Something powerful happens when play shows up in a classroom. The mood shifts. Students relax, start talking, and connect in ways that don’t always happen during a typical lesson. When we lead with curiosity and connection, play in school can become a pathway to learning that truly lasts.
Educators often say, “Connection before content.” The truth is, play builds that connection. Play helps students feel safe enough to try, fail, and try again. When that trust is in place, deeper learning follows. Play isn’t a distraction from learning. It’s a way to make learning meaningful.
Why Free Play in School Still Matters
In the early grades, unstructured play is the foundation of learning. Give kids blocks, fabric, or sticks, and they’ll literally build entire worlds. Through that process, they learn how to cooperate, take turns, manage frustration, and solve problems.
Recent research backs this up:
- Allee-Herndon et al. (2024) found that kindergarten classrooms using play-based learning showed significantly greater reading gains than traditional ones in “The Power of Play: Investigating Student Success in Kindergarten Classrooms.”
- A 2022 review in Frontiers in Education by Zosh et al., “Playful Learning Across the Lifespan,” found that playful learning environments boost self-regulation, curiosity, and creative thinking.
- A 2021 study by Nolan and Paatsch published in Early Childhood Education Journal showed that imaginative free play builds empathy and resilience through storytelling and collaboration.
Play helps children develop emotional control and persistence because they’re motivated by what they’ve created. When a tower falls, they rebuild. When a game ends, they invent a new one. This is how persistence and problem-solving become part of their identity. When kids spend a significant portion of their day in school, we have to factor that in. Play in school makes logical sense based upon the research that supports its power.
Think about your own childhood. The games you made up or the projects you obsessed over weren’t just “fun.” They built your independence, imagination, and confidence! Every child deserves that same opportunity today.
Play With Purpose
As children get older, play evolves. It doesn’t disappear, it just becomes more purposeful. Purposeful play in school can be structured around learning goals but keeps curiosity alive.
It might look like students building a model to show a science concept, acting out a story to understand tone and mood, or creating a vocabulary game for review. When students explore ideas through hands-on experiences, learning becomes active instead of passive.
Research supports this too. Zosh et al. (2022) identified five characteristics of effective play: it is joyful, meaningful, iterative, socially interactive, and actively engaging. Those qualities mirror what we know about how students learn best, which naturally aligns with keeping play in school regardless of the age of the children in the room.
Looking for Ideas?
I feel like this really can lend itself to the work of related service providers and intervention groups, like special education, school social work, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and the like. I created these play based emotions mats for my social skills groups as a social emotional learning coach, and they are so much fun and so playful. Games in general are SO fun. I also made these board games that specifically target social skills which is perfect for pragmatic language goals, turn taking, and functional SEL goals. I wrote about how I use these games here, if you’re looking for additional inspiration. I also love these board games you can snag on Amazon because they really focus on teamwork and bring genuine play into any lesson.
Next time you plan a unit, ask yourself: What could this look like through the lens of play? Maybe a group project becomes a design challenge, or a review lesson turns into a competition. Play turns content into experience, and experience turns into memory.
Why Older Students Need Play Too
It’s a common misconception that play stops after elementary school, but adolescents need it just as much. Their stress levels are higher, and they crave social connection. Play offers both. Big kids (think upper elementary and beyond) NEED PLAY in school – and yes, this is a hill I will die on.
Studies continue to show its benefits:
- Oberle et al. (2020) found that adolescents engaged in sports and playful activities reported lower levels of depression and anxiety in young adulthood.
- A 2023 study in Computers & Education by Bai et al. found that game-based learning significantly improved motivation and problem-solving in high school students.
- Resnick (2018) described in Lifelong Kindergarten that playful learning strengthens curiosity and creativity, two traits linked to long-term academic success.
Play can look different in middle or high school. It might be a design sprint, a STEM challenge, a quick movement game, or a creative storytelling task. It could also be humor, role-play, or collaboration. Whatever form it takes, it brings joy, focus, and energy back into the room, and play in school is equally as important for our upper grades learners.
Play, Equity, and Belonging
Play is also an issue of equity and access. Many children in low-income communities have limited opportunities for safe outdoor play. Some neighborhoods lack parks or green spaces, and families may not feel comfortable letting children play outside without supervision, or possibly even at all. This means schools often serve as the main place where free exploration and imaginative play can happen.
That makes it even more important that educators get creative with what play in school looks like. Play can happen indoors with recycled materials, through movement breaks, storytelling, or improvisation. It can happen in small doses, within the structure of the day.
Research shows that play can help close opportunity gaps. A 2023 report from The LEGO Foundation, “Reclaiming Play for All,” found that play-based approaches improve engagement and emotional well-being for students in under-resourced schools. Similarly, the AAP emphasized in a 2021 study that play reduces stress and fosters resilience, especially for children facing trauma or instability.
When students have time and space to play, they’re not just building social skills. They’re building the emotional strength and cognitive flexibility they’ll need for every challenge ahead.
Giving Ourselves Permission
In kindergarten, play might look like costumes, blocks, or pretend kitchens. In middle school, it might be building bridges from cardboard or coding games with friends. In high school, maybe it’s creative problem-solving, mock debates, or collaborative art projects. For teachers, play might look like laughter, flexibility, and shared creativity.
No matter the form, play reminds us that learning should be joyful, relational, and human. It invites curiosity and collaboration. It strengthens mental health and connection. When we give students permission to play, we give them permission to grow. And when we give ourselves that same permission, we rediscover what learning can feel like when it’s alive.