Free flow play versus structured play in children’s learning and development

Abstract

Play is commonly contrasted with the term “work”, frequently regarded by individuals as an activity which is mainly insignificant, even at such a young age, nevertheless, various researchers including Tassoni and Hucker (2005) argue that play is a significant part of a child‟s life. This study is primarily concerned with understanding and identifying whether one type of play is more beneficial than the other, with regards to early learning and development. A systematic analysis was applied in order to analyse previous research, both local and international, regarding free-flow play, structured play and their benefits. The research question: What type of play (free-flow play or structured play) better supports children‟s learning and development? was developed as a starting point for the study, which allowed the researcher to gather information from diverse sources to guide the study. Sources including books, e-books, peer reviewed journal articles, long essays and past dissertations were utilised. A thematic analysis was conducted to examine the collected research. Through the findings of this study, the researcher concluded that a balance of both structured play and free-flow play is imperative for healthy learning and development at such a crucial age in life. Moreover, it was found that children deprived of play, particulary at a young age suffer negative pathological concequences, as Frost (2010) impled. To conclude, the researcher put forward recommendations to further improve educational practices and enhance future studies.