Play

The Decline of Play (And what that might mean for your child)

If you have a child in your life, this might be one of the most important videos you will ever watch! Children need to form an internal sense of control and play is the way they naturally develop it. 

The synopsis from TED talk: "In this talk, Dr. Peter Gray compellingly brings attention to the reality that over the past 60 years in the United States there has been a gradual but, overall dramatic decline in children's freedom to play with other children, without adult direction. Over this same period, there has been a gradual but overall dramatic increase in anxiety, depression, feelings of helplessness, suicide, and narcissism in children and adolescents. Based on his own and others' research, Dr. Gray documents why free play is essential for children's healthy social and emotional development and outlines steps through which we can bring free play back to children's lives."