts of a space ship with stations for the kids to add on to their space craft. They started at one end of the room and built the "base" of their ship with Legos, and then went around the room and added "feelers", "eyes", "reachers" and other parts to their spacecraft. It was a huge hit.

Boise Public Library, Library! at Hillcrest, Boise, Idaho. Submitted by Jennifer A. Redford, Librarian.

Lego Club Lesson Plan : Building Bridges

Summary of Program: A Library! staff member acts as a facilitator for the program and reads a picture book or chapter from a larger book to set the theme for the day. After a brief learning activity and discussion on the importance of constructive play, the children are each given a cup full of Legos to begin building. They have until 4:00pm to build and play, then their creations will be put on display as space allows for one week.

On a white board the following was written for parents: Playing with blocks is a great way to encourage brain development! Blocks help your children:

• Develop Fine Motor Skills
• Learn about problem-solving
• Work in Teams
• Learn about physics
• Develop Math & Science skills

Today’s Lesson—Bridges: Book: Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty After reading this story, go to PBS’s Building Big Bridges website to learn some basics about bridges ( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/bridge/basics.html ). Make sure to click on the links that show the different forces acting on different types of bridges. Talk with the children about which types of bridges they are going to try to build. Wrap up your discussion with an overview of the Lego Club Rules (see below) and let the kids build. Some kids will get done soon and some will take the full two hours. When families show up late, make sure to brief them on the theme before the kids start building.

Lego Club Rules: 1. Since we are borrowing the blocks that we use, it is important to keep them separate. Blocks in the Lemhi Room stay in the Lemhi Room and blocks in the Camas Room stay in the Camas Room. 2. Everyone can start with 1 cup of Legos. After you have started building with your first cup, you can come and get another. 3. Please be respectful of your neighbors and share blocks when you can. A couple of other notes: When you see parents taking pictures of kids and their Lego creations, make sure to remind them to tag BPL if they are uploading the pictures to Facebook.

Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, New York. Submitted by Katya Schapiro, FFY Grant Programs Coordinator & Rachel Payne, Coordinator Children’s & Family Services

Five programs described below are all part of their “Read, Play, Grow!” Play Tips

Cereal Box Blocks What you do: Empty cardboard cereal boxes or other boxes can make great blocks. Stuff the boxes with newspaper to make them sturdier and tape the flaps closed. You can line a few of them up on the floor like dominoes and show him how he can push one into the others and they will all fall down. Build a tower with the blocks. You can also talk about the pictures, colors or letters on the boxes. What you can say: When you line up boxes like dominoes, talk with your child about cause-and-effect:

• “What do you think will happen when we push the first box? Let’s push it! Look! They all fall down!”

As you build towers, compare them: Ask:

• “Which is taller?”
• “Which is shorter?”

Point out letters on the boxes:

• “Look, there’s a T. Your name starts with T: Tom!”

Safety tips: If any of the boxes have sharp edges, cover them with tape.

Board Book Blocks What you do: Get various board books of different sizes and line up board books on their sides like dominos and show your baby how to knock them over. You can also build short towers of books. Often their babies and toddlers will knock them over! Make a tunnel out of books. Get creative! Read the books when you are done building. What you can say:

• Make lots of sound effects as you knock books over, it will keep your baby or toddler engaged.
• Ask your baby or toddler, “What do you think will happen when we knock the blocks over? Will they fall down? They fell down!”
• You can even play peek-a-boo with books. Hold them in front of your face and say “Where did mommy go?”

Safety tips: Don’t make any tower or building so high that it could fall on your child.

The Sorting Box

What you do: Toddlers love to sort objects, particularly blocks. You can make your own block sorter for your toddler using a shoebox with a lid and your toddler's own assorted shape blocks. Trace around each different shape block on the shoe box lid, and then cut out each shape. Let your toddler have fun putting stickers on his sorting box and then turn him loose with his new homemade toy!

What you can say: Use lots of descriptive language to teach your toddler colors and shapes: “This block is a triangle! It is blue.” “Can you find the triangular hole?”

Sort blocks by color and shape: “Let’s put all the square blocks together!” “Let’s put all the red bocks together.” Focus on the concept of In and Out: “Look, we put all the blocks INTO the box. Let’s take them all OUT!”

Black & White Cube What you do: Very young babies see black and white images best since their vision is still developing. Take a box (a boutique-size tissue box works well) and cover it with black and white pictures. The bolder the design the better, such as a checker board design or the image of a zebra. Cover the pictures with clear contact paper or packing tape to protect it. Give it to your baby to play with.

What you can say:

• Comment on what your baby looks at. “What do you see on the box? I see a zebra!”
• As your baby plays with the cube, describe what your baby is doing. “You touched the cube!”
• Babies love when you imitate them. Mirror back facial expressions and echo their babbling.

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill Branch, Pittsburgh, PA. Submitted by Megan Fogt, Manager of Children’s Services.

Super Science @ Your Library Program Plan Created by Children’s Librarians at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh For Grades K-5. Theme: Inventors & Inventions: Bridges

Program Objective: Children will learn about different types of bridge structures and inventor John Roebling through stories and hands-on science activities.

Met Kindergarten PA Academic State Standards in Reading and Third Grade PA. Academic State Standards

Recommended Books: Picture Book: Twenty-One Elephants by Phil Bildner

Informational Text: Bridges! Amazing Structures to Design, Build and Test by Carol Johmann The Bridges of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County by Robert Gangewere The 10 Most Amazing Bridges by Suzanne Harper

Additional Titles for display: Brooklyn Bridge by Lynn Curlee Water Street by Patricia Giff Bridges by Seymour Simon Pop’s Bridge by Eve Bunting The Three Billy Goats Fluff by Rachael Mortimer

• Marshmallows (1 Large Bag/1 Small Bag)
• Stack & Stick Bridge Building Kit

Introduction: Show children the photographs of various bridges (see below). Before you introduce any of the concepts of bridge building, ask participants if they see shapes that are used in all of the photographs. As you discuss the photographs talk about the following vocabulary words:

• Bridge: (brij) noun a structure spanning and providing passage over a river, chasm, road, or the like.
• Arch Bridge: (ahrch) noun a bridge that uses the principle of high arch, either above the deck or below. (Fort Pitt Bridge, Pittsburgh, PA)
• Beam Bridge: (beem) noun the simplest type of bridge, a plank over a stream for example. Each end rests on a firm foundation or multiple piers. (Veterans Bridge, Pittsburgh, PA)
• Suspension Bridge: (suh-spen-shuh n) noun a bridge that has a roadway supported by cables that are anchored at both ends. (Roberto Clemente Bridge, Pittsburgh, PA)
• Truss Bridge: (truhs) noun a structure of triangular-shaped forms which support the weight of the bridges as well as the load of traffic. (Smithfield Street Bridge, Pittsburgh, PA)
• Engineering: (en-juh-neer-ing) noun the art or science of making practical application of the knowledge of pure sciences, as physics or chemistry, as in the construction of engines, bridges, buildings, mines, ships, and chemical plants.

Once you get to this vocabulary word, tell participants that they will be learning about a famous engineer and that today they will be designing like engineers to create their own bridges.

Read Aloud: Twenty-One Elephants by Phil Bildner

• Look at the cover of the book and ask the students if they have walked across a bridge. What do they think a bridge builder has to consider? Briefly discuss John A. Robeling the chief designer of the bridge.

Primary Activity: Build A Bridge Give children toothpicks and marshmallows and let them build a bridge. Use the photographs to give participants ideas of different bridge structures. Focusing on the Truss bridge works especially well when building with marshmallows and toothpicks. Truss bridges use triangular shapes, called tetrahedrons, to form their structure. Ask children to see if tetrahedrons can be used when making their toothpick bridge.

Secondary Activity: Testing Your Design Once children have completed their bridge invite them to test their design. First, place two chairs side by side with a gap for the bridge. Place a piece of foil through the middle of the bridge deck and gradually place pennies to increase the weight. Once the bridge starts to break and/or sag, encourage participants to go back and revisit their design. Keep track of which design is most successful.

Additional Activity: Bridge Blocks Students that are not permitted to use food for allergy reasons may use Lego or Duplo blocks instead of the food items to build. Also, you can split the class into two parts and have half the students use food and half use blocks. Which team has the stronger bridge? How many pennies will each bridge hold?

Closing: You may want to take pictures of the bridges for posting on your library’s Facebook and/or Flicker accounts. Children should be encouraged to take home their bridges and continue to explore their designs with materials they find at home.

My Pittsburgh: Imagination Builders Program Plan Created by the Children’s Librarians at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh For School Age Students (In School/In Library) Theme: Building/Architecture

Program Objective: Children will use Lego blocks and other building implements to create a cityscape or their own building. The artwork could be digitally photographed for inclusion on library’s Facebook or Flicker accounts.

Met Pennsylvania State Standards for: Arts & Humanities; Civics & Government; Geography; History; Mathematics; Reading.

• Book: The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale by Steven Guarnaccia (or another book that focuses on architecture – see resources list below)
• Building Materials: Lego Blocks, Duplo Blocks, K’Nex Blocks or other building materials
• Building Ideas: Photographs of local landmarks or a book such as Arches to Zigzags: An Architecture ABC by Michael J. Crosbie that shows various features of buildings. If you have other books with building ideas, put these out on display for participants to browse as they work on their own creations.
• Introduction: Create a list of things that participants know about buildings. Start with a question like: What different things (features) make up a building? Expand this conversation by talking about favorite local buildings or architectural features, such as pillars, facades, arches, towers, etc.
• For even more architectural features and photographs show some of the pictures in a book such as: Arches to Zigzags: An Architecture ABC by Michael J. Crosbie
• Read: The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale by Steven Guarnaccia.
• What was your favorite part of the story?"
• How would you build a house strong enough to keep the wolf out?
• What Pennsylvanian landmark is pictured in the book?
• Build: Each child attending the program will be invited to build an individual building or work as a team to create a model cityscape. The artwork does not need to be an exact representation of the subject but should reflect the child’s creativity.
• Share/Closing: Upon completion of the art project begin a discussion of the children’s work, encouraging them to discuss their piece and how it represents an aspect of architecture, a building or a city. Take pictures if you are going to post the children’s work to Facebook or Flicker.
• Alphabet City by Stephen T. Johnson
• Arches to Zigzags: An Architecture ABC by Michael J. Crosbie
• The Big Orange Splot by D. Manus Pinkwater
• Bottle Houses: The Creative World of Grandma Prisbrey by Melissa Eskridge Slaymaker
• Built to Last by David Macaulay
• Roberto the Insect Architects by Nina Laden

NOTE: This program can be used as a month long exploration of building/architecture by keeping the same format and choosing a different book each week.

Web: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Architecture http://www.clpgh.org/research/art/pittsburgh/pgharchitecture.html#N  Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation: Architecture for Young Children http://www.phlf.org/education-department/architecture-for-young-children...

Chappaqua Public Library, Chappaqua, New York. Submitted by Miriam Lang Budin, Head of Children’s Services.

Lego Club - The program is for kids in 3rd-5th grades and meets every other Tuesday from 4:00-5:00. We limit registration to 16 kids. We set the participants a "challenge" at each meeting and they don't know what it will be until they are in the room. It might be to design their "dream bedroom" or "the world's best vacation spot". It might be to build a project that fits onto a certain-sized piece of paper. After they've worked for 50 minutes or so we stop and let them show and describe what they've constructed. Our bins of Legos are comprised of donations (largely the collections amassed by my sons). We get both boys and girls regularly.

Cook Memorial Library, La Grande, Oregon. Submitted by Carrie Phillips, Youth Services Librarian.

We connected with our fair board, and have a LEGO building competition during our local fair. The library provides the LEGO pieces, and kids receive ribbons just like any other exhibit.

Coeur d’Alene Public Library Submitted by David Townsend, Communications Coordinator

The Coeur d’Alene Public Library has had the LEGO-rama program since 2006. The program was introduced to provide something of more interest for boys that would be comparable to the American Girl Tea Party the library had offered for several years. (Both programs are, of course, open to boys and girls.) Along the way we have received donations of LEGOs as well as purchasing some kits. We now have a sizable collection for use at LEGOrama and as part of our weekly LEGO Club (more on that later). We have scheduled LEGOrama during January. The program has evolved somewhat, but basically works like this: • Free Play – We have a 25 by 25-foot tarp we put down in the center of our Community Room and we pour out the LEGOs on it. As kids arrive they can create whatever they want, but must keep all of the library’s LEGOs on the tarp. This simplifies cleanup – just use the tarp to pull the pile into the center and scoop the LEGOs back into the Rubbermaid Tubs.

Competition – Participants build their own creations at home and bring them in to be judged. (Another reason we keep the library’s LEGOs on the tarp so they don’t get mixed up with those the children bring from home.) Judging is in three age groups – 4-6, 7-10, and 11-13. Older and younger children are invited to display their creations but are not included in the judging. Designs have to be original and built entirely by the participants. I use volunteer judges. This year a high school robotics club did the judging. Certificates are awarded and winner can pick out prizes from a selection of books, art sets, science kits, etc.

Program – we usually try to have a speaker. We have had wood workers, architects, crafters and this year the Robotics Club brought in their robot to demonstrate. The goal of the programs is to inspire the young participants with an appreciation for building and doing things with their hands and imagination. I also display related books and emphasize the library as a resource for building.

Games – Using the library LEGOs we have a timed competition. Participants have three minutes to build whatever they can with one handful of LEGOs. The younger players are allowed two handfuls so it is not too frustrating for them.

Snacks – We started out offering a LEGO-themed cake and after cleaning smashed cake out of the carpet now offer paper cups of animal crackers (thank you Costco) and LEGO punch (half lemonade and half cherry drink mix in a lovely bright orange-colored refreshment that will take the enamel right off their teeth). This one of our most popular annual programs. A few years back youth services started adding the LEGO Club activity to the weekly programs. It is primarily free play, but the librarians start each session with a sing-along and do display books about LEGOs and building.

Cromaine Library, Hartland, Michigan. Submitted by Jeanne Smith, Adult and Youth Manager.

We have at least one Lego day at the library during the winter and then multiple during the summer reading club. In the past we would give them a theme, the child would make their creation at home. bring it to the library, and then the creations would be judged and prizes given out. Now, we have them bring in 2 gallon sized plastic bags filled with whatever Lego pieces they want, and I put masking tape on the floor to give each child their own space. I announce the theme and they have 30 minutes to make what they interpret for the theme. After the 30 minutes each child explains what they made, and why! No prizes, but they love it!

Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, Ohio . Submitted by Sarah Kepple, Youth Programming Specialist.

We’ve done many open building play programs, but for the last few years we’ve focused on building STEM and Literacy skills through Lego robotics materials such as the Mindstorms, and, most recently the WeDo kits. The following is information on our RobotixBlox programming. Many of our Children and Teen Librarians have been trained in robotix and lead both one day programs and day camps. We evolved to have these programs be book inspired. This summer our camps were around Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Hunger Games. You can see more about our programs here: http://cuyahogalibrary.org/robotix.aspx This fall, we’ll be piloting monthly Robotix Clubs for 7-10 year olds at two branches using the LEGO WeDo software/kits. For these, we’re starting out using the curriculum provided by LEGO, which specifically targets literacy play as well as STEM skills.

Deschutes Public Library, Bend, Oregon. Submitted by Josie Hanneman, Community Librarian. At our libraries we will start our first round of LEGO programming this fall. Our plan is to read a book to elementary aged students, then have them build around that theme. For example, we will read If I Built a Car, by Chris van Dusen, then have them build their own dream vehicle. We will photograph the resulting structures/vehicles and display them in our children’s area.

Douglas County Public Library, Minden, Nevada. Submitted by Kathy Echavarria, Youth Services Librarian.

Douglas County Public Library, NV conducted a LEGO building challenge/contest as part of the 2009 Summer Reading Program “Be Creative.” The contest was modeled, in part, on the Lego building contests that are regularly offered in the Lego Magazine. Instead of bringing or sending us photos, we asked the children to bring their own Lego constructions into the library. Parents and children were required to sign a disclaimer releasing the library from liability should their construction become dismantled or pieces of their construction disappeared. Children competed within different age categories. We were surprised to receive over 200 entries, and our summer reading program enrollment increased dramatically. Kids came in regularly to view the new entries, and they brought in relatives and friends to view their entry. Library visits increased dramatically during the summer. Entries were placed onto the shelves with Museum Wax. Photos were taken of every entry, just in case we had to do a quick reconstruction. Winners received Lego sets. It was such a success. Word of mouth traveled to the County Commissioners, and they invited us to their meeting in order to properly honor the winners. By January 2010 kids were asking when we were doing the Lego contest again. Teachers told us that the summer reading program was an easy sell when they mentioned the Lego building contest. We decided to do the program again in 2010. We discontinued offering the program summer 2012; instead we will offer it December 2012/January 2013 in hopes that it will stimulate library visits during the school winter break.

East Baton Rouge Parish Library, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Submitted by Pabby Arnold, Children’s Services Coordinator.

Our librarians use Lincoln Logs occasionally with construction storytimes.

Ottawa Public Library/Bibliothèque publique d'Ottawa, Ottawa ON. Submitted by Jane Venus, Manager, Lifelong learning and literacy.

Use the Force (Greenboro Branch)- For ages 6-12, this program brought together Star Wars themed materials from our collection with LEGO building, as well as other activities. The first part of the program was a book talk about a number of Star Wars and LEGO books, followed by a showing of some short films from the Internet created using LEGO and based on the Star Wars films. The second part of the program involved the children working together to build a town from LEGO. Photos were taken of their creation, and prizes were given out at the end. This program was so popular (registration was completely full after just a few days of it being advertised, and there was a waiting list) that another session will be held in November. As one staff member said “The beauty of this program is that it took the least amount of prep time and staff hours and it was one of the most popular of all our summer in-house programs.”

How It Works (St-Laurent) - This program for 6-8 year olds was part of our TD Summer Reading Club roster, and its main idea was to explore the inner workings of machines and other things. LEGO was used during the program so the children could build their own fantastical machines. Themed Block Parties (St-Laurent) - This branch also held a number of programs last year for school-aged children based on a variety of themes (one was submarines). These worked much the same as the “Use the Force” program: a short booktalk would be given, LEGO-based films were shown (often from http://www.brickfilms.com ), and then the children built their creations based on the theme. LEGO and theme-based books were displayed, and a door prize of a book was given out at the end of the session. The children’s creations were displayed in the library for a while after the program.

Block Party (North Gloucester) - The building session at the North Gloucester branch was based around three different activity stations: a free play building station, the Nintendo Wii with LEGO-based games from our collection ( http://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/search?audience=juvenile&formats=CDROM&l... ), and a craft station with LEGO Kirigami and print-making (inspired by http://zakkalife.blogspot.ca/2010/04/lego-kirigami.html , http://mamalibrarian.com/tag/crafts/ , and http://debduzscrappin.blogspot.ca/2010/06/cards-lego-party-invites.html ). A display of “idea” books was also set up for the children to browse ( http://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/search?locale=en-CA&t=keyword&q=lego&aud... ). We also have some LEGO programs planned for the future: Brick

Builders Book Club (Carlingwood) This non-traditional book club for ages 7-11 will be held monthly on a Friday after school, and was inspired by lists of themes on a library website from Kelowna, BC. Books on the theme will be provided ahead of time (the meeting before, ideally) for the children to read before the program. The program will start with a book talk, and then a group book rap followed by a game or activity. The rest of the meeting will be dedicated to building. The theme for October will be “spooky places”, and possibly bridges for November (with ideas from this site: http://www.startwithabook.org/booklists/builders-and-buildings ). Books will be available in both English and French.

Multicultural Block Party (Main) No definite plans or date have been set for this yet, but the idea of a multicultural LEGO-based program has come up, in partnership with our Newcomer services. Perhaps participants could learn about and build models of various landmarks or culturally significant objects (i.e. a pyramid, the Eiffel Tower, an inuksuk). Overall, the feeling from Children’s staff all over the system is that LEGO is a wonderful learning tool and draw for our programs, and that it would definitely be beneficial to have more available.

Penn Yan Public Library, Penn Yan, New York. Submitted by Sarah Crevelling, Youth Services Librarian.

At my library we had a LEGO Build-a-thon that raised money for our local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Teams of two competitors paid $5 each (all entry fees were donated to Habitat for Humanity) and participants had a limited amount of time to build a house using the library’s Legos. A guest judge from Habitat for Humanity judged the houses based on how well they would make actual homes for needy people in our area. We awarded small Lego prizes to the winning teams. This was a popular program that we look forward to repeating for many years to come.

Smyrna Public Library, Smyrna, Tennessee. Submitted by Mindy L. Barrett, Youth Services Assistant.

Smyrna Public Library's Lego club requires registration. You may register once a month and is designed for 7+ years of age. All Legos are provided by the library. Attendees pre-register each month and attend the session they have registered for. (Although patrons attend ONE Lego club a month, it is offered 2-3 times that month to ensure maximum reach. Same program, different day) Youth Services plan a theme for each monthly meeting. Previous themes include space, pirates, ninjas, and farm life. Upcoming themes include Planes Trains & Automobiles, and Toys. After Lego Club etiquette is discussed, a short presentation (five minutes max) offers information and background on the selected theme to jump start those creative juices! Youth Services also pulls a variety of books that include the theme. Attendees divide themselves into 4-5 groups with no more than five in each group. They must work together to design and build one creation based upon the theme. Creations are moved to display tables (so stressful for them!) and can then be shared/discussed with the other groups. Photos are made (permission to photograph is included on monthly registration form) and posted on Lego Club Facebook page.

Tulsa City-County Library,Tulsa, Oklahoma. Submitted by Marie A. Welden, Children's Area Supervisor, Martin Regional Library.

The Great Lego Build-Off! was a program held for children in grades 1-5 and tween/ teens grades 6-12. Participants build an original creation at the library based on our Summer Reading Program theme within a time limit. Every year, I was amazed at the creativity of our "builders." Three years ago, one of the teens asked if the winners at our branch could compete against other branches at another competition. I presented the idea to the other children and teen librarians in our system, and that year four other branches held branch level competitions with winners advancing to the final round at our Central Library. More than once I heard comments from parents on how this program encouraged their child to be more creative in a variety of ways: engineering, art, history (one participant built the skyline of Tulsa and researched the history of landmarks) and helped them to build skills such as time management and organization. Last year, after the success of having a final round competition, I decided to open the program up to more branches. (We have 25 in our system.) This summer, we had 15 branches compete with over 200 children and sixty tweens and teens participating on the branch level. Forty-three children advanced to the final round, and twenty-eight tweens/teens advanced to the final round.

West Bloomfield Public Township Library, West Bloomfield, Michigan. Submitted by Amalia Ash, Youth Services Librarian.

Lego Camp - Join us as we build out of this world Lego creations. The possibilities are endless! (Ages 4-12) During the session, limited to 30 youth due to space and material constraints, participants created an open ended Lego project. The session lasted 45 minutes with some staying past the allotted time or leaving a little early. At the end of the session, they were instructed to tear down their Lego project as they had to be used again. We are unable to display Legos at this time. Most were able to do it as I would walk around taking pictures of their Legos if they liked. For those who didn’t want to tear their project down, as they were attached to it, I offered to leave it until after they left and would break it apart so they didn’t have to. That was acceptable for all participants. Each Lego camper was provided a piece of heavy white cardstock and allowed to select one of the 6 bags of random Lego pieces per table. They were able to share or trade their pieces among the table. Often they would collaborate on projects. These collaborations would also extend to other building materials. For example: one group of boys created cars out of the Lego pieces. I suggested they try seeing how far or fast their cars could go and took a triangular wood block for use as a ramp. They took my simple suggestion and created a 5 story ramp with obstacles. It was wonderful thing to see this group work together. Other times, I would offer building themes, but most chose their own themes. I provided different stations within the program mostly due to the age range of participants. Typically, I offered use of a portable Duplo table, giant Lego blocks and wooden blocks. At some sessions Lincoln logs were offered and at others, Jenga was available for play. I found a lot of the older participants used Duplos and the large Lego blocks as much as the smaller Lego pieces. As the group members changed between sessions, all eight of them, the consistent theme was one of creativity, storytelling and cooperation. It was the first time we conducted the program. In preparation, we purchased a supply of Lego bricks- standard, special pieces and vehicle building materials.

*** Please note that an article by Tess Prendergast titled “Brick by Brick: LEGO-Inspired Programs in the Library” is available in the Winter, 2012, Vol. 10, No.3 issue of Children and Libraries. Information is also available at: legointhelibrary.wordpress.com

• Account & Catalogue Help
• Borrowing Guide
• Contact EPL
• Technology Help
• Log In / Register
• My Library Dashboard
• My Borrowing
• Checked Out
• Borrowing History
• ILL Requests
• My Collections
• For Later Shelf
• Completed Shelf
• In Progress Shelf
• My Settings

• Lori Blahey

The Power of Play: 6 Benefits for Child Development 

Originally published in Nov. 2017 and updated in Aug. 2021. Lori Blahey is a former Senior Marketing Consultant at EPL.

They say play is the work of children—and it’s true! Play is how children learn about the world, themselves and each other. It's as much a part of healthy development as eating vegetables, reading books together and getting a good night’s sleep. Even the United Nations lists play as  one of the basic rights of every child . 

There is no right or wrong way to play. It's anything from sticking a hand in mashed potatoes to playing with video games or staring out a window. It looks different depending on the day and the child:

• Sometimes children play with friends and other times, on their own.
• Sometimes they may speak aloud and other times, be silent in their heads.
• Sometimes play is messy or risky and other times, quiet and relaxed.

Kids don’t need fancy toys or certificates to play. They need time, space and freedom to explore the ideas that interest them. No matter what it looks like, when children play, they learn.

Why is Play Important for Children?

There are six reasons play, both unstructured and structured, is important for child development:

1. Play Builds Imagination and Creativity

During play, kids stretch their imaginations. They create make-believe games or get lost in pretend worlds. Children act out different solutions while boosting their confidence. They make their own rules and learn how to follow or adapt those rules as needed. These are helpful skills for navigating life and developing relationships with others.

Symbolic play is the ability to imagine one object as another. For example, a stick, a bucket and pinecones can become a cooking spoon, a pot and yummy ingredients. Symbolic play is an important part of healthy development. It builds skills that children need for future learning and problem solving. 1 It also improves creativity, which contributes to success throughout a person’s life. 2

2. Play Fosters Cognitive Growth

What does fostering cognitive growth mean? It means that play is essential to healthy brain development.

Unstructured play is the time when kids direct their own play. They are not bound by schedules or activities directed by adults. Unstructured play helps a child’s brain develop in positive ways. It strengthens and increases neural connections in the brain. These are the paths in the brain that we use for thinking.

Unstructured play also helps build and strengthen the prefrontal cortex of the brain. This area influences the way a child learns, solves problems and gains knowledge about their environment. 3

3. Play Delivers Emotional and Behavioural Benefits

When adults feel overwhelmed, we retreat into activities that soothe us. We go to the gym, sing karaoke with friends, walk around the neighbourhood, weed the garden or play a board game. These activities are more than a distraction. They are a way of bringing play back into our lives and connecting us to the things in life that help ground us.

Children are the same, although they need a lot more playtime. Frequent, daily play can help reduce anxiety, stress and irritability. It also helps boost joy and self-esteem.

Adults observing children at play can help them better understand emotions by naming them. For example, “It sounds like you are nervous about going to school tomorrow”. 4 Listening and asking questions shows kids that adults care. It communicates that their feelings and experiences are important.

Play is an excellent teacher. Through play, children learn how to navigate the world in a way they can understand and process. They explore how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to solve conflicts and to speak up for themselves.

4. Play Improves Literacy

Children are born wired to learn language. Starting from birth, they build language and literacy skills through play and interactions. Babies and toddlers learn new words when adults describe what they see, hear and do. Songs and poems connect syllables to beats. This helps children develop listening skills and learn about the sounds in words.

Through play, kids learn about communication. They get to practise back and forth conversation, even if they can't speak! Sharing stories in books, orally or in make-believe play, helps them understand who they are and their role within the community. Stories also teach how language works and how narratives are structured.

Toys and games are also useful. Playing with small toys helps build the small muscles in hands. This helps with writing. “I Spy” and concentration games develop abilities for observation and maintaining attention. These skills support reading comprehension by helping children understand and apply what they're reading.

As kids enter school, play continues to be important. Research shows students pay more attention to their work after an unstructured play break. 5 Play enhances curiosity and a curious mind is ready to learn.

5. Play Encourages Greater Independence

Children often have little power or say over their daily activities. They spend much of their days being told what to do, when to do it and where they have to go. In the world of play, they have the opportunity to set the rules and be the one with power. They can be the leaders and adults can be the ones listening and taking directions.

Solitary (Independent) play is as important as learning how to play with others. It helps children develop a stronger sense of independence. Children comfortable with solitary play also feel more capable of tackling other tasks on their own and figuring out how they fit in. Developing those skills even contributes to future socializing within a group. Children playing alone can learn social cues by observing group interactions from afar.

Solitary play allows children to experiment with their own creativity and ideas. When alone, and even bored, children's brains take up the challenge. They find new and exciting ways to stimulate themselves. As Albert Einstein said, “the monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.”

6. Play Promotes Physical Fitness

Whether they realize it or not, children’s bodies are wired to be active. Children have a very strong need for Physical Play , which is any type of play that gets them moving. It's part of how they learn to use their bodies and strengthens connections in the brain. It's also great form of exercise, which promotes fit and healthy children.

Regular, active play has positive and far-reaching health effects throughout a child’s life. No matter a child’s abilities, interests and opportunities, physical play helps children:

• sharpen reflexes;
• work on movement control;
• improve gross motor skills;
• develop greater balance;
• build strong muscles;
• improve bone density;
• increase cardio-vascular function;
• all while having fun!

Daily outdoor time is also key. It supports children’s mental health and a greater ability to self-regulate. No matter the weather, put kids in layers and outdoor clothes so they can get in their green time. They'll come back inside happier and more relaxed. Track time outdoors by using free printables such as these from 1000 Hours Outside .

Play for Life

The positive effects of play on young children are far-reaching—influencing their mental, emotional and physical health. The benefits extend to adults as well. Talking about play with children teaches them that adults are invested and respect their play decisions. This fosters better connections between adults and children. In turn, respect, trust and love lay the foundation for the emotional state most conducive to fostering the learning brain.

Adopting a playful attitude also benefits adults' emotional well-being. In times of stress, it’s an easy way to boost your mood, so instead of using cutlery during dinner tonight, we suggest you try using your fingers (or popsicle sticks, straws or toothpicks) instead. No one is watching and it's plain fun!

How Can Children Play at EPL?

At EPL, we recognize the importance of play to children’s healthy development. Play is a key component of the activities we recommend to support children developing early literacy skills. EPL incorporates a variety of play opportunities in all our branches with our dedicated children’s areas, manipulative toys, installations for kids to explore and more! We also offer early literacy classes , which are fun and educational for children and parents alike! 

The revitalized downtown Shelley Milner’s Children’s Library is also a must-see—this brand new space features an early literacy centre for babies and toddlers, a playspace for free play and a children’s Makerspace filled with a variety of games, LEGO ® and technological toys.

The Library provides opportunities to play at home too! Here are seven ideas to start:

• Get inspired with these books on play for babies and toddlers and preschoolers.
• Use your imagination to create your own story with these silent picture books.
• Combine storytime with movement with these fun books.
• Have a dance party with these kid-approved tunes.
• Get creative with these fun arts and craft-themed activities.
• Go on an alphabet scavenger hunt and help children learn the alphabet and boost their vocabulary. 
• Join us online or  watch the recording  of our Baby Laptime and Sing, Sign, Laugh and Learn classes.

Play is just one of the five activities that stimulate brain and cognitive development and help children develop early literacy skills. 

The Five Practices of Early Literacy

• Schrader, C. T. (1990). Symbolic play as a curricular tool for early literacy development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 5(1), 79–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/0885-2006(90)90008-o
• Bergland, C. (2013, October 24). Childhood Creativity Leads to Innovation in Adulthood. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201310/childhood-creativity-leads-innovation-in-adulthood
• Punkoney, S. M. (2020, September 11). Play Impacts Early Brain Development - Stay at Home Educator. Stay At Home Educator. https://stayathomeeducator.com/play-impacts-early-brain-development/
• B. (2018, May 15). Name It To Tame It! How To Help Your Child Manage Their Big Emotions. Cedar Tree Counseling, Ltd. https://cedartreecounseling.com/blog/name-it-to-tame-it-how-to-help-your-child-manage-their-big-emotions/
• Pellegrini, A. D., & Holmes, R. M. (2006). The Role of Recess in Primary School. In D. G. Singer, R. M. Golinkoff, & K. Hirsh-Pasek (Eds.), Play = learning: How play motivates and enhances children's cognitive and social-emotional growth (p. 36–53). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304381.003.0003

More by Lori Blahey

This I Know: Parenting Lessons from My Time at EPL

• Family & Relationships
• Health & Wellness
• Writing & Reading
• Babies & Toddlers
• Back to School

10 Tips to Help Your Kids Learn to Read

Book bites: blog 5.

• Arts & Entertainment
• EPL Staff Picks

Discover New Posts

Technology and early literacy.

• Beyond ABCs

Unlocking Early Literacy Skills Across Languages

Engaging children with picture books, add a comment to: the power of play: 6 benefits for child development .

Powered by BiblioCommons.

BiblioWeb: webapp05 Version 4.18.0 Last updated 2024/03/26 09:57

• Newsletters
• Account Activating this button will toggle the display of additional content Account Sign out

Navel Gazing

John dickerson’s notebooks: the power of four numbers.

Noticing longer, gray lockboxes, a soul-crushing teacher, Georgia O’Keeffe and more are explored in this week’s audio essay from John Dickerson.

Listen & Subscribe

Choose your preferred player:

• Apple Podcasts
• Amazon Music

Please enable javascript to get your Slate Plus feeds.

Get Your Slate Plus Podcast

If you can't access your feeds, please contact customer support.

Thanks! Check your phone for a link to finish setting up your feed.

Please enter a 10-digit phone number.

Listen on your phone: RECOMMENDED

Enter your phone number and we'll text you a link to set up the podcast in your app:

We'll only text you about setting up this podcast, no spam.

Listen on your computer:

Apple Podcasts will only work on MacOS operating systems since Catalina . We do not support Android apps on desktop at this time.

Listen on your device: RECOMMENDED

These links will only work if you're on the device you listen to podcasts on.

Set up manually:

How does this work?

We're sorry, but something went wrong while fetching your podcast feeds. Please contact us at [email protected] for help.

Episode Notes

In this week’s essay, John discusses the art of attention and how to develop the skill of slow-looking.

Notebook Entries:

Notebook 75, page 8. September 2021

Notebook 1, page 54. June 1990

-        Magna carta 1215 at Salisbury

-        Girls skipping

-        The Haunch of Venison

-        Chris

References:

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

A Little History of the World  by E.H Gombrich

Artist Jeff Koons

“ The Art of Divination: D.H. Lawrence on the Power of Pure Attention ” by Maria Popova for  The Marginalian

“ Gabfest Reads: A Woman’s Life in Museum Wall Labels ” for Political Gabfest

One Woman Show  by Christine Coulson

“ Grammy-winning artist Jason Isbell talks about the craft of songwriting and his latest music ” for CBS News

A Journey Around My Room  by Xavier De Maistre

“ Just think: The Challenges of the Disengaged Mind ” by Timothy Wilson, et.al for  Science

“ Our Rodent Selfies, Ourselves ” by Emily Anthes for the  New York Times

One Man’s Meat  by E.B. White

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Email us at  [email protected]

Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit  slate.com/navelgazingplus  to get access wherever you listen.

About the Show

Political Gabfest host John Dickerson has been a journalist for more than three decades, reporting about presidential campaigns, political scandals, and the evolving state of our democracy. Along the way, he’s also been recording his observations in notebooks he has carried in his back pocket. He has captured his thoughts about life, parenthood, death, friendship, writing, God, to-do lists, and more. On the Navel Gazing podcast, John Dickerson invites you to join him in figuring out what these 30 years of notebooks mean: sorting out what makes a life—or a day in a life—noteworthy.

John Dickerson is host of CBS News Prime Time With John Dickerson , co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest, host of the Whistlestop podcast, and author of The Hardest Job in the World .

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

The Fantasy of Reviving Nuclear Energy

By Stephanie Cooke

Ms. Cooke is a former editor of Nuclear Intelligence Weekly and the author of “In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age.”

World leaders are not unaware of the nuclear industry’s long history of failing to deliver on its promises or of its weakening vital signs. Yet many continue to act as if a nuclear renaissance could be around the corner, even though nuclear energy’s share of global electricity generation has fallen by almost half from its high of roughly 17 percent in 1996.

In search of that revival, representatives from more than 30 countries gathered in Brussels in March at a nuclear summit hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Belgian government. Thirty-four nations, including the United States and China, agreed “to work to fully unlock the potential of nuclear energy,” including extending the lifetimes of existing reactors, building nuclear power plants and deploying advanced reactors.

Yet even as they did so, there was an acknowledgment of the difficulty of their undertaking. “Nuclear technology can play an important role in the clean energy transition,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, told summit attendees. But she added that “the reality today, in most markets, is a reality of a slow but steady decline in market share” for nuclear power.

The numbers underscore that downturn. Solar and wind power together began outperforming nuclear power globally in 2021, and that trend continues as nuclear staggers along. Solar alone added more than 400 gigawatts of capacity worldwide last year, two-thirds more than the previous year. That’s more than the roughly 375 gigawatts of combined capacity of the world’s 415 nuclear reactors, which remained relatively unchanged last year. At the same time, investment in energy storage technology is rapidly accelerating. In 2023, BloombergNEF reported that investors for the first time put more money into stationary energy storage than they did into nuclear.

Still, the drumbeat for nuclear power has become pronounced. At the United Nations climate conference in Dubai in December, the Biden administration persuaded two dozen countries to pledge to triple their nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Those countries included allies of the United States with troubled nuclear programs, most notably France , Britain , Japan and South Korea , whose nuclear bureaucracies will be propped up by the declaration as well as the domestic nuclear industries they are trying to save.

“We are not making the argument to anybody that this is absolutely going to be a sweeping alternative to every other energy source,” John Kerry, the Biden administration climate envoy at the time, said. “But we know because the science and the reality of facts and evidence tell us that you can’t get to net zero 2050 without some nuclear.”

That view has gained traction with energy planners in Eastern Europe who see nuclear as a means of replacing coal, and several countries — including Canada, Sweden, Britain and France — are pushing to extend the operating lifetimes of existing nuclear plants or build additional ones. Some see smaller or more advanced reactors as a means of providing electricity in remote areas or as a means of decarbonizing sectors such as heat, industry and transportation.

So far, most of this remains in early stages, with only three nuclear reactors under construction in Western Europe, two in Britain and one in France, each more than a decade behind schedule. Of the approximately 54 other reactors under construction worldwide as of March, 23 are in China, seven are in India, and three are in Russia, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The total is less than a quarter of the 234 reactors under construction in the peak year of 1979, although 48 of those were later suspended or abandoned.

Even if you agree with Mr. Kerry’s argument, and many energy experts do not, pledging to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 is a little like promising to win the lottery. For the United States, it would mean adding 200 gigawatts of nuclear operating capacity (almost double what the country has ever built) to the current 100 gigawatts or so, generated by more than 90 commercial reactors that have been running an average of 42 years. Globally it would mean tripling the existing capacity built over the past 70 years in less than half that time, in addition to replacing reactors that will shut down before 2050.

The Energy Department estimates the total cost of such an effort in the United States at roughly $700 billion. But David Schlissel , a director at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis , has calculated that the two new reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia — the only new reactors built in the United States in a generation — on average, cost $21.2 billion per gigawatt in today’s dollars. Using that figure as a yardstick, the cost of building 200 gigawatts of new capacity would be far higher: at least $4 trillion, or $6 trillion if you count the additional cost of replacing existing reactors as they age out.

For much less money and in less time, the world could reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of renewables like solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal power and by transmitting, storing and using electricity more efficiently. A recent analysis by the German Environment Agency examined multiple global climate scenarios in which Paris climate agreement targets are met, and it found that renewable energy “is the crucial and primary driver.”

The logic of this approach was attested to at the climate meeting in Dubai, where more than 120 countries signed a more realistic commitment to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.

There’s a certain inevitability about the U.S. Energy Department’s latest push for more nuclear energy. An agency predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, brought us Atoms for Peace under President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s in a bid to develop the peaceful side of the atom, hoping it would gain public acceptance of an expanding arsenal of nuclear weapons while supplying electricity too cheap to meter.

Fast-forward 70 years, and you hear a variation on the same theme. Most notably, Ernest Moniz, the energy secretary under President Barack Obama, argues that a vibrant commercial nuclear sector is necessary to sustain U.S. influence in nuclear weapons nonproliferation efforts and global strategic stability. As a policy driver, this argument might explain in part why the government continues to push nuclear power as a climate solution, despite its enormous cost and lengthy delivery time.

China and Russia are conspicuously absent from the list of signatories to the Dubai pledge to triple nuclear power, although China signed the declaration in Brussels. China’s nuclear program is growing faster than that of any other country, and Russia dominates the global export market for reactors with projects in countries new to commercial nuclear energy, such as Turkey, Egypt and Bangladesh, as well as Iran.

Pledges and declarations on a global stage allow world leaders a platform to be seen to be doing something to address climate change, even if, as is the case with nuclear, they lack the financing and infrastructure to succeed. But their support most likely means that substantial sums of money — much of it from taxpayers and ratepayers — will be wasted on perpetuating the fantasy that nuclear energy will make a difference in a meaningful time frame to slow global warming.

The U.S. government is already poised to spend billions of dollars building small modular and advanced reactors and keeping aging large ones running. But two such small reactor projects based on conventional technologies have already failed. Which raises the question: Will future projects based on far more complex technologies be more viable? Money for such projects — provided mainly under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act — could be redirected in ways that do more for the climate and do it faster, particularly if planned new nuclear projects fail to materialize.

There is already enough potential generation capacity in the United States seeking access to the grid to come close to achieving President Biden’s 2035 goal of a zero-carbon electricity sector, and 95 percent of it is solar, battery storage and wind. But these projects face a hugely constrained transmission system, regulatory and financial roadblocks and entrenched utility interests, enough to prevent many of them from ever providing electricity, according to a report released last year by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Even so, existing transmission capacity can be doubled by retrofitting transmission lines with advanced conductors, which would offer at least a partial way out of the gridlock for renewables, in addition to storage, localized distribution and improved management of supply and demand.

What’s missing are leaders willing to buck their own powerful nuclear bureaucracies and choose paths that are far cheaper, less dangerous and quicker to deploy. Without them, we are doomed to more promises and wasteful spending by nuclear proponents who have repeatedly shown that they can talk but can’t deliver.

Stephanie Cooke is a former editor of Nuclear Intelligence Weekly and the author of “In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , X and Threads .

Recap: Nashville Predators fall to Vancouver Canucks in Game 3, trail NHL playoffs series 2-1

Special teams made special plays for the Vancouver Canucks against the Nashville Predators in Friday's 2-1 victory in Game 3 of the NHL Western Conference quarterfinals at Bridgestone Arena.

Vancouver now leads the series over Nashville, 2-1.

The Canucks scored both of their goals on power plays on Friday. The first came in the first period from J.T. Miller, on the Canucks' first shot of the game. The second came from Brock Boeser in the second period with an assist from Miller.

Vancouver went 2-for-3 on the power play, Nashville was 0-for-5. The Predators had a 5-on-3 late in the third period. Ryan O'Reilly had a shot blocked by the visor on Ian Cole's helmet. The Canucks killed the penalty successfully.

Nashville's Luke Evangelista scored the Predators' lone goal with 3:12 left to play and give the Predators some life late in the game.

All things Predators: Latest Nashville Predators news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

The Predators outshot the Canucks, 31-12, and had several opportunities to score. Namely, Colton Sissons had a slap shot beat Vancouver goaltender Casey DeSmith, but the puck stopped in the crease. Another opportunity was thwarted when Evangelista had a rebound in the crease blocked away by DeSmith.

Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinals is set for 4 p.m. Sunday at Bridgestone Arena.

GAME 3 LINEUPS: Nashville Predators' expected lineup for Game 3 vs Vancouver Canucks

ADDING DEPTH: Nashville Predators add Juuso Parssinen ahead of Game 3 against Vancouver Canucks

PLAYOFF BEARDS: Which Nashville Predators have best, worst playoff beards? Here's how the tradition began

Nashville Predators live score updates vs. Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 NHL playoffs

Third period, final: canucks 2, predators 1 | vancouver holds on for victory in game 3 on the road.

Despite a goal from Luke Evangelista, the Nashville Predators couldn't find a second goal and drop Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals, 2-1.

Vancouver now leads the series, two games to one.

Nashville outshot Vancouver, 31-12, in Game 3. Twelve shots is the fewest in the Canucks' playoff history.

Canucks 2, Predators 1 with 3:12 to play in third period | Luke Evangelista brings Predators to within a goal

Luke Evangelista fired a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle past Casey DeSmith's glove to pull the Predators to within a goal with 3:12 to play.

Evangelista's goal is his first of his playoff career and was unassisted. The goal came on the Predators' 28th shot of the night.

The crowd at Bridgestone Arena is loud after the goal.

Nashville's net is empty for an extra attacker with two minutes to play.

Vancouver Canucks kill off key 5-on-3 situation against Nashville Predators

Ryan O'Reilly had a shot attempt on a virtually empty net blocked by the shaft of Ian Cole's stick on the 5-on-3.

Roman Josi and the Predators put powerful shots against Casey DeSmith, but the Canuck netminder kept the puck out.

Vancouver leads, 2-0, with 6:14 to play in Game 3.

Nashville Predators go on fourth power play in Game 3

Nashville is going on the power play for the fourth time tonight.

Vancouver's Brock Boeser was called for a trip against Alexandre Carrier with 10:53 left in the third period.

0-for-3 in Game 3 and 1-for-11 in the series. Ryan O'Reilly scored a power play in Game 1 for the lone power play goal of the series.

With 21 seconds left in the power play, Vancouver's Nikita Zadorov shot the puck over the glass from his own goal line. This is the Canucks' second delay of game penalty.

Nashville will have 21 seconds of 5-on-3 and will have 1:39 of a power play.

Spencer Stastney not on Nashville Predators bench at start of third period

Nashville defenseman Spencer Stastney left the Nashville bench late in the second period of Game 3. He did not return to the bench at the start of the third period.

Stastney exited the game for about seven game minutes after taking a hit to the head from Vancouver's Dakota Joshua.

UPDATE: The Predators announced Stastney is out of the game with an upper body injury.

Second period

Canucks 2, predators 0 after two periods at bridgestone arena.

Game 3 is intense, both teams are getting after one another. Brock Boeser put the Canucks up, 2-0, with a power play goal early in the period.

Nashville outshot Vancouver, 11-6, in the second period and hold a 16-9 advantage through two periods. Nashville leads in faceoffs (67%-33%) and has outhit Vancouver, 21-18.

Vancouver has 16 blocked shots against Nashville's 10.

Quick penalties put Predators, Canucks in 3-on-3 situation

Just over a minute into the 4-on-4, Nashville's Gustav Nyquist was called for a cross-check against Vancouver's J.T. Miller, who was called for a slash.

The teams will play 3-on-3 for 56 seconds, at least.

Neither team scored from the penalties, but the animosity between the two teams is growing more fierce by the minute.

Great opportunity for Predators turns into 4-on-4 late in late second period

Shots from Filip Forsberg and Luke Evangelista were saved by Casey DeSmith, including Evangelista's shot from just outside the crease.

Vancouver's Quinn Hughes held Evangelista near the net and was going to be sent to the penalty box and give the Predators a power play. However, Evangelista and Hughes were wrestling with one another behind the net. Evangelista was issued a minor penalty for roughing.

The teams will play two minutes of 4-on-4 hockey.

Canucks 2, Predators 0 at 15:27 of second period | Brock Boeser puts Vancouver Canucks up two with tip-in goal

Brock Boeser scored his first career playoff goal with a tip-in goal with 15:27 left in the second period. J.T. Miller, who scored the first goal of the game, fired a saucer pass toward Boeser near the Predator crease.

Quinn Hughes picked up his second assist of the night.

Predators nearly score first goal, Canucks clear puck in crease

Colton Sissons fired a slap shot at Casey DeSmith, the shot beat DeSmith and leaked into the crease. The puck stopped in the crease and was cleared out by the Canuck defense.

It's still 1-0, Vancouver, two minutes into the period.

First period

Canucks 1, predators 0 after one period.

Vancouver killed off three penalties while scoring a power play goal of its own to take a 1-0 lead after the first period at Bridgestone Arena.

Nashville has dominated virtually every aspect of the game, but going 0-for-3 on the power play leaves the Predators down one.

The Predators are leading faceoff percentage (77%-23%), hits (12-9), shots on goal (5-3) and takeaways (3-1). The Canucks lead blocked shots, 8-4.

Nashville Predators go on power play after Canucks called for delay of game

Vancouver's Teddy Blueger shot the puck over the glass in the defensive zone and was called for a delay of game with 2:28 left in the first period.

Nashville is 0-for-2 on the power play in the first period.

The Predators missed out on their third power play opportunity of the first period and generated one shot.

Vancouver again goes on power play after Ryan McDonagh called for hooking

Ryan McDonagh was called for hooking 1:06 after the Canucks scored the game's first goal.

Vancouver is 1-for-1 on the power play with one shot.

The Predators killed off the penalty and Vancouver generated two shots.

Canucks 1, Predators 0 at 6:37 of first period | Vancouver's J.T. Miller scores on power play for first Canucks goal

One shot, one goal for the Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 against the Nashville Predators.

J.T. Miller scored his first goal of the series with a power play goal with 6:37 left in the first period at Bridgestone Arena.

Nashville had attempted to clear the puck on the penalty kill, but the puck stayed in the Canucks' offensive zone. Miller fired the shot from just beyond the faceoff circle and beat Predators goaltender Juuse Saros glove side.

Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson were credited with assists on the goal.

Vancouver Canucks go on first power play of game against Nashville Predators

Nashville's Michael McCarron was whistled for goaltender interference against Casey DeSmith.

Vancouver had just killed off the second Nashville power play with 7:32 to play in the first period.

Predators draw another Canucks penalty, Nashville goes on second power play

Filip Forsberg drew a penalty on a Predators' rush when Vancouver's Tyler Myers high-sticked the Nashville forward.

The Predators go on the power play again with 9:53 to play in the first period.

Nashville generated one shot on their second power play of the game but is now 0-for-2 on the man-advantage.

Predators go on first power play of game, Spencer Stastney exits game

Nashville defenseman Spencer Stastney took a hit to the head on the end boards from Dakota Joshua early in the first period.

Stastney exited the game with 15:03 left in the first period. Joshua was issued a two-minute minor penalty.

Nashville did not register a shot on the power play but had one shot attempt.

Stastney returned to the ice just a few minutes later and blocked a shot.

National anthem singers before Predators-Canucks Game 3

Colbie Caillat sang the United States national anthem before Game 3 at Bridgestone Arena.

Cathy Mullins sang "Oh, Canada" before Caillat sang the "Star Spangled Banner."

Nashville Predators starting lines against Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 of NHL playoffs first round

Filip Forsberg, Ryan O'Reilly and Gustav Nyquist lead the top forward line for the Nashville Predators in Game 3 against the Vancouver Canucks. Ryan McDonagh and Roman Josi are the top defensive pairing for the Predators.

Starting goaltenders: Nashville Predators' Juuse Saros vs. Vancouver Canucks' Casey DeSmith

Nashville's Juuse Saros starts in net for the third game of the series. Saros has a 2.01 goals-against average with a .895 save percentage in the first two games of the series.

Vancouver won Game 1, 4-2, on Sunday; Nashville won Game 2, 4-1, on Tuesday.

Vancouver's Casey DeSmith made 12 saves in the Game 2 loss. He has a 2.89 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage in the playoffs. DeSmith started Game 2 after starter Thatcher Demko suffered an injury in Game 1. Demko is listed as week-to-week and is not expected to play in Game 3.

What channel is Predators vs. Canucks NHL playoffs Game 3 on today?

• TV channel: Bally Sports South locally, TBS nationally
• Stream: Bally Sports App, FUBO  ( free trial )

Streaming options for the game include  FUBO , which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.

Predators vs. Canucks NHL playoffs Game 3 start time

• Date: Friday, April 26
• Time: 6:30 p.m. CT

Predators vs. Canucks NHL playoffs Game 3 betting odds

Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Thursday, April 25

• Puck line: Predators -1.5 at +220, Canucks +1.5 at -275
• Total goals: 6 goals
• Money line: Predators -115, Canucks -105

Nashville Predators vs. Vancouver Canucks NHL playoffs first-round schedule

All times Central

Game 1: Canucks 4, Pre d ators 2

Game 2: Predators 4, Canucks 1

Game 3:  Vancouver at Nashville; 6:30 p.m. CT, Friday, April 26 on TBS and Bally Sports South

Game 4:  Vancouver at Nashville; 4 p.m. CT, Sunday, April 28 on TBS, truTV and Bally Sports South

Game 5 : Nashville at Vancouver; Time TBD on Tuesday, April 30 on Bally Sports South locally, TBD nationally

Game 6 (if necessary):  Vancouver at Nashville; TBD on Friday, May 3

Game 7 (if necessary):  Nashville at Vancouver; TBD on Sunday, May 5

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.