How can we bring real play into children’s lives in today’s child-unfriendly world?
PETER GRAY
JUL 18, 2023
Our children are suffering from play deprivation. At no previous time and place in known history—except for times and places of child slavery or prolonged child labor—have children had as little freedom to play as our children have today.
As I explained in Letter #2, play is activity that is (1) initiated and directed by the players themselves, not by an outside authority; (2) intrinsically motivated (conducted for its own sake rather than for some reward outside of itself); (3) structured by rules or guidelines created or agreed upon by the players; and (4) always creative and usually imaginative. The most crucial ingredient in this definition is the first—initiated and directed by the players themselves—and therein lies the primary reason for play deprivation.
https://petergray.substack.com/p/14-enabling-childrens-play
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