Battling the “Decay of Play” in Schools

This is an excerpt from my forthcoming book: Affective Teaching: The 9 Positive Emotions that Build Community, Engage Attention, and Motivate Students to Take Action (ASCD)

Let’s start with a question:

What is the purpose of childhood?

Is it to create mini-adults? If so, at what age should they fret about the loads of laundry left to fold or how to maximize their 403b accounts or digest the evening news to see which politician did which egregious thing to destroy humanity? Or, is the purpose of childhood to experiment and explore– to figure themselves out and take risks without fear of being fired or getting a parking ticket or being audited by the IRS? If we truly want kids to get the most out of childhood, we need to stop killing play and the joy that comes with it.

The loss of play is well documented in schools — even the guaranteed moments of play. Take recess. In 1989, 96% of school systems had at least 1 recess period. By 1999, that number was down 26% – only 70% of schools had at least one recess, including kindergarten classes! And it has gotten worse. A 2023 study found that only 56% of elementary schools provided more than 20 minutes of recess a day. Larger schools and those with greater than 50% free-and-reduced provided meals have even lower odds of providing at least 20 minutes of recess a day.

Play isn’t just hopscotch and four-square. It’s opportunities to experiment, risk, and explore without adults dictating every move – micro-managing students in a way that coddles and enables them to become risk, curiosity, and exploration averse in their lives. Most of all, the loss of play is the absence of a critical source of joy.

Of all the Affective Moves I’ve seen, used, and experienced, play is possibly the most powerful for joy. The cynics in the room might already be rolling their eyes, thinking, “When do I have time to play!? I have SO many standards and things to cover!” Even if we set aside the research showing massive benefits to improved learning and greater psychological safety, we have to reckon with this fact: There’s always time for play because play is at the root of our survival.

Play is a default setting

Countless species use play – even though it serves no direct survival advantage. Play expends calories that don’t lead to food, shelter, water, or procreation. So why do we do it? Through play, species develop social skills and form lasting social bonds. Play is a space to explore and experiment, boosting safety and belonging. Brains are motivated to engage in play because play releases powerful neurotransmitters like dopamine and hormones like oxytocin. In other words, the reward for play is joy – and along with it, the academic boosts we’ve explored like improved creativity, better memory consolidation, stronger social bonds, and reduced stress.

Though you might think your students already behave like spider monkeys, we probably shouldn’t set them loose to swing across the ceilings and wrestle on the rug. Play doesn’t have to be a major event. Instead, consider embedding “micro-games” – quick little moments of play that take no longer than 30 seconds. Micro-games don’t replace the need for recess and unstructured exploration, but they provide boosts of joy in a way that benefits learning communities through increased energy, focus, social bonding, and psychological safety.

Here are some of my go-to micro-games:

Affective Move: Micro games

Double-fisted RPS: Add novelty to rock-paper-scissors with double-fisted RPS. In pairs, students face each other with both fists poised to battle. Each person’s right fist battles their opponents left (and vice versa). Each battle is worth a point. Encourage students to think about their two throws before the start – though, if they mess up and throw a weird crab claw instead of scissors, the slip up usually adds even more amusement.

You can do the same in groups of three or more, though it will look like a circle – with each person’s right fist battling the person on their right, their left fist battling the person on their left. Imagine four students in a circle. Each student’s right fist battles the person on their right. Their left fist battles the person on their left. Each “victory” counts as a point.

Rock-Paper-Thumb war: Students get one hand set up for a thumb war. While their thumb war is going on, they are simultaneously doing a RPS battle with their other hand. This one is a hot mess and it’s hilarious. Side note, this is also a great game to prove to students that “multitasking” is a myth and their brain can only focus on one thing at a time; They will feel their brain switching back and forth between focusing on the thumb war or the RPS battle.

Verbal RPS: Students don’t use their hands for this RPS battle. They simply say, “Rock-Paper-Scissors–” followed by verbally calling out their throw.

Trap-and-escape: This is a reaction game. Students face their partner. They hold their left hand out flat, palm facing up. They take their right pointer finger and place it in their partner’s palm. When the teacher says the word “Trap,” they attempt to close their left palm to trap their partner’s finger – while pulling their own finger away at the same time.

Laugh-off: Partners face each other and try to maintain a serious face. Teacher counts down, “3-2-1-GO” As the teacher counts, students take a deep breath in. On “Go,” students make a “ha ha ha” sound, trying to make their partner smile while maintaining a straight face themselves. Whoever smiles first or runs out of air first loses.

Math-Off: Decide what math operation students will be doing ( adding, multiplying, etc.). Students hold a number, 1-5 behind their back. They recite, “1-2-3-math-off!” and reveal their numbers. First to correctly perform the operation wins. For some operations, assign in advance whose hand will be the “lead integer” in the equation.

Play with a purpose?

Some teachers (or administrators) are leery of playing games for the sake of games. I would happily debate such folks and argue (again) that games create joy which improves social cohesion, re-energizes focus, reduces stress, improves creativity, etc. So, there is no such thing as “games for the sake of games” because joy is critical for effective learning environments.

But, if such arguments still fall on curmudgeonly – I mean skeptical – ears, then note that Affective Teachers know how to use micro-games proactively to facilitate learning, such as:

Selecting participation more quickly: Use a RPS game to quickly decide who shares first in a review or discussion. Use a laugh-off to decide who shares their paper first for a peer review.

Reinforce Learning: Utilize “Trap-and-escape” to reinforce learning by tying the cue word to academic content. For example, when practicing transitive versus intransitive verbs, the teacher calls out a verb. If the verb is transitive, they try to trap and escape. If it’s intransitive they don’t move. Or, give a statement about a concept – if it’s true, they don’t move. If it’s false they trap and escape.

Celebrate an achievement: Do a quick micro-game at the end of a difficult learning concept. Or, celebrate that everyone made it to class on time. Or to incentivize productivity (If we can get this room cleaned up and back in order in the next 60 seconds, we’ll have time to play a quick game before the bell rings).

Energize focus: Overcome early mornings or post-lunch hangovers with a quick laugh-off or RPS battle. Not only will the release of dopamine provide energy, but the physiological movement sends more oxygen to the brain to increase focus.

Revisit the question: What is the point of childhood? If it’s to allow students to explore and experiment, play is key. If it’s to create and strengthen memories, play is key. If it’s to develop social skills, establish psychological safety, and create a sense of belonging, play is key.

We need to embrace more play — for our students’ sake and our own. So rock, paper, scissors, shoot for more play in your school this coming week.

Sharing is caring: Drop a comment below sharing YOUR favorite ways to infuse play into your classroom or learning culture 🙂

AFFECTIVE LIVING