Why Play?

I wanted to share this poem I found on the NAEYC website.  It does such a great job of explaining why learning through play is so important in the early years. 

Play Today?
 

You say you love your children,
And are concerned they learn today?
So am I—that’s why I’m providing
A variety of kinds of play.
 

You’re asking me the value
Of blocks and other such play?
Your children are solving problems.
They will use that skill everyday.
 

You’re asking what’s the value
Of having your children play?
Your daughter’s creating a tower;
She may be a builder someday.
 

You’re saying you don’t want your son
To play in that “sissy” way?
He’s learning to cuddle a doll;
He may be a father someday.
 

You’re questioning the interest centers;
They just look like useless play?
Your children are making choices;
They’ll be on their own someday.
 

You’re worried your children aren’t learning;
And later they’ll have to pay?
They’re learning a pattern for learning;
For they’ll be learners always.

 

—Beth Brooks,
Director,
Inova Fairfax Hospital Child Care Center,
Falls Church, Virginia

 

The poem “Play Today?” originally appeared in Ideas That Work with Young Children, Vol. 2, edited by Leah Adams and Betty Garlick, published by NAEYC in 1979.