The Magic of Play: Why Free Play is Essential for Preschoolers
This article comes from Erin McGill, owner of our Woodstock campus.
If you ever find yourself at Ivybrook Academy early in the school year, you might notice a peculiar ritual at the front desk: parents quietly returning small bags filled with trinkets, plastic toys, or shiny objects that somehow made their way home in tiny backpacks and pockets. It’s a frequent and endearing sight.
We always give our families a gentle heads-up that this is part of the journey. Our curious two- and three-year-olds, swept up in imaginative play in our outdoor classroom or activity center, often tuck away “treasures” during their adventures. Whether they’re sailing the high seas on our play boat or digging in the sandbox, their imaginations transform ordinary objects into priceless loot.
One particular return recently stopped me in my tracks. A small toy, familiar and faded, transported me back to my own childhood—long afternoons spent playing with Strawberry Shortcake figurines in my bedroom or inventing stories in the backseat during family road trips. In that moment, I was reminded of the power and magic of play.
In today’s fast-paced, screen-saturated world, opportunities for unstructured free play are increasingly rare, but they’ve never been more important. For young children, especially preschoolers, play isn’t just a pastime; it’s an essential element of how they learn and grow.
Why Free Play Matters
Free play, or self-directed play, is the kind of play that children initiate and direct themselves. It’s spontaneous, imaginative, and driven by curiosity, rather than adult instructions or lesson plans. Whether children are building towers, pretending to be chefs, or reenacting scenes from their favorite storybook, they are doing much more than “just playing.”
During these moments, children develop essential life skills:
- Cognitive growth through problem-solving, experimentation, and decision-making.
- Social development by practicing cooperation, negotiation, and conflict resolution.
- Emotional expression as they process complex feelings, work through fears, and explore empathy.
Free play gives children the chance to understand themselves and the world around them. It fosters independence, builds confidence, and encourages creative thinking. In short, it lays the foundation for all future learning.
The Ivybrook Philosophy: Play is the Work of Childhood
At Ivybrook Academy, we believe deeply in the magic of play. Our educational philosophy is grounded in the understanding that play is not a break from learning—it is learning. While we value academic readiness, we recognize that authentic, meaningful development begins with the whole child.
We approach early childhood education through a balanced lens, placing equal importance on left-brain learning and social-emotional growth before emphasizing right-brain cognitive achievement. We believe in trusting children’s natural instincts, allowing them the space and freedom to discover the world and themselves on their own terms.
Because it’s in those spontaneous, playful moments, tucked away in corners of the outdoor classroom or imagined on the deck of a pirate ship, that the real magic happens.