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Educ Res Appl, an open access journal
ISSN: 2575-7032
1 Volume 2018; Issue 02
Educational Research Applications
Review Article
Catalano H. Educ Res Appl: ERCA-150.
The Importance of Free Play in Early Childhood and Primary
School Education: Critical Analysis for Romania
Horatiu Catalano*
Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education Sciences, Babes- Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
*Corresponding author: Horatiu Catalano, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education Sciences, Babes- Bolyai
University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Tel: +40744790372; Email: horatiu.catalano@ubbcluj.ro
Citation: Catalano H (2018) The Importance of Free Play in Early Childhood and Primary School Education: Critical Analysis for
Romania. Educ Res Appl: ERCA-150. DOI: 10.29011/2575-7032/100050
Received Date: 11 May, 2018; Accepted Date: 21 May, 2018; Published Date: 28 May, 2018
Abstract
Play is the most important activity for a child. Through play he develops social, emotional and cognitive skills. The value of
play is recognised by researchers because of the intellectual achievement and emotional well-being. From all types of play, unfor-
tunately, free play is the least used in the daily program in kindergartens and primary schools in most of the European countries.
When the child is free to play, he develops all his personality traits during it. He learns how to communicate with peers, to act
or react in different situations, to respect some rules, etc. All these reasons determined us to study the most important theoretical
approaches and data about free play and to initiate a theoretical study concerning a critical analysis of using free play in early
childhood and primary school education in Romania. The aims of the study were to dene and to list some of the most important
characteristics of free play, to highlight the advantages and limits of this type of play and to encourage practitioners to use it in their
educational program in kindergartens and primary schools. Even if there are a lot of benets of free play, and children enjoy it, this
type of play has been replaced with structured activities, based on teaching. All these, due to the fact that in preschool, teachers
have to prepare children for school requirements, providing academic skills.
DOI: 10.29011/2575-7032/100050
Keywords: Childhood; Development; Free play; Learning;
Social skills; Well-being
Introduction
Most researchers, early theorists and practitioners claim
that play is at the heart of the child’s development. This is the
main means by which to develop intrinsic motivation, ability to
make decisions, solve problems, follow their own rules, control
their emotions, make friends and interact with them, and also
experience joy.
One of the great psychologists, supporters of play, Frobel,
claims that play is the form of an outward manifestation of the
inner feelings of children. Where else than in free play, does the
child manifest his inner feelings more clearly? In this sense, we
argue that “Reconsideration of free play is not only the most
valuable gift we can give to children, but it is also an essential gift
if we want them to develop physically, mentally and emotionally
as future competent adults” [1].
Although the advantages of play in general and of the free
play, in particular, are obvious, in the last half century we notice a
“detouring of it, in favor of learning” [2]. According to the studies,
during the same period, anxiety, depression, feeling of helplessness
and narcissism grew dramatically among children, adolescents and
young people. These situations are also supported by American
psychologist Peter Gray (2014) who states that the decline of play
has led to the emergence of psychopathology in these age groups.
It is not proven that the main cause of these problems is the lack of
play, but certainly one of the main causes is this. Play is found in
human specic activity from birth, when the child is playing freely,
or by imitation. With the aging, play is developing, new variants
and types are being introduced, more or less directed by adults and
its content is more comprehensive. Unfortunately, however, free
play diminishes as time and importance while the child follows an
institutionalized form of education: children play freely in the rst
6 years of life and then, during school program, learning becomes
the main activity for kids.
In order to support this type of play, we will rst try to
achieve a theoretical delimitation of it. Thus, for this term, in
the literature of early childhood education, the following names
have been identied: self-play / unstructured play / practical play
/ opened play / intentional or self-initiated play. In the documents
Citation: Catalano H (2018) The Importance of Free Play in Early Childhood and Primary School Education: Critical Analysis for Romania. Educ Res Appl: ERCA-150.
DOI: 10.29011/2575-7032/100050
2 Volume 2018; Issue 02
Educ Res Appl, an open access journal
ISSN: 2575-7032
specic to early education in Romania, the term used is that of free
play. In order to identify the many valences it has in the life of the
child from birth to primary school age, but also further on, we will
present a series of denitions, identied in literature at national
and international level.
According to the Good Practice Guidelines for Early
Childhood Education for 3-6 / 7-year-olds (2008), free play is “the
type of play the child uses throughout the day in various forms.
Free plays are the chosen, proposed, child-initiated plays without
adult intervention. He alone chooses the place, the toys and the
type of play he/ she wants “ [3].
In the work From Play to Learning, where the authors support
free-play learning, it is dened as a “natural learning process that
ensures the individual, whether child or adult, total meaning and
deep learning” (Nell, Drew, 2016, p. 10) [1].
In Pedagogy Dictionary, Schaub and Zenke (2001) dene
free play as “a form of play in which children freely choose
their teammates, content and learning objectives. It is not a xed
program, and the activity is not directed by adults. Children go from
the spatial and social learning conditions that are offered to them
and organize various plays with materials or circles, whispering,
role-play, kites, etc. “ [4].
Renowned British teacher, Ken Robinson, in Creative
Schools, denes free play as “the means by which children learn
to make friends, overcome their fears, solve their problems, and
generally take control of their own lives. It is also the primary
means by which children practice and acquire physical and
intellectual skills. Things that children learn through their own
initiatives in free play cannot be taught in other ways “[5,6].
Free play is one of the main types of activities used in the
pedagogy of Waldorf and Montessori, both of which being based
on respecting child’s freedom. In the Waldorf kindergarten daily
program, free play lasts about 1.5-2 hours a day, giving it special
importance because through it, the child’s personality develops. The
created atmosphere is based on harmony, quietness, but also action
and involvement. The role of the educator is to create and sustain
this atmosphere, but also to ensure that each child is involved in a
meaningful activity. Here, the child perceives reality, understands
the experiences he or she lives and learns about life facts. The
subject and its action are gradually being built by transguring
reality into the imaginary plane, the child thus creating a world
of his own, with his proper rules and his chosen playmates. Free
play can be developed individual or in groups, can be initiated by a
child or a group of children. The fact is that if it seems interesting,
many children will join.
As far as the educational environment specic to the
Montessori education is concerned, it is necessary for it to provide
the preschooler with all the materials he needs in order to be used
freely in all kinds of activities that the children carry out.
Analyzing the offered denitions and the specic aspects of
play in the specied educational alternatives, we note that most of
them refer to the benets it has to the development of the child,
the stages of development, the way of adult involvement and the
materials used. In order to address this issue in a comprehensive
way, we consider that the following aspects are related to the
free play: the socio-cultural background of the child, the gender
differences, the afnities for different colleagues, or the dependence
/ independence of the adult present in the created environment.
We will explain the specications, through a brief presentation of
the basic ideas related to the stated ones. Thus, the preschooler or
pupil’s socio-cultural background determines the choice of play
type, family routines and cultural artefacts, clearly determining
how he/she plays. So that there are differences between the free
plays of children in urban and rural areas, but also according to
the social status of the families they come from. So, the day-to-
day activities of every child’s family members will cause his
childish play. However, there may be minor behavioral changes
due to the imitation of the behavior of others, so social dynamics
is encouraged. In rural areas, for example, children’s plays develop
outside with toys made by them in a large play zone nearby the
house. However, free play is affected by different working activities
that these children have to do (feeding the animals, help parents to
do the cleaning/household, etc). In urban areas, nowadays playing
often takes place indoor because the play zones near blocks of ats
are not secure (in parents’ opinion) and there are few situations in
which children can get outside, in the park or another play zones.
Also, gender differences make a major contribution to
children’s options for the games they choose. Blaise (2005)
examined the ways in which preschool children in a kindergarten in
the urban environment were self-dening behaviorally as boys and
girls. They have demonstrated that there are individual precepts
of what each must play, according to gender, thus setting up boys’
specic games and girls-specic games. The choices are due to
family customs, in particular, but also to instinctive tendencies.
Rare are situations where a boy will play “girls” games or vice
versa [7]. Usually, boys advocate for construction plays, role-plays,
daily life plays, while girls would chose role-playing, drawing or
painting activities, etc., but rarely construction plays (except for
special legos for girls).
As a result of these, we assert that the valences of the free
play are numerous, depending on the aspects pursued by the
teacher. So, we will present them as a result of his theoretical and
practical study, but also expressing our point of view. Regarding
the chosen analysis criteria, we believe to have referred to areas
of development specic to preschool education, with an extension
to primary school pupils, given that the nalities are based on
varied competences. From the point of view of socio-emotional
Citation: Catalano H (2018) The Importance of Free Play in Early Childhood and Primary School Education: Critical Analysis for Romania. Educ Res Appl: ERCA-150.
DOI: 10.29011/2575-7032/100050
3 Volume 2018; Issue 02
Educ Res Appl, an open access journal
ISSN: 2575-7032
development, free play:
Reduces anxiety;•
Creates good-mood;•
Determines emotional exibility;•
Develops calmness, resilience, adaptability and ability to cope •
with unexpected changes and events;
Promote collaboration and cooperation;•
Cultivate perseverance and concentration;•
Determines self-discipline;•
Allows the child to make mistakes; learning from mistakes, •
through play, will not feel the pressure of loss.
Promotes compassion;•
Develops the ability to make choices;•
Forms skills for planning and organizing an activity;•
Shaping relationships based on trust;•
“The child who plays carefully on his own initiative and •
persists until he physically becomes physically tired will
denitely be a determined person capable of sacricing to
promote himself or herself own and others” [1].
From a cognitive point of view, we identify the benets of this
type of play on intellectual development because:
It is based on • playful learning;
Encourages divergent thinking;•
Supports learning through research that children do during •
free play [2];
Strengthens brain neural connections [8];•
Develops independent thinking [9];•
Determines learning based on test and error [9];•
Contributes to the development of multiple intelligences •
through the type of activity initiated in the play;
Cultivate talent;•
Develops thinking operations;•
Supports research-based learning;•
Surely assures the development of creativity ow, transforming •
creative sensory experience into thinking [10]. Children
“imagine, interpret and make predictions, expressing their
thoughts through words and images, and perhaps even through
actions that go beyond experiencing the play. The creativity
thus generated enhances their ability to think, feel, and engage
in more complex communication with others “ [1].
Develops the intrinsic motivation (the child plays to meet his •
play needs) and therefore the need for self-satisfaction, the
child being in the ow state, involving total engagement in
the play [10];
Cultivates the will as a result of the disappearance of the •
barrier between autonomy and shame in the playing state
[10], the child dares to carry out various actions or activities,
as long as it does not endanger his safety, which needs to be
ensured by the adult;
Develops language and implicitly intrapersonal and •
interpersonal communication. Most children start talking to
others during free play, without constraints or the sentiment of
being tracked and corrected by someone. Children also share
with parents what they have played freely in kindergarten or
school.
From a physical point of view, free play has the following
attributes:
Positive emotions during play determine the health of •
the immune system, the endocrine and the cardiovascular
system;
Reduces fatigue and stress;•
Develops agility, coordination and exibility;•
According to the • American Academy of Pediatricians (2011),
free play causes the child to delight, which indicates its
value.
Although the play’s attributes are special for the harmonious
development of the individual, an obstacle to his development is
also the electronic toys and devices (the “free play” being present
and within them, according to their creators, an assertion that we
disagree with, because everything is monitored, veried, charged
or appreciated, the play being individual, not free) that blocks
socialization. In order to diminish their negative consequences, it
is necessary to judge judiciously the time allocated by the adult
and to emphasize the importance of the play in the spare time.
Ways of Organizing and Developing Free Play
Free play can be found in both preschool and primary
education. If at the preschool level, the time allocated to this play
is higher, primary school pupils can play freely during school
breaks, in the classroom or in the yard. Games initiated by them
are not based on a rich material, but they are aimed in particular
at team games, co-operation, socializing, and role-playing games.
How students play free plays can provide information about
their personality. To this extent, the teacher of primary or school
Citation: Catalano H (2018) The Importance of Free Play in Early Childhood and Primary School Education: Critical Analysis for Romania. Educ Res Appl: ERCA-150.
DOI: 10.29011/2575-7032/100050
4 Volume 2018; Issue 02
Educ Res Appl, an open access journal
ISSN: 2575-7032
education will attempt to observe these activities with a certain
frequency in the preparatory class, being a real help in completing
the student assessment report at the end of the preparatory class.
It is necessary for the teacher to allocate some free time during
the daily program, given that the teaching-learning-evaluation
activities cover 30-35 minutes of the class, the rest of the time
being for free-chosen recreational activities. Also, in Class II, III
and IV, teaching-learning-evaluation activities cover 45 minutes,
while the remaining time is benecial for such activity. In this
situation, the teacher should allow students to use the materials in
the classroom for optimal performance of the play. At young school
age, children’s interest focuses on artistic, literary, reading, or
writing activities, role play, or free discussion on certain topics.
Another good time to introduce free play would be the
Morning meeting. Thus, children become relaxed and get better
outcomes in learning activities. In this sense, I initiated a concluding
experiment within the class that I am guiding (in the educational
alternative Step by Step): throughout a week, during the Morning
meeting, I allocated 15 minutes of free play, after which the students
were engaged in learning activities in open centers. In a proportion
of 85%, students focused their attention more on their work tasks
compared to the same time period in which free play was not
introduced. These positive results were conrmed by the students,
who claimed that they liked more to work in centers because they
played and had fun before. It is necessary to specify that, as a
teacher, I did not intervene directly in the play, unless I was asked
to do so, the activities being chosen by the child, depending on
their own interests or provisions. Instead, students were allowed to
use all the materials in the classroom, providing they put them in
place after the play ended and to “share” them with the others. We
also asked children to use indoor voice throughout the play. As a
result of the above, it is obvious that the free play of young school
children is one of the most popular types of play.
Regarding the daily schedule of the child in the kindergarten,
free play can be found in the rst part of the day but also after
the resting period. In the rst case, we mean the time the child
spends from his arrival at kindergarten until breakfast is served,
during which he chooses what and how he wants to play. During
the afternoon activities, this type of play is used before leaving
home. However, the time allocated to free play in the kindergarten
program is insufcient, given the multiple aspects it possesses.
Within the preschool education curriculum, this type of play
is integrated into the category of learning activities, alongside
didactic play, storytelling, experiment and exercises with
individual material, but “Learning activities are a set of actions
with a planned character, systematically, methodically, intensively,
organized and led by the teaching staff, in order to achieve the
nalities provided in the curriculum “(Curriculum for Preschool
Education, 2008, p.18). Analyzing this rst approach, we argue
that free play is NOT a learning activity because it is not based
on learning objectives established by the educator, being initiated,
deployed and driven by the child only, not planned. Free play is
based on the choice of children to do what they want, as they wish,
when and as much as they wish, not focusing on the objectives and
content of the curriculum. Even if adults provide the right space
and resources, children are the ones who take the lead, and adults
respond to their requirements [11]. Through it, children manipulate
different objects, perform certain movements, experiment, all
these actions causing satisfaction in the play. Due to the fact that
there are no imposed tasks, the child learns more quickly about the
world around him, about the effects of his action on objects and at
the same time about him, what he is capable or not able to do.
Free play gives the teacher a real knowledge of the personality
of the preschooler because all the knowledge, abilities and skills
he possesses are manifested spontaneously, freely and without
constraints, their manifestation being as natural as possible. All his
actions prove the knowledge of the world, their attitudes towards
different situations, things or people. Depending on the type of
play chosen, construction, role play or symbolic, it is easy to see
his inclinations or how the child translates real situations into his
or her life. For example, if we see him playing with a car, we’ll
see what things he knows about cars, what scenarios inspired by
real life he invents, what characters, events, or actions appear
during the play. Depending on how he perceived them, we can see
the types of relationships he sets between the characters and the
language used. The internal language is outlined, the child speaks
with the objects and the toys, so it is important that the teacher also
follows this aspect. Also, if he plays a game like “To ...”, we will
see how the child translates his own experiences into play, either as
a spectator of the events around him or as the main character. There
are situations where the child does not need materials to play freely.
He imagines animated situations and realizes a scenario without
too many objects. Although play is perceived by the adult as an
effortless activity, the child makes a sustained effort to get it done.
Even if he is free, creative, he develops the subject of the play,
looks for partners, plays roles that he assumes, sets and respects his
own rules, the play activity becomes work for him. In this regard,
if instructed, the educator / adult can intervene in complicating
the play, integrate in the play, interpret a character, appreciate
the child’s behavior and encourage co-operation in the play.
Although free play is much enjoyed by children, it has been
diminished by structured activities (based on learning activities)
involving children, parents’ anxiety about children’s school
success, excessive preschool / school education structuring etc. A
simple observation of children’s daily activities leads us to claim
that all these are structured by “adult coaches”, rare being the
situations when children play in the neighborhood (“behind the
block”), parents organizing their daily schedule according to their
own desires and aspirations. Overworking children with structured,
internalized or outsourced activities, along with shorter free time,
Citation: Catalano H (2018) The Importance of Free Play in Early Childhood and Primary School Education: Critical Analysis for Romania. Educ Res Appl: ERCA-150.
DOI: 10.29011/2575-7032/100050
5 Volume 2018; Issue 02
Educ Res Appl, an open access journal
ISSN: 2575-7032
has long-lasting effects on children’s development, including lack
of sleep, inattention, irritability, sudden mood swings, etc.
Although all researchers support the importance of play
in children’s development and especially free play, the early
education practitioners’ tendency is to eliminate the playing time
of the daily program and to introduce and increasingly use learning
activities structured on scientic content (see normal / extended
daily kindergarten program from Curriculum for early childhood
education for 3-6 / 7-year-olds). The same document proposes,
besides free play activities, free-choice activities. The subject of
free-choice activities in the current daily program is chosen by the
educator, the goals being clearly set before, these being aimed at
learning and preparing the learning activities within the experiential
areas. The preschooler can only freely choose the center he / she
wants to work in (in the most fortunate situations). According to
their name, we think that it is necessary for the preschooler to be
left to freely choose what he wants to do, the theme to be freely
chosen, the manifestation to be free, to develop the subject of the
play according to his own desire, to look for play partners, but at
the same time adhere to good rules. It is advisable, however, that
they be induced progressively, rst allowing the child to play by
their own rules and, if necessary, to introduce others by the adult,
explaining the reasons for this.
As I have previously argued, at both preschool and
primary levels, the preparation of free play does not require any
particular effort on the part of the teacher. Being elected and
deployed by children according to their own interests, provisions
and inclinations, the teacher intervenes to a very small extent.
However, in order to ensure its effectiveness, it is necessary for
preschool children to be provided with materials with various uses
and the educational space to be well-arranged. The Playful habitat
seen as the ensemble of human, material, ergonomic and temporal
resources determines the efciency of organizing and unfolding
free play [12]. The plays, toys and objects in the group room and
the specic centers of interest can be effective tools for doing it
(cubes, mugs, plastic glasses, different vessels, boxes, construction
pieces, etc.). The use of toys can be the classic one, but also a new,
innovative one that indicates the child’s creativity. For example,
from a box and a few grains from the role play center, the child
can get a musical instrument to use in his free play. This situation
was reported during a doctoral internship held in Hungary, where I
noticed the efciency of using free play in the kindergarten, but also
a number of aspects regarding its development. Thus, the duration
of the exercise was at the choice of the children, in some cases
the educator suggesting by his behavior the completion of the free
play period. The teacher did not intervene in the children’s play,
except when requested or when a certain situation arose. Also, the
educational space was arranged to suggest a miniature house with
specic furnishings and facilities. This is why children skillfully
used toys that were household items (dishes, sweatshirts, vacuum
cleaners, clothing racks etc.), which obviously contribute to the
formation of practical household skills. An atmosphere of well-
being characterized the whole team, so that the group room was
dominated by smiles and good-mood. In the daily program, free
play was compulsory, outside the kindergarten too, regardless of
weather conditions, and the educator ensured the physical integrity
of the children. In each group room, there was a doorway to the
outside courtyard where a “play area” [13] was established, which
children respected in order to avoid dangers.
Setting up a playful habitat determines the enjoyment
of the play, involving children in this activity being dependent
on this aspect. Therefore, we consider that regardless of the
national specicity of the curriculum for early education, the
way of arranging the educational space, the role of the teaching
staff, but also the interest it gives to the free play, determines the
establishment of the ow state at the level of the children, state
indicating their total involvement in activity.
Ways of Promoting Free Play in Early Childhood
Education
Having the successful pattern of free play organization in
kindergartens in Hungary and the United States of America, where
the Ministry of Education recommends learning through play
during the rst years of life (1-5 years) and especially through play
at the child’s initiative [9], we believe that there can be a call to
action to promote free play in early education, as follows:
Organizing surveys conducted as a questionnaire survey on •
the place and role of free play in the daily schedule of children
in the kindergarten;
Allocating 60 minutes a day for free play (especially at •
preschool level);
Teacher training at all levels of education in order to know •
how free play can be used by children;
Organizing “play workshops” [1] for teachers, which may •
appear as “a series of experiences based on each other,
each contributing to the development of new knowledge
about teaching and learning” [1]. These workshops require
participants to choose how to play based on the materials made
available. “Those who can play with the various possibilities
... will be more alive than those who are waiting to be told
what to do “ [2].
Organizing play workshops for parents by teacher trainers;•
Organizing free afterschool playing centers in which parents •
and their children are integrated;
Campaigns to promote the free play of children in the family, •
as well as to organize joint activities at school (plays evenings,
Citation: Catalano H (2018) The Importance of Free Play in Early Childhood and Primary School Education: Critical Analysis for Romania. Educ Res Appl: ERCA-150.
DOI: 10.29011/2575-7032/100050
6 Volume 2018; Issue 02
Educ Res Appl, an open access journal
ISSN: 2575-7032
play centers, etc.), at home and, last but not least, in the outdoor
environment, because in this environment the child explores
the environment, discovers, tries, tests, fails, climbs and runs.
Conclusions
In this study, we’ve emphasized some theoretical and
practical aspects of free play. No doubt, that this is the most
important type of play, because of its benets for the future adult.
Taking into consideration all the information from our study, but
also primary and preschool teachers’ opinions, the time for free play
is more and more reduced during kindergarten/school time. Even
if they all agree that free play occupies an important role in child’s
development, they assert that the curriculum requirements and
standardized test don’t allow them to use it as long as they would
like to. The major problem concerning free play in private, and
play in general, stands in the “seriousness” of teaching and learning
act. If teachers and parents don’t have enough time and space for
playing, children lose interest for this activity, because they were
born “digital” being “native digital generation” [14]. These are the
reasons why children’s free time is conquered by digital devices.
At the same time, at the school age, there is a lack of interest for
free play caused by the precariousness of ludic habitat [12]. The
cited author claims the importance of adults in sustaining child’s
desire of play. If they do not ensure a secure place for playing and
a series of toys or different materials to play with, then playing is
not considered very interesting in this situation. This generation of
children need dynamic activities, to keep them busy all the time,
this is the reason why, in some situations, playing is different from
the previous period of time. This doesn’t means that children don’t
like to play, but they enjoy different kind of games, that’s why it’s
important for adults to leave them to play freely indoor or outdoor
for a minimum period of 60 minutes a day.
Because free play gives teachers and parents important
information about children’s abilities, knowledge, skills, afliation
and even attitudes towards person and things we think that it is
necessary to place free play on top of the pyramid of types of play.
At the same time, during free play, we have to focus our attention
on the aspects that create the well-being status of the children and
to support them in the activity of play.
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