February 15, 2026

The Whole Point Is That There’s No Point

Early-childhood educators remind us how vital it is for kids to have plentiful opportunities to engage in free play – which, sadly, is often denied to them as academic pressures are imposed too early and too intensely. But let’s consider some perspectives on play that are less obvious: how the word is sometimes applied to activities that really aren’t play at all; how important play is for older students and adults, too; how play isn’t the only alternative to “work” in a school setting; and why we shouldn’t try to justify play on the basis of the skills or dispositions it supposedly helps children to acquire. True play has no goal other than itself, and the chance to enjoy it shouldn’t be conditioned on whether it proves to be useful.

RESOURCES:

https://allianceforchildhood.org/

https://www.naeyc.org/

NIFplay.org

Deborah Meier et al., Playing for Keeps (Teachers College Press, 2010): https://tinyurl.com/2hbamnpt

Vivian Gussin Paley, A Child’s Work (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2005): https://tinyurl.com/34yzzscw

David Elkind, The Power of Play (Hachette, 2007): https://tinyurl.com/y94mhxfz

A. Kohn, “Students Don’t ‘Work’ — They Learn,” Education Week, September 3, 1997: https://tinyurl.com/yzzwbkxx

A note from Alfie Kohn: