After the launch of No Child left Behind in 2002, the curriculum in America’s schools changed. The tested skills–math and reading–were tested. Federal law required a rise in test scores in grades 3-8 every year. The law required that every student would be proficient in these two subjects by 2014–or the schools would face dire consequences, including closure.

There is no nation in the world where 100% of students are “proficient.” That term on our National Assessment of Educational Progress is equivalent to an A. In what world are all children scoring an A in reading and math? La-la land maybe.

The pressure to raise test scores crept into the earlier grades, to second grade, to first grade, even to kindergarten. Children of 5 were learning their letters and numbers instead of playing.

Note that John Dewey recommended that children begin to read at age 7. Note that children in Finland begin reading at age 7.

Some educators complained about the disappearance of play, but members of Congress didn’t listen. There probably is no subject in which legislators are actively engaged than education. Most know nothing about it other than to mosn that test scores are not high enough.

But after nearly a quarter century after NCLB and Race to the Top, the message has begun to get through.

In 2019, Pasi Sahlberg and William Doyle wrote a book titled Let the Children Play, showing the positive benefits of play.

And now a few states have begun to recognize the value of play and to reintroduce it.

Elizabeth Heubeck of Education Week reported:

In recent years, some educators have begun to push back against the “academization” of kindergarten. These voices have gotten the attention of state policymakers; in turn, a few states have begun to push for a return to play in kindergarten, including Connecticut, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Oregon.

New Hampshire in 2018 amended its education legislation specific to kindergarten, noting that this grade level is “structured upon a play-based model.” Language for the state’s official kindergarten tool kits says: “Educators shall create a learning environment that facilitates high quality, child-directed experiences based upon early childhood best teaching practices and play-based learning that comprise movement, creative expression, exploration, socialization, and music.”

Connecticut in 2023 passed legislation requiring play-based learning in public preschool and kindergarten classrooms, and permitting it in 1st through 5th grades. Members of the Connecticut Education Association, led by CEA Vice President Joslyn Delancey, pushed for the return to play-based learning in early elementary classrooms. Delancey taught elementary school for 17 years before being elected to the association. 

“It was a commitment of mine to really understand where other educators were around play,” Delancey said. “It turns out that our members also were particularly excited about pushing play as a legislative agenda.” 

The legislation passed within a year of its introduction. Delancey credits its success to the CEA’s work to educate various stakeholders on the benefits of play-based learning, and its alignment with the state’s focus on creating and maintaining a positive school culture. 

“I think that you can’t talk about improving school climate without talking about bringing play back into our classroom,” Delancey said. 

In Massachusetts, the education department and the state association for school administrations issued a joint statement in 2021 asserting play as an instructional strategy in the early grades.

The state education department’s Early Learning Team then launched a Playful Learning Institute pilot initiative for administrators and educators in pre-K through 3rd grade. During the 2022-23 school year, the pilot involved monthly coaching in classrooms. 

Is all play created equally?

Not all play designed for today’s kindergarten classrooms looks like it did in the 1970s and ‘80s, when kids played together without much direction or input from teachers. Still, free, or unstructured, play retains an important place in the kindergarten classroom, believe some education experts. It allows children to explore, imagine, and socialize independently. But it’s generally not tied to any specific academic goals.

“I love free play, and free play has its own rights. It’s great for social development. It’s great for helping kids build their confidence,” Nesbitt said. “But it’s not going to organically, on its own, teach kids how to read.”

Instead, schools are starting to adopt play-based or playful learning, in which teachers guide students in playful activities designed to grow specific skills. For example, when students are building with blocks, the teacher could ask facilitating questions like, “What do you think will happen if you add this heavier block on top?” 

Play-based learning can boost students’ academic skills, research shows. A 2022 review of 39 studies that compared guided play to direct instruction(when a teacher delivers clearly defined, planned lessons in a prescribed manner) in children up to 8 years old found that guided play has a more significant positive impact than direct instruction on early math skills, shape knowledge, and being able to switch from one task to another.

But kindergarten isn’t just about acquiring academic skills, note education experts. Play-based learning also has the potential to help teach young learners lifelong skills.

“A lot of people are leaning heavily into the importance of play-based learning for the kinds of soft skills they can teach. I call them unconstrained skills,” Nesbitt said. “These are the skills that are not based on content-specific knowledge but rather, things like: How do we teach kids to collaborate with each other? How do we teach kids to be good communicators? How do we help them be critical and creative thinkers? How do we give them the motivation to want to be a learner?”