freedom to play

 

it’s hard to know the right balance between freedom and structure… but it’s not an either/or type of balance.  the point is that some structures actually enable freedom.

language is a structure that limits our thinking… if you don’t agree just spend a minute trying to think of something without language… we think in terms of language… and it’s hard to bust out of that.  but by the same token, language enables us to think about things in ways which would not be possible if we didn’t have that structure.  it lets us dig deeper.

 

so it is in the development of children.  toys and tools dictate, to a certain extent, how kids can play.  round toys roll and square toys don’t… but things that roll and things that stay put are both useful for going beyond having nothing to play with!  the the differences in extent are important… the best kind of toys are the toys that give kids a chance to develop some creativity… the ones that are not totally closed to interpretation… the more open the better.