One of the most profound moments in my university life happened in a lecture hall, not long after I started studying Leisure Management. Our lecturer asked a simple question: “Define play.”
I remember sitting there, pen in hand, completely stumped.
Play? Easy, right? But the more I thought about it, the harder it became to define. It wasn’t just one thing. It wasn’t sport or games or toys. It wasn’t structured. It wasn’t just what kids did when they weren’t doing something else.
And that was the moment it clicked:
Play isn’t a break from learning. Play is learning.
From that day on, I’ve looked at childhood differently. Play is how kids test ideas, express creativity, take risks, solve problems, explore relationships, and discover who they are when nobody’s watching. It’s their job, their language, their work.
Psychologists like Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky wrote about how play is essential to cognitive and social development. More recently, thinkers like Peter Gray have championed free play – the kind that isn’t directed by adults or structured into outcomes – as vital to building confidence, resilience, and independence.
Free play gives children something they rarely have in today’s world: a sense of control.
They choose the rules. They negotiate roles. They figure out what works, what doesn’t, and how to keep going when things fall apart.
In a society filled with schedules, assessments, and adult-run everything, play is the last frontier where kids get to run the show.
That’s something we’ve always held close at Camp Blue. Sure, we run activities and programs, but at its heart, our camp is a place where kids choose, create, and collaborate. We see firsthand what happens when children are given the time, space, and trust to just be kids. They thrive.
And honestly? Adults could learn a lot from how children approach play. The joy. The curiosity. The freedom. The way they throw themselves fully into the moment without needing it to be perfect or productive.
So next time you see a child deep in play – building a world from sticks, organising a game with friends, or simply making up silly rules as they go – don’t dismiss it as “just playing.”
That’s not just play. That’s growth, learning, and life in motion.
And for me, it’s a reminder of that lecture theatre moment all those years ago.
A question that seemed simple but shaped how I’ve spent my life helping kids find space to play.
