The value of undirected play in childhood

Undirected or spontaneous play

is the foundation of child development: children freely choose an activity, without external instructions. According to Gray (2020), it satisfies their psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and interpersonal relationships, which are essential for emotional well-being. This type of play includes several modalities:

• Physical play (running, jumping, ramps): improves gross motor skills, overall dynamic coordination and body control.
• Pretend play (playing firefighter, offering an imaginary snack): promotes emotional regulation, conflict resolution, and empathy.
• Spontaneous cooperative play , where children jointly invent rules and roles, which benefits communication, negotiation and social cohesion.

This free play also promotes healthy conflict management. For example, rough-and-tumble (games involving physical strength) doesn’t increase aggression, but rather teaches children how to interpret emotions and self-regulate. Furthermore, locomotor -rotational play —spinning, turning, jumping—strengthens spatial perception, balance, and neuromotor adaptability, training children to respond to the unexpected.

How free play builds conflict coping

Spontaneous play creates realistic conflict situations, such as disagreements and emotional tension, that children must resolve without adult intervention. A meta-analysis of cooperative programs found improvements in social and conflict resolution skills, as well as increased motor coordination and postural control in children from a variety of backgrounds.

The logic is simple: without an imposed structure, natural tensions arise (who chooses? What role do I have? How do I play?). By managing these, children develop strategies for negotiation, empathy, and emotional self-regulation. According to Panksepp (1998) and Burghardt (2005), free play increases levels of BDNF, a neurotrophic factor that supports executive functions such as cognitive flexibility and the ability to adapt to challenges.

Thus, the free play stage is crucial for laying the foundations for general dynamic coordination : it combines postural control, spatial perception, and motor responses tailored to the unexpected. It is the terrain where emotions, rules, and the body confront each other in tension: a true “training for the unexpected.”

Transition to directed play: specialization and refinement

Once the ability to cope with stress through spontaneous play has been consolidated, a gradual transition to directed —or guided—play with specific goals is recommended. Why?

1. Motor specialization : in later stages (6–10 years), the body already has motor notions and emotional inhibitions to accept external structures, which favors the learning of more technical skills (specific motor coordination, strategy, precise rules).
2. Boost executive functions : Neuroscience shows that complex, targeted exercises improve attention, planning, and working memory by activating executive control networks.
3. Cognitive orientation : In sports psychology, targeted training helps direct a child’s intrinsic motivation toward specific goals (personal best, improved technique), while maintaining the enjoyment of the game.

For example, a 10-week, weekly school program of 30-minute guided math games significantly improved the self-esteem, self-concept, and social skills of preschool children compared to a control group. This demonstrates that the transition from free to structured play can enhance not only motor skills but also key cognitive and emotional aspects.

Strategies to encourage the transition

Once children have experienced and consolidated the benefits of undirected play, it is essential to gradually guide them toward more structured forms of play. This transition should not be abrupt or rigid, but carefully designed to maintain motivation and respect each child’s developmental pace.

Strategies to encourage the transition include proposals that respect the spirit of free play, but introduce elements of organization, goals, and defined roles. This progression facilitates the acquisition of more specific skills, both physically (such as fine motor coordination and movement precision) and cognitively and emotionally (decision-making, frustration tolerance, teamwork).

Here are some key guidelines for implementing this transition effectively:

1. Encourage free play first.
   Set up outdoor spaces with simple materials (balls, ropes, mats) where children can choose activities without adult intervention. It’s key to observe, not direct.
2. Guide without imposing.
   From ages 5–6, introduce open-ended suggestions: “Do you want to try a team throwing game?”, letting them develop rules and roles. This is gentle guidance, still allowing room for creativity.
3. Plan structured cooperative play sessions.
   Design goal-oriented activities, such as transporting an object between several people or building a circuit, where physical coordination and collaboration are essential. These games develop dynamic coordination and strategic cognition.
4. Incorporate the emotional and conflictual component
   In this type of dynamics, anticipate encounters that may generate tension (for example, shortage of material resources) and guide the group to a resolution: negotiation, turns, fair rules.
5. Evaluate and adapt
   It is advisable to evaluate indicators such as:

• Motor skills: balance, dynamic control, response times.
• Cognition: decision making, working memory, flexibility.
• Social-emotional: empathy, self-regulation, conflict resolution.

These strategies allow us to transform the “creative chaos” of free play into valuable learning, without losing the playful essence that drives child development.

From constructive chaos to purposeful play

Undirected play lays the foundation for conflict management, overall coordination, and emotional control. It provides “on-the-ground experience” for resolving real-life tensions without outside intervention and trains the brain and body to adapt to the unpredictable reality of childhood.

Subsequently, guided play takes that foundation and refines it: it adds structure, goals, and cognitive and motor refinement. This leads to optimal development toward sports-specific skills (quick decision-making, emotional control under pressure, fine-tuned motor coordination) and emotional coping tools that support the child throughout their development.

This model—first free, then directed—responds to the principles of developmental and sports psychology: respecting the child’s developmental stages, building on their spontaneous capacity, and leveraging their full potential with gradual, strategic, and emotionally respectful support.

References

• Burghardt, G. M. (2005). The Genesis of Animal Play: Testing the Limits . MIT Press.
• Gray, P. (2020). Free to Learn . Basic Books.
• Lester, S., & Russell, W. (2010). Children’s Right to Play . Bernard van Leer Foundation.
• Mender, R. et al. (1982). [A study of motor coordination and cooperative play].
• Orlick, T. (1990). Cooperative Games: Building Social Skills Through Play . Human Kinetics.
• Panksepp, J. (1998); Burghardt, G.M. (2005). Brain benefits of play.
• Sutton-Smith, B. (1997). The Ambiguity of Play . Harvard University Press.
• Spinka, M., Newberry, R., & Bekoff, M. (2001). “Mammalian Play: Training for the Unexpected.” Quarterly Review of Biology , 76(2), 141–168.
• Martínez, A., Ruiz-Ariza, A., Suárez-Manzano, S., & Martínez-López, E.J. (2023). Integrated active lessons program. ResearchGate .
• Eriksson, K., et al. (2021). Comparison of cooperative vs. competitive games.
• Other studies collected in PMCid: PMC9590021, PMC4928743.