Rethinking Children's Play

ACLP Bulletin | Winter 2018 | VOL. 36 NO. 1

Book Review
Paula Hampel, CCLS

Rethinking Children's Play
By Fraser Brown, PhD, and Michael Patte, PhD

Play is at the core of the child life profession. Child life specialists use it daily in our assessments and interventions to promote healing, coping, and mastery of the health care environment. Play continues to be well-researched and is seen as vital for a child’s cognitive, creative, emotional, physical, and social development (Brown & Patte, 2013). However, recognizing the value of play can pose its challenges within the health care environment. Child life specialists continually advocate and educate on the positive impact that play can provide for the hospitalized child. Rethinking Children’s Play (2013), written by Fraser Brown, PhD, and Michael Patte, PhD, can be used as an additional resource for the field of child life to legitimize the importance and necessity of children’s play. Brown and Patte provide a thorough review of classic,current, and relevant play research. The text concentrates on re-focusing children’s play back to child-initiated, unstructured play.

The first part of the text reflects on the definition of play, research into play, and the socio-cultural influences that are currently affecting the quality of children’s play. This part serves as a review for practicing clinicians in regards to play theorists and child development. However, the extensive review of play research further emphasizes that play is vital for children’s development and that these developmental benefits last through adulthood (Brown & Patte, 2013).

The presentation of evidence on play theories and research could provide practicing child life specialists with a resource for discussion with administrators seeking research that supports the value of child life programs. In Part One, Brown and Patte also focus on the negative cultural influences on play that are affecting the modern-day child including fear, limited access to quality play spaces, increased screen time, and a reduction of play in schools (Brown & Patte, 2013). Being aware of these current play issues can allow child life specialists to be cognizant of the negative implications that these issues place on children’s psychosocial development as well as the importance of advocating for quality play in the lives of children.

Part Two of the text focuses in detail on specific contemporary issues surrounding children’s play. Many chapters in this part will be of interest to the child life reader. Although the topic does not directly address play from the child life perspective, the theories and ideas that are discussed in the “Play and Schools” chapter could be extrapolated to the field of child life. Critically evaluating the ideologies of childhood learning and education could positively influence how we provide preparation for medical procedures and diagnosis education to hospitalized children and families. Another contemporary issue that would be of interest to the child life reader would be the “Play Deprivation” chapter. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child classifies play as a right of all children (Brown & Patte, 2013).

Understanding that play is critical in the lives of children and a right to all children, child life specialists should also understand the implications for a child whose play is restricted. In addition, Brown and Patte reflect on the ways children play in various institutional settings, including the healthcare environment. A variety of research is discussed, which further emphasizes the importance of play for the hospitalized children. Ongoing research regarding the therapeutic value of play is of necessity to continue the advancement of the field of child life.

Child life specialists continually advocate and educate on the positive impact that play can provide for the hospitalized child. Rethinking Children’s Play (2013), written by Fraser Brown, PhD, and Michael Patte, PhD, can be used as an additional resource for the field of child life to legitimize the importance and necessity of children’s play.

The third and final part of the text introduces the field of playwork as a possible solution to address the issue of the lack of free play in the lives of children. Playwork has a larger presence in the United Kingdom, with a focus on professionals that provide quality, child-directed, play opportunities (Brown & Patte, 2013). This third part of the text may not pertain directly to the practicing child life professional. However, reflecting upon the theory, practices, and values of the playwork profession can provide child life specialists with the opportunity to re-evaluate their own values of play. The playwork view of play can further reinforce why we as child life professionals value play as being an “essential, natural part of childhood” (Association of Child Life Professionals, 2017, “Play”) and why we clearly emphasize the value of play within our missions, values, and vision of the child life profession.

Overall, I would recommend Rethinking Children’s Play as an additional resource that focuses solely on the value of children’s play. This text would serve as an excellent resource for the child life professional seeking to evaluate and reflect upon the current issues surrounding modern-day play in relation to their own practice. In the face of busier clinical and administrative roles in the child life profession, it can be easy to lose sight of the invaluable nature of non-goal oriented, child-led play. Rethinking Children’s Play could be valuable to both the new and seasoned child life professional, serving as a reminder to continually evaluate our role in children’s play and to recognize the distinction between goal-oriented and open-ended play. As child life specialists, we constantly seek to help children find control over the stressors of the healthcare environment. Play provides children with the opportunity to create and explore a world that they can control (Brown & Patte, 2010). Child life specialists should make every effort to provide hospitalized children with an opportunity to participate in unstructured play to promote further positive coping and emotional healing within the hospital environment.

Opinions about the books reviewed in ACLP Bulletin are those of the individual reviewer, and do not reflect endorsement by the Association of Child Life Professionals.

REFERENCES

Brown, F., & Patte, M. (2013). Rethinking children’s play. London, UK: Bloomsbury.

Association of Child Life Professionals. (2017). Mission, Values, Vision. Retrieved from http://www.childlife.org/child-life-profession/missionvalues-vision

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