Did You Know? Play is Fundamental
- May 31
- 5 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Watch a kid sprint across a field, negotiate the rules of a made-up game, fall down, get back up, and try again. Most people see fun. But for kids, play is actually practice. Numerous studies now reveal how play time is actually fundamental for a child's development. In this blog, we will explore how playtime is something far more significant for today's children.
Active Play is Learning in Motion
Contrary to traditional thinking, active play isn’t a break from childhood development, but rather the essence of childhood development. Current research coalesces around this simple insight. Over and again, study after study, we are learning the affirming role of playtime: when kids move their bodies, engage with peers, and navigate the beautiful, messy, unpredictable world of unstructured play, they draw upon what they have learned recently, to help them navigate it all.
While it is true that children burn energy and release the pent-up emotions during playtime, they likewise are experimenting with the constraints of their developing self control skills. They put these skills to the test. And what is more important is that during playtime they are building the foundational skills they will rely on for the rest of their lives.
Play Is Where the Real Learning Happens
There’s a common assumption in modern education that learning happens at a desk. Somehow, we diminish the time kids spend running, laughing, and playing as if it is time away from the “real work.” The American Academy of Pediatrics disagrees. Strongly.
In its 2026 policy statement, The Crucial Role of Recess in School, the AAP makes clear that active play is not a luxury, but rather a neurological necessity. Recess, the AAP writes, gives children the opportunity “to engage in peer-to-peer encounters, navigating the nuances of creating and following rules, sharing and negotiating, and building executive function skills such as emotional self-control, perseverance, cooperation, communication, and conflict resolution.”
Read that list again. Emotional self-control. Perseverance. Cooperation. Communication. Conflict resolution.
These are not what we would immediately define as playground skills. We would categorize them as real life skills. In fact, these are the skills that show up in a powerful way in the classroom and at home. The AAP notes that active playtime and breaks “positively impact the teaching-learning environment,” and that reducing or eliminating play time may actually be counterproductive to academic achievement. More time sitting does not mean more learning. Often, it means less.
The Body and the Brain Are Not Separate Systems
One of the most persistent myths about childhood is that physical activity and cognitive development compete for the same time. In reality, they feed each other. Brown University Health puts it plainly: play has the power to “stimulate the imagination and encourage creativity,” “help children learn how to respond appropriately to positive and negative emotions,” and “teach critical skills such as negotiation and conflict resolution, especially during unstructured play when children get to make the rules.”
When children are physically active, they are strengthening their muscles while likewise strengthening their minds. Movement increases blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for planning, decision-making, and impulse control. No wonder a child who has just run, jumped, and played seems more ready to listen and pay attention. Science shows that all of that activity makes the child neurologically better prepared to sit, focus, and absorb what their teacher is about to say.
What’s Really Being Practiced on That Playground
Here’s the part that often gets missed in conversations about play: while active time is good for the body, it is also a training ground for a child's brain. A safe play space provides one of the few environments where children can practice failing, adjusting, and trying again, in real time, with real stakes, and real peers watching.
It is the growth mindset in action.
7 Mindsets, a research-backed education organization, describes the shift from a deficit mindset to a growth mindset this way: it means “recognizing that all students have individual gifts, talents, and skills; nurturing these strengths and assets builds confidence and instills resilience.” It teaches students “to recognize what they can do, establishing a positive mindset and helping them face any challenge.”
The playground is where that mindset gets practiced before it becomes internalized. A child who tries a new movement, misses the mark, hears encouragement, and tries again is doing something profound. They are learning that effort can produce something positive. They begin to feel how the more they try, the better they become at something new. Quite literally, they begin to feel how what they can do is not a fixed possibility. Rather, they begin to experience that they are capable of becoming good at these new skills. These are lessons that do not take hold from a lecture. They take hold from experiences that when repeated over time, in a safe and energizing environment, ripple outward throughout the child's daily activities.
A growth mindset, it turns out, takes practice.
At DashStrom, We Train the Growth Mindset
DashStrom's curriculum is built on this understanding. We bring our certified coaches into schools, daycares, and community sites to optimize classroom learnings.
Kids who move well, feel well.
Kids who feel well, learn well.
And in each DashStrom class, we demonstrate when kids are challenged, they grow well. We call it finding your dash.
The Dash Is the Work
At DashStrom, we use the word “dash” deliberately. It is the space between who a child is today and who they are becoming. It is the effort, the attempt, the try-again; the moment after the stumble when a kid decides to get back up.
Our certified coaches show up for our school partners across Allegheny County and beyond because we believe every child deserves a structured, joyful, intentional space to practice what they are becoming. To activate their bodies and minds to learn that they are capable of more than they thought.
The science is clear. Active play gives children a multitude of benefits: better focus, stronger social skills, greater emotional regulation, and a deeper belief in their own ability to grow. These are the foundation of a child's development.
So next time you see children on a playground, think to yourself: those kids are not just playing. They are practicing what they are becoming; that playtime is fundamental for their development.
Interested in bringing DashStrom to your school, daycare, or community? Get in touch: dashstrom.com/moreinfo.
Sources
1. American Academy of Pediatrics — The Crucial Role of Recess in School: Policy Statement (2026)
Murray R, Ramstetter C, Woolridge D, Brickman CW, Council on School Health.
2. 7 Mindsets — How to Shift from a Deficit Mindset to a Growth Mindset
7 Mindsets Education
3. Brown University Health — Kids and Playtime: Why It Is So Important (2024)
Mallory Kropman, MS, CCLS
Comments