Impact Statements

“Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children.”

-Ginsburg, K. R. (with the Committee on Communications and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and
Family Health)

“It is a child’s ‘job’ or ‘occupation’ to play to develop physical coordination, emotional maturity, social skills to interact with other children, and self-confidence to try new experiences and explore new environments.”

-American Occupational Therapy Association

“Play is nature’s way of teaching children how to solve their own problems, control their impulses, modulate their emotions, see from others’ perspectives, negotiate differences, and get along with others as equals.”

-Peter Gray, Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students of Life

“From a policy standpoint, ‘the findings about more play are exciting, because play in general has important implications in children’s development,’ according to Frances E. Kuo, co-director of the University of Illinois Human-Environment Research Laboratory, which conducted the study.”

-Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods

“Even under the most terrible conditions children played their traditional games in their traditional ways—until now. Now, for the first time in history, the children of entire industrialized nations, especially American children, are losing their natural outdoor grounds for play and forgetting how to engage in free, spontaneous outdoor play. The consequences are profound.”

-Joe Frost, A History of Children’s Play and Play Environments: Toward a Contemporary Child-Saving Movement