EP158: The Role of Play on Learning

Earlier in the week I came across a post from The Global Matrix 4.0 which represents the largest compilation of information related to physical activity in children in adolescents. Their report states that there is "a global pandemic of youth physical activity" as only 27%-33% of youth meet physical activity guidelines. 

This is an alarming trend and what makes this even potentially more dangerous is that those who participate in physical activity, it is usually done in a structured setting lacking variety. Last week I spoke on why play is important for socioemotional reasons. If you need a reminder of those benefits, here is a summary of why play is important: The unstructured environment associated with play offers children the opportunity to control their own actions, to solve problems, to work with others, to laugh, to deal with emotions and ultimately, the feeling that they have control of their own lives and fate. When kids don't feel like they can control their environment and how they respond to it, anxiety and depression are soon to follow. 

On the physical side of things, some of my favorite memories growing up are playing sports or doing physical activities with friends. We picked the teams, made the rules, handled disputes, and in the end, everyone had fun. We played so often that we got tons of practice running, jumping, cutting, defending, and passing in all types of different environments. Because of this, we developed basic athletic skills that carried over into any sport that we decided to play. This concept gets lost when most activity is highly structured and in a single sport setting. Also, chance of injury and burnout increase when kids focus solely on one sport or activity. They may be better at that given sport in the short term but will suffer in the long term as they lack the requisite athletic qualities associated with playing sports at a higher level.