The serious business of play

Given the competitive nature of Hong Kong education, the temptation is to load children up with extracurricular activities and tuition during their summer holidays .

But parents need to chill and allow their progeny to do so too - because play actually has value.

And children do actually have the right to play - as written in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Some organizations in Hong Kong have been promoting the value of play in children's growth and overall development.

Among them are Playright, See Change Education and Jems Character Academy.

Playright is an NGO founded in 1987 and the beneficiary of the other two education centers - all are dedicated for children to learn and grow through the simple process of playing.

"The concept of right might sound serious to some and it might not be related to Chinese culture because in the past, free play was usually seen as a waste of time and children were expected to spend a lot of - if not all - their of time studying," said Playright executive director Kathy Wong,

She added that children's right to play comes with their right to development, which needs to be fulfilled by parents.

So what does play mean?

Wong said the concept of play can be structured in a way education experts use to achieve explicit learning goals.

But there is another type of play: free play that is initiated and directed by children themselves.

The kindergarten curriculum guide from the Education Bureau recommends that kids have 30 to 50 minutes of free play every day.

"We understand it is not just a means but an end in itself because, for children, play is undertaken for their own sake; it can be fun, it can be uncertain, challenging, flexible and non-productive, which is very different from what adults think," said Wong.

And from the point of view of an educator, Christine Ma, the founder of Jems Character Academy, it is important to fuse elements of play in children's learning.

"If they are not playing and enjoying it, then they're not engaged, learning, retaining, and able to express and use the skills," she said.

Rita Pang, founder of See Change Education, sees the social element and the social space as the most important aspects for children of a certain age because "in the area of play, magical things happen when kids are playing with their peers."

Ma backed this thinking by giving examples of the importance of social skills acquired from playing.

"In terms of education, children are going into more collaborative learning as it happens in team projects" she said.

"So many of the skills that you need in working with others can come through play because when you're playing, you're learning how to communicate, negotiate, compromise, speak up, come up with rules and change them, take turns and so much more. Those are all social skills that can come through play."

If it is the process of kids socializing that counts, we may start thinking that, in the times of Covid, our next generations have already lost a lot of opportunities to equip themselves socially because there schools and playgrounds were also closed.

But the digitalization, or gamification of learning, as Pang said, is one positive impact of Covid.

"We inevitably rely on devices, which find their own way of getting games in our hands," she said.

"But we all should learn from gaming because it is one clear aspect that builds on children's and even people's psychology and makes that so engaging, making us interested."

Though lost time cannot be retrieved, we always get to choose what to do next - so while children enjoy the second phase of summer break, parents can start looking for information and ideas on how play can be from the internet.

Playright has published booklets to promote the value of play.

And on its YouTube channel @playrighthk, there are regularly updated tutorials and sharing on the topic of play.

Meanwhile, See Change Education and Jems Character Academy are running summer programs designed for children to learn while having fun.

charlie.ng@singtaonewscorp.com