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| Most came for a variety of reasons, and reasons changed as the summer went on. |
Our provincial Child, Youth and Senior Advocate recently produced a 'Challenge Paper' titled Children’s Right to Play in New Brunswick.¹ In Children’s Right to Play the Advocate tells us that New Brunswick's children are not [free?] playing enough. The Advocate says children need choice, freedom, and outdoors [play] time to be healthy -
"Research demonstrates that unstructured, child-led play is especially potent for building self-regulation, executive function, social competence, and resilience" (p. 4).
"Nature-based or outdoor activities are associated with reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression, improved mood, and stress reduction" (p. 4).
In fact, he says, everyone benefits from increased time outdoors -
"Systematic reviews indicate that neighborhood features [sic] — nearby green spaces, safe sidewalks, traffic calming — encourage children to play outside, which, in turn, boosts informal social connection among neighbors and supports resilient, connected communities (Woolley & Griffin, 2015)" (p. 4).
He tells us that society does not put enough emphasis on free play (and too much on academics) -
"... there has been far less thought [sic] into providing parents with tools and information to support early play" (p. 4).
He notes that New Brunswick's pedagogy for younger children acknowledges the need for lots of free play -
"New Brunswick’s Anglophone and Francophone early childhood curricula strongly embrace this evidence. The province’s Curriculum Framework emphasizes voluntary, spontaneous, intrinsically motivated play—not just in preschool but as a pedagogical strategy across the early years—recognizing that children learn most deeply through exploration and experimentation (Government of New Brunswick, 2024a)" (p. 4).
However, even if our institution of early learning and care get this right, not enough children attend an ELC facility -
"Fewer than half of New Brunswick children access regulated Early childhood spaces.... ...New Brunswick’s landscape of supports to parents and families outside of regulated ECE spaces remains an unrealized source of good community initiatives. The public understanding of early childhood development often leans towards “over academicizing” ...without understanding the scaffolding that creative play provides the child in learning these concepts later" (p. 4-5).
Moreover, even in our institutions children are discouraged from [free] playing as they get older -
"Yet, research shows this emphasis [on play] tapers sharply as children transition into elementary school and adolescence, due to pressures from academic expectations, structured extracurriculars, and digital engagement (e.g., Pyle & Danniels, 2017)" (p. 4).
Meanwhile, he tells us, corporations are out-marketing governments with profitable bad ideas -
"In part, this is because corporate marketing of inappropriate toys and products that play to this bias has not been countered by solid public resources and supported community organizations such as Family Resource Centres" (p. 5).
And so, he says, we need to have a society-wide conversation about play -
"The whittling away of space for children to play; of zones where children can be children, did not happen overnight. ....Reclaiming play ... speaks to growing concerns around our health, education and social services as well as how we develop communities. ... I encourage all New Brunswickers to read this challenge paper, join the discussion, and ask what role each of us can play in returning childhood back to children" (p. 2).
The Advocate follows this with a list of nine points for discussion, five of which are about the creation and protection of (free-)play spaces, resulting in a list that can be paraprased -
- "Reforming laws and practices to validate independent play and support parental freedom to let children play
- "Support families in understanding play and avoiding early academicization
- "Create and support spaces for independent play.
- "Ensure equitable access to play
- "Reduce screen time and protect children."
The Advocate's paper stumbles in two places. After addressing the individual and societal benefit of play, free-play and time outdoors, the Advocate asserts, "Government has a role to play in providing parents with information, support and equalization of access to creative play for young children" (p. 5). This reads better as an aspiration than pracitcal advice; as becomes clear as soon as one asks which part of government has this role?
Given the link the Advocate draws between free play, being outdoors and well-being, the Department of Health might seem a candidate for "returning childhood back to children" (p. 2). However, this department is currently preoccupied providing services to patients. It may be too busy with the sick to give adequate thought to the healthy.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is responsible for cultivating learning environments in which children and youth can develop the qualities and competencies needed to be lifelong learners. This is more promising, but EECD is repsonsible for what happens inside facilities, not inside communities. Community development falls under the Department of Environment and Local Government, responsible for fostering vibrant and strong communities by overseeing things like environmental planning and zoning. Yet, it is the Department of Social Development that claims responsibility for managing programs and services designed to provide protection and care for children, seniors, individuals and families.
Finally, there is the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture - the one-time Department of Youth, Culture and Sport - responsible for "providing art and culture programs, heritage conservation, grants and funding for museums, sport, arts, culture and heritage and overseeing provincial parks."
In this landscape, effective support of free play in the great outdoors would require a minor miracle of interdepartmental cooperation and budgeting.
Which leads to the other stumble. The Advocate, rather uncritically, follows American influencers Jonathan Haidt, Lenore Skenazy and Zach Rausch in blaming parents - or, at least, parenting choices - for a lack of childhood play. The Advocate takes up the purported findings of a 2025 research poll asking "young people about play and free time" (p. 1), and shares the finding that over-protective parents and restrictive parenting practices are harming children.
This is, of course, a very old story. Already in 1990, Dr. Ginott and Dr. Cline, or perhaps Dr. Cline and Dr. Fay, were coining the term "helicopter parents,"² while in a 2011 paper in the American Journal of Play, "The Decline of Play and the Rise of Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents," Peter Gray sets 1955 as the high water mark for free play (p. 444).³ There is no room here to address the endless profitability of parent blaming in popular media. The point to be made is that free play, and especially free play outdoors, is a function of family and neighbourhood culture which, in turn, reflects the material conditions in which families and neighbours find themselves.
It cannot be left to the government (least of all any government department that persists in assessing children and sending home weekend or holiday homework) to return "childhood back to children" (p. 2). Families raise children, and it will be families who govern their freedom to play. If we want children and families to freely play, then in addition to positive messaging, we will need to ensure their material safety and comfort.
Finally, there is this. Shortly after the Advocate's paper was released, telling parents to not fret, CBC News ran two stories. One was a stark reminder of what can happen when parents do not hover helicopter-like over their children -
"Since early February, at least three children have died in winter-related activities in Quebec alone. The Montreal Children’s Hospital’s trauma director says this is a reminder that activities like sledding should be undertaken with caution and parental supervision."⁵
The other described the unhappy circumstances of a public library that tried hard to be an accessible community space for children and families to freely play, create and explore -
"The board of trustees for Saint John's public libraries is calling for more security after its branches have seen an increase in safety-related incidents which have, in some cases, left staff afraid to be at work."⁶
Despite these stumbles, the Advocate's point is well taken. Children do need to play, to experience freedom, to be outside in all kinds of weather. For this to happen, they need safe spaces and supportive adults; and families need to experience the kind of material circumstances that allow them to find their own best balance of care and independence. As the Advocate rightly says, this calls for a society wide conversation as well as (inter-departmental) government involvement.
At risk of seeming immodest, we can recall a time and place where QLNB's all-weather storytents met many of these goals.
Although many children showed an increase in reading level, the Storytent program was not about instructed reading. Talking, laughing, playing, and sharing were all part of the content of the program. Sometimes, children dictated stories to staff who wrote them down. Other times they wrote notes to each other, copied out text from books, or just doodled. One day, a staff member brought a guitar for the children to play. Another staff member taught them to make hemp bracelets and necklaces. Staff often skipped, played cards or clapping games, or shared bubbles or sidewalk chalk with the children. Each of these activities had a defensible 'early literacy' dimension (sequencing, symbolic representation, vocabulary enhancement, etc.), but for staff they were also about quality relationships. The children were allowed to help staff put up the tents. Sometimes, it was a child who wrote up the attendance for the researcher, or who passed around snacks. For the children, also, the Storytent was never just about reading instruction. Some children used the program to meet common social needs. Some children used it as a source for reading materials. Some quite deliberately came to acquire or improve their reading skills. Most came for a variety of reasons, and reasons changed as the summer went on.⁷
How to get back there again?
Notes
In accordance with the Child, Youth and Senior Advocate Act 2016, c.54, s.1, the Advocate "is an officer of the Legislative Assembly" (3.4) charged with duties and responsibilities that include "providing information and advice to the government, government agencies and communities about the availability, effectiveness, responsiveness, and relevance of services to children, youths, adults under protection and seniors" (2.d). It is in this spirit that our provincial advocate has produced a series of 'challenge papers.'
1 Despite the name (which varies) this paper is about well-being, not rights. See The Right to Play: A Challenge Paper on children's right to play in New Brunswick. https://www.defenseur-nb-advocate.ca/_files/ugd/809eb9_ab78a269f2c84cccaa0096038395dd59.pdf
2. Secondary sources disagree, though most point to the book Parenting With Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility. More noteworthy, perhaps, is that Parenting With Love and Logic is a conservative American Christian book, published by NavPress, publishing arm of The Navigators, a Christian organization, at a time when Christian conservatives were self-consciously trying to rescue American culture from what they viewed as anti-family and anti-Christan liberal forces emergent in the 1960s and 70s. This does not mean the authors were wrong; but it does locate their thought within a certain political and cultural frame.
3. Gray (2011) "The Decline of Play and the Rise of Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents." American Journal of Play, volume 3, number 4.
5. See https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7113461 Children dead in winter activity incidents are a reminder of the dangers involved. (March 3) CBC News
6. See https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saint-john-library-public-safety-security-funding-9.7114216 Saint John libraries board seeks extra security as safety incidents spike (March 5) CBC News
7. Brown and Dryden (2004) "Quality Storytents: Using Choice Theory to Support Reading Through a Community Literacy Project." International Journal of Reality Therapy Fall 2004 Vol.XXIV number I. Pp. 3-12. See https://drive.google.com/file/d/12C0BDrooCC1iG-h1ngx5D6rvAW_x1mb4/view
For more on Haidt et al, see Masnick, M. (Apr 22 2024) Jonathan Haidt’s Book ‘The Anxious Generation’ Is Coddling The American Parent; Giving Them Clear, Simple & Wrong Explanations For What’s Ailing Teens. See https://www.techdirt.com/2024/04/22/jonathan-haidts-book-the-anxious-generation-is-coddling-the-american-parent-giving-them-clear-simple-wrong-explanations-for-whats-ailing-teens/
