Our View on Play
Recently there has been a renewed concern and controversy about how our children should spend their free time. On the one side, the Society of Research in Child Development (SRCD) reports (“The Benefits of Busy,”
Newsweek, October 2, 2006) that the more kids are involved in structured afterschool and enrichment activities, the better kids are on measures of educational achievement and psychological adjustment. In contrast, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) ("
Harried parents urged to let their kids just play," Associated Press, October 9, 2006) recommends unscheduled family time and free, child-centered play to build creativity and emotional resiliency in children.
Several factors are driving this concern for how children make use of their time. More families rely on outside childcare or afterschool programs while parents are at work. More families are aware that the first years of life are essential to future learning and want to make the most of their child’s time. More families feel pressure to prepare their children for the competitive preschool, private school and college admissions process. Additionally, many families believe that unsupervised outside play just isn’t safe anymore.
On the upside, what has also changed is the resources available to children and families. Take for example children’s museums. In 1975 there were approximately 38 children's museums in the United States. Eighty new children's museums opened between 1976 and 1990 and today there are more than 300. The Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum opened to the public in 1997.
Children’s museums have successfully reinterpreted play for today’s families. We keep the best of traditional approaches to play—child-centered, hands-on exploration for the whole family—while offering both organized and free play opportunities. We offer services such as Toddler Music time, our drop in art room, and monthly Healthy Family Night. We also provide recommendations on how parents and caregivers can be play mentors at the museum and in everyday situations — as well as tips on when it’s best to step back and just watch the children play. We exist to provide families with fun, engaging exhibits and programs in a healthy and nurturing environment.
For many families, visiting a children’s museum is a chance to get away from household distractions, to meet friends and to spend quality family time. When caregivers and children enter a children’s museum they leave the adult-centric world behind and step into a place designed with the child in mind. This is how it works at our museum: a family visits, for example, our grocery store exhibit. The youngest, a child of three grabs a cart and begins grabbing items off the shelves thrilled to be “in charge,” for once, of the food choices. After mom sees him choose a box of cookies, she says, “Let’s see if we can pick out a whole rainbow of fruits and vegetables from the produce section.” His older sister then “checks him out” using the cash register, scales, and of course she asks, “Paper or plastic?” Afterwards, the father points out the nearby garden and asks if the children know how the carrot they just purchased grows – above the ground or below the ground. Sparked by the exhibit’s murals portraying local produce, the grandmother shares a memory about harvesting potatoes as a child. This represents the type of family learning through play available at our museum.
One of the best outcomes from SRCD and AAP reports is that the concept of play—structured and unstructured—is receiving national attention. For many years play has been taken for granted as something that just happens and something separate from learning. Children’s museums everywhere believe that play is an invaluable medium for developmental and emotional learning. And we celebrate it everyday. Though times are different; the opportunity for peer, family and community interaction, creative expression and discovery is still available. And luckily for our community, it’s just around the corner. As the late Fred Rogers said, “Play is the real work of childhood.” And this children’s museum couldn’t agree more.
