Why Play Still Matters (Even When There’s No Time)

In an age of afterschool clubs, full time work, football, gymnastics, Rainbows and Cubs, play can feel like a luxury - something squeezed in “if we get home early.” And the number of times we hear people - even senior teachers - refer to it as ‘just playing’, well it’s more times than I've had hot dinners!
But neuroscience keeps reminding us: play isn’t a break from learning. It’s the engine of it.

When children play freely, they build the very skills adults keep trying to teach - creativity, resilience, focus, language, self-regulation.
The tragedy is that we’re too busy to see it happening.