Letting Kids 'Play Around' Is Actually Good For Them- Here's Why

When I met my friend Aishwarya's daughter, Aanya, on a Sunday afternoon, she was building an entire world in her backyard using only sticks, leaves, and her imagination. In her eyes, a stick became a magic wand, leaves turned into currency for her "shop," and an old cardboard box was her fortress. Aishwarya admitted that this was Aanya’s “free play” time—a period without gadgets, instructions, or adult guidance, which made me curious.

To put this to rest, we had a word with Dr Kushal Agrawal, Neonatologist and Head of the Department of Neonatology and Paediatrics at KVR Hospital Kashipur, "Unstructured play is much more than just frivolous fun. It is an integral part of child development. Today, children do not have much scope for free play. With the academic system, straddled by extracurricular activities and digital entertainment, the scope for unstructured play is getting smaller and smaller.". On the contrary, research reveals that unstructured plays hold a lot of benefits for children that structured activities may not have in store.

According to Dr Agrawal, "free time plays" are a great way for kids to get involved in physical activities meant for their growth. "When children are left to play freely, their movements become more varied and spontaneous," he says. Science behind this practice does support this because free play increases the levels of physical activity, which is moderately vigorous in children; this is essential in preventing childhood obesity and promoting health in general.

Other than these, the outdoor environments provide opportunities and challenges for natural development outside. While children run, jump, climb, and look around the outdoors, they can become able to develop strength, coordination, and endurance for a healthy and active lifestyle by exercising. Otherwise, structured activities often restrict children to specific movements or instructions.

Except for physical fitness, disorganized play lays the foundation for basic social and emotional capabilities. During unorganized play, children invent their games, negotiate roles, settle disputes, and collaborate to attain some common objectives. According to Dr. Agrawal, "such interactions build empathy, cooperation, and communication skills as children learn to express themselves, listen to others and adapt to group dynamics.".

Research indicates that children learn emotional resilience through unstructured play, navigating minor setbacks in a low-stakes environment. If the game goes sour, kids learn to solve the problem on the spot; this builds up their self-confidence as well as independence. This is a kind of play that gives children the freedom to learn by themselves and try new things without having the fear of being prohibited by others or the fear of failure.

Freedom in play helps unlock a child's creativity and the problem-solving aspects. Most structured activities have predetermined tasks or instructions that do not develop creative thought. According to Dr Agrawal, "When children are allowed to be free, they can explore and create their own scenarios, which are meant for developing unique solutions based on critical thinking.".

Unstructured play provides children with a number of materials for play—blocks, sand, or leaves, for example—without script, so that they invent games, build imaginary worlds, and, in a very real sense, answer their natural curiosity. It has been proven that this type of play helps children to make decisions, adaptability, and innovations, qualities useful throughout life.

Dr Agrawal believes that unstructured play is a very important factor of all-rounded child development. "Nowadays, children's lives are very scheduled, so it's very important for the parents to remember how necessary play is", he further adds. Being freely playful would be a great support to their healthy physical development as well as social, emotional, and cognitive development.

As parents, we can encourage free play by creating an environment that encourages exploration and curiosity. What can be very impactful is giving the child a safe outdoor space and setting aside gadgets to allow for uninterrupted time to play. As these spaces tend to be counterintuitive to everything that can be seen as a hallmark of productivity and measurable progress, unstructured play allows the children to build resilience, independence, and joy.

More than just being childhood, unstructured play confers a wide range of benefits since children learn to manage social dynamics, solve problems independently, and bring their creativity into life which puts them better prepared for the challenges of adulthood. In this natural form of play, people lay down a foundation for lifelong skills to achieve balanced wellbeing and success.

The next time you catch your child playing carefree—maybe using a stick as a wand or a rock as a pet—take the time to be thankful for the developmental steps.