Taking Play Seriously - Too Seriously

It’s Toy Fair time and that means that toys, toy companies and toy retailers will be in the news for the next few weeks.  These are typically joyful articles about the latest toys.  This year, due to the recalls,  we are unfortunately going to see some darker pieces as well.   

To get an idea of what the coverage may be like, take a look at this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine feature article: “Taking Play Seriously?”

The author, Robin Marantz Henig, signals to us immediately that “play” is serious stuff.  The first words in the article read like the opening to a bad murder mystery:  “On a drizzly Tuesday night in late January….” 

The article, of course, is not about murder.  It just seems that way.  It’s actually about the importance of play in children’s lives and the distress that parents experience over whether and how their children play.  The article quotes cautious psychologists, eager graduate students and worried parents.  It even goes into the “biological and spiritual underpinnings of play” and talks about “…the dangerous long term implications of play deprivation.”

At least to me, play is delightful.  This article is not.

Don’t get me wrong.  Ms. Henig is well intended.  She rightfully concludes that children need more free time to engage in open ended play.  I fully agree.

Play is important.  Toys are important. Children are important.  There is a difference, however, between important and serious.  We can treat play with the respect it deserves without becoming overwrought.

Let’s all lighten up a little.  Play needs to remain . . .  well. . . playful.