Child-directed and Adult-directed Play
Child-directed and Adult-directed Play and The Impact They Both Have on Brain Development
By: Meghan Warf, BSc Neuroscience
Intro
In this blog I will be discussing the importance of adult-directed and child-directed play and their impact on a child’s brain development. An important similarity between the two is that they both provide children with the opportunity to practice their executive function (EF) skills in different ways. During child-directed play, children have more autonomy and control over their play, often providing opportunities for children to practice problem solving and self-regulation skills. In contrast, adult-directed play is more structured, involving more instruction, guidance and rules. As such, adult-directed play also commonly provides opportunities for children to practice their inhibition, working memory and listening skills. Further, adult participation during play is important in creating positive relationships for children that contributes to the development of a healthy brain. Though slightly different from one another, both adult-directed and child-directed play are important activities for strengthening a child’s EF skills such as their working memory, cognitive flexibility, problem solving and inhibitory control.
Child-directed Play
Child-directed play occurs when a child makes the rules, takes charge of their own entertainment and decides how they should play without adult intervention. Since child-directed play is intuitive and autonomous, it often generates challenges for children to solve independently. For example, a child playing with LEGO decides they want to build a big car with no instruction or guidance from an adult. Using only cubic blocks, they will have to use lots of trial-and-error to reach their goal. This trial-and-error process is beneficial for a child’s learning because it requires them to come up with a solution, execute their idea and assess its impact, further enhancing their problem-solving skills (Barnett, 1985). To make it even more tangible, a child coming up with their own game, building a fort, or drawing requires them to remember the rules they create, make decisions and negotiate with peers. As such, these experiences can all involve the use of EF skills like cognitive flexibility, working memory, planning and problem-solving.
Adult-directed play
Similarly, adult-directed play also provides children with the opportunity to practice EF skills, just in a different way. Adult-directed play occurs when an adult controls a child’s play. This involves an adult providing instructions, a set of rules and guidance throughout the child’s playing experience. This lessens the independence involved in child-directed play and instead provides a more structured approach. Common examples of games that use adult-directed play are Simon Says, Red Light Green light and Musical Freeze, where the adult acts as the leader. These games encourage children to utilize their listening skills, working memory and inhibition. Inhibitory control is the ability for a child to override an automatic response and respond to rules or instructions in an appropriate manner (Veresov et al., 2021). For example, in a game like Simon Says, children must catch the distinction between “Simon says touch your head” and “touch your head” and then try to respond correctly. A child being able to actively listen, remember the rules, and respond correctly require the use of their working memory and inhibitory control. As such, instruction and rules provide the foundation for a child to execute a correct response, giving them an opportunity to strengthen their EF skills useful in everyday life.
How BBT Approaches Play
Building Brains Together supports all kinds of play, whether child- or adult directed. When considering BBT’s curriculum there is a large focus on intentional and adult-directed play. BBTs activities such as Pop-Up Play events in the community which include games such as Red-Light Green light, Musical Freeze and Simon Says all conduct adult-directed play.. During these games, the adult’s role in the child’s learning is comprehensive and involved. Instead of just explaining a set of rules to a group of children and then watching them play from the side lines, adults are involved in the games themselves. When adults engage in play with children, it acts a bonding experience and develops a positive relationship between them. It also fosters healthy attachment and a secure space for children, encouraging them to be themselves and to try new things while playing. This is why BBT values engagement and intentional teaching from adults, fostering positive relationships and making play more fun and immersive, largely contributes to building a healthy brain (Gibb et al., 2021). Further, adult engagement in play encourages children to participate and motivates them to face challenges presented by the activities. This is because the adult can model how to approach obstacle's, encouraging children to use the EF skills needed to properly play games and solve challenges.
Conclusion
Both child-directed and adult-directed play provide opportunities for children to strengthen their EF skills. Despite the differing environments of each kind of play, they both give children the opportunity to utilize their cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control. Since EF skills are foundational throughout life, if you want to learn more about them and why they matter, look at this blog post from our website, “Understanding Executive Functions” https://www.buildingbrains.ca/blog/understanding-executive-functions
When engaging in adult-directed play, it is important for adults to be engaged and intentional, as this can maximize a child’s participation by making their play experience more fun and immersive. Generating this kind of environment for children can motivate them to participate and tackle game challenges that work their EF skills. Overall, adult-engagement in play, creates a bonding experience between the child and the adult, that fosters positive relationships and helps build healthy brains.
References:
Barnett, L. A. (1985). Young children's free play and problem‐solving ability. Leisure Sciences, 7(1), 25-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490408509512106
Veresov, N., Veraksa, A., Gavrilova, M., & Sukhikh, V. (2021). Do Children Need Adult Support During Sociodramatic Play to Develop Executive Functions? Experimental Evidence. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.779023
Gibb, R., Coelho, L. A., Van Rootselaar, N. A., Halliwell, C., MacKinnon, M., Plomp, I., & Gonzalez, C. L. R. (2021). Promoting Executive Function Skills in Preschoolers Using a Play-Based Program. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720225
“Understanding Executive Functions” https://www.buildingbrains.ca/blog/understanding-executive-functions