“The truth is that play seems to be one of the most advanced methods nature has invented to allow a complex brain to create itself.” – Dr. Stuart Brown
Why Play is Essential for Children's Growth
Play is not just some leisure activity kids do to pass the time — it's how they learn about the world and themselves. When children play, they aren't just having fun — they are building their brains, developing social skills, and processing emotions.
The American Academy of Pediatrics calls play “essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children” (Yogman et al., 2018). Play is how children naturally explore, experiment, and make sense of their world.
The Psychological Benefits of Play
Brain Development
Play strengthens the brain by building neural connections that support learning, memory, and problem-solving. According to Dr. Stuart Brown, author of Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, play literally shapes the architecture of the brain.
Unstructured, open-ended play encourages creative thinking and executive function — the mental processes that help kids plan, focus attention, and manage emotions.
Social-Emotional Development
Through play, children learn how to cooperate, share, negotiate, and resolve conflicts — essential life skills.
Play helps children practice self-regulation — learning to take turns, manage frustration, and express emotions in healthy ways.
Research from Dr. Peter Gray (Free to Learn) shows that children who engage in more free play are better at regulating their emotions and dealing with stress.
Mental Health and Resilience
Play acts as a natural protectant against stress. The release of endorphins during play helps regulate mood and reduce anxiety and stress.
Pretend play, especially, helps children process big emotions and make sense of their experiences, and the world, in a safe way.
The Difference Between Play and Games
Play is child-led, open-ended, and driven by curiosity. It has no fixed outcome or set of rules, allowing children to explore their own ideas and follow their imaginations. Games, on the other hand, tend to have more structure, rules, and goals. Both are important for development, but play allows for more creativity and self-direction, while games can help children with their communication, cooperation, strategy, and rule-following.
Types of Play and Why They Matter
Understanding the different types of play helps us intentionally create environments that support whole-child development.
Type of Play | What It Looks Like | Why It Matters |
Free Play | Child-led, unstructured | Builds creativity, problem-solving, and autonomy |
Physical Play | Running, climbing, rough-and-tumble | Develops motor skills, coordination, and risk assessment |
Constructive Play | Building with blocks, making forts | Enhances fine motor skills, spatial awareness, and perseverance |
Pretend/Imaginative Play | Superhero, role-playing, dress-up | Boosts creativity, expression, empathy, and emotional regulation |
Social Play | Group games, cooperative projects | Teaches cooperation, negotiation, and conflict resolution |
Nature Play | Climbing trees, digging in the dirt | Builds sensory integration, resilience, and connection to nature |
Play Schemas
Play schemas are repeated patterns of behavior that children naturally explore during play as they make sense of the world. Recognizing these schemas helps educators understand what children are learning through their play and how to support their development.
Common play schemas include:
Enveloping: Covering or hiding objects or their own body from view, helping children explore concepts of containment and security.
Enclosing: Creating boundaries for objects or themselves, like building circles with rocks or fences with sticks.
Orientation: Viewing things from different vantage points, such as hanging upside down or climbing high places.
Trajectory: Moving objects by throwing, dropping, or rolling, as well as moving their own bodies through space.
Connection: Joining and attaching objects together — and taking them apart again — using blocks, sticks, or other materials.
Rotation: Spinning, twisting, or rolling objects, or spinning themselves.
Transporting: Moving objects from one place to another, often using containers like buckets or baskets.
Positioning: Lining up objects, sorting materials, or arranging items in a specific order.
By observing these schemas, parents and educators can offer materials and environments that support children's natural interests and accentuate their learning.
At Nature school, play isn't something separate from learning — play is learning.
When children are balancing on logs, they are learning about physics and body control. When they build stick shelters together, they are practicing collaboration and problem-solving. When they create imaginary worlds, they are expanding their minds and exploring big ideas.
As educators, our role is not to direct play but to create the conditions where play can thrive — offering open-ended materials, plenty of time, and the freedom to explore without constant adult intervention.
For more ideas on how to developmentally support children in play, read through the Play Rubic.
"There is no such thing as risk-free play. Children need and want to take risks in order to explore their limits, venture into new experiences, and develop their capacities. A balance must be struck between allowing risk and ensuring safety—trusting children to navigate challenges while providing the support they need."
— Tim Gill, No Fear: Growing Up in a Risk Averse Society
The Balance of Risk and Trust
One of the biggest challenges in modern education is the fear of letting children take risks during play. But studies show that risky play (like climbing trees, jumping off something, balancing on logs) helps children develop better risk assessment skills, confidence, and resilience (Sandseter, 2009).
By trusting children to navigate small risks in their play, we help them build the know-how and confidence to navigate bigger risks in life.
How We Can Support Play
Provide long stretches of uninterrupted time for free play
Offer natural materials and loose parts like sticks, rocks, and fabric
Step back and observe before intervening
Create invitations to play rather than structured activities
Celebrate the process of play — not just the final product
Playing with Children to Foster Social Development
Nature school teachers actively encourage and engage in play with our students to support their social development in meaningful ways:
Join Pretend Play Scenarios: Play along as a character in children's imaginary worlds, modeling how to take turns, collaborate, and extend storylines.
Facilitate Group Games: Lead simple games like 'Hide and Seek' or 'Follow the Leader' that encourage teamwork and cooperative decision-making.
Conflict Mediation Through Play: Guide children through disagreements by helping them find solutions within the play scenario rather than stopping the game. Example; If it's not fun for everyone... ie conflict is emerging:"We can pause, change (new rules or new ideas) or start something new"
Encourage Partner Projects: Pair children to work together on nature-based projects like planting seeds, restoring paths, or building stick shelters.
Encourage Inclusion: Invite quieter or less confident children to join ongoing play, offering gentle encouragement and opportunities that make participation accessible.
For parents interested in some popular forest school games, the following is a list and description of some popular forest school games.
Popular Games & Activities from Coyote's Guide To Connecting with Nature by Jon Young
Awareness & Sensory Games
Deer Ears – Use your hands to amplify your hearing like a deer, then walk silently and listen to distant sounds.
Owl Eyes – Soften your gaze to expand your peripheral vision and increase awareness of movement around you.
Fox Walk – A stealthy, silent way of walking where you roll your feet from heel to toe.
Blindfold Drum Stalk – One person beats a drum or makes a sound while others, blindfolded, try to silently stalk their way to the sound.
Camouflage & Stealth Games
Hide! – A classic game where everyone hides while one person tries to find them.
Fire Keeper – The group silently protects a hidden "fire" (object) while the trickster (mentor) tries to sneak in and steal it without being noticed.
Ravens & Crows – A game of sneaking and guarding where one team protects a secret object and the other tries to steal it.
Storytelling & Imagination
Story of the Day – Each person tells a story from their day in nature, focusing on what they observed and experienced.
Animal Forms – Walk, move, and act like different animals to explore their behaviors.
Nature Names – Kids or participants observe nature and choose a nature-based name for themselves.
Group Connection Games
Meet-a-Tree – One person is blindfolded and led to a tree to touch, feel, and get to know it. Then they're guided away and try to find the tree again without the blindfold.
Village Building – A collaborative activity where the group builds a small village out of natural materials.
Tracking & Observation Games
Who's Watching You? – Players observe how many animals are watching them while walking in the forest.
Spider Web Game – Create a web out of string between trees, and players try to move through without touching the "web."
Nature Museum – Participants quietly collect small natural objects to create a "museum" of their finds.
"Play is the work of the child." — Maria Montessori
Play is not some silly action— it's a fundamental human need. When we support children's ability to play, we are protecting their mental health, creativity, while cultivating their capacity to thrive.
At Nature School, our role is not to fill children's minds with information — it's to nurture their natural curiosity and give them the freedom to explore, imagine, and discover the world, and who they are, through play.
I hope you found The Nature School Coop blog helpful.
Live. Play. Learn. Love.
Boukman Byrd
References
Brown, S. (2009). Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul.
Gray, P. (2013). Free to Learn.
Yogman, M. et al. (2018). The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children. American Academy of Pediatrics.
Sandseter, E. (2009). Risky Play and Children’s Safety: Balancing Priorities for Optimal Child Development.