Play is the work of children. It's very serious stuff.
Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.
People have to see play as more important than what it currently is. We don't want to get boxed into thinking play only happens on a playground. The best type of play is all kinds of play.
Generally, successful fads have some kind of play value, like the Frisbee, Slinky, Silly Putty, my Wallwalker. They're generally inexpensive items, impulse items. They tend to be rather useless items, too. They provide a few minutes of amusement.
The only way to see the value of a play is to see it acted.
A toy is seen both as a bauble and as an intellectual machine.
It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.
The main point for me is that toys are incredibly more important than we realized.
When I was young, I would stay in my backyard and I would create roads and tunnels and systems. My uncle had a sawmill, and we had all sorts of pieces of wood, and we'd create a city. I truly believe that kids enjoy the box better than the car or the toy that's inside. So many times during Christmas, watching a kid, or even myself... There is excitement toward your toy, but then you put the toy on the side and something is created with the package.
Children's plays are not sports, and should be deemed as their most serious actions.
In the education of the American people, I am Recess.
