Article 31 of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child: What does it Mean

When Children Are Given the Right to Play?

Recognizing the importance of play in childrens lives is the building block for
respecting and promoting it as a right (Lester, 2010). In general, the word play has a simple
definition. Play is defined as being engaged in an activity for enjoyment and recreation rather
than for a serious or practical purpose (1973). When thinking about the definition, it seems that
many people would find that concept easily digestible. As an early childhood educator, I know
that play is one of the most misunderstood concepts of child development and that there is not a
simple way to define play. In fact, I spend a great deal of time defending my thoughts about play
and why it is a necessity in my early childhood classroom. I believe that play is the single most
important developmental area for all children.
There is much more to that tea party or game of tag that you see young children actively
engaged in. When children are playing, their imaginations are being transformed from blank
canvases into beautiful stories. The most fascinating part of these beautiful stories is that they are
so unbelievably complex, that the children themselves do not fully understand them.
When children are given the time and freedom to play, they are deepening their
emotional, social, and cognitive areas of development. Any child in the world should have the
right to this type of developmental growth, which is why Article 31 of the United Nations
Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is important to my field work.
Article 31 of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, states that
children have the right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other
recreational activities (Convention on the Rights of the Child). It seems that a right such as this

would be mandatory for people to understand when it comes to children, but in fact, the
recognition of play as an actual right is one of the most innovative aspects of the UNCRC, which
has taken significant negotiation and discussion (Davey.)
The primary reasoning behind the negotiation and discussion over the right to relax and
play is because it is difficult to accurately define what play might look like because each
individual has slight differences among their viewpoints. The definition of play might be simple,
but the way play is interpreted is what makes it more difficult. Parents, teachers, and even
children themselves think of play differently from one another. Some people look at play as a
non-negotiable, while others might see play as being somewhat tedious.
An additional reason that Article 31 comes with such negotiation and discussion is
because the right to relax and play is hard to be considered separate from many of the other
additional articles. Article 2- Non- Discrimination, Article 3- Best interests of the child, Article
6- Survival and development, and Article 12- Respect for the views of the child all have a
correlation with the right to the process of relaxation and play.
I have been lucky enough to experience teaching within a few different contexts and
settings during my years as an early childhood educator. The beginning of my career took place
in a rural setting where the childrens thoughts and ideas were always seen as being important.
The children in this setting were given a great amount of say and choices throughout their days.
From there, I moved into a suburban area where once again, the children had many freedoms in
the classroom. My most recent teaching experience was with an urban school district in the city
where the children were not given as many freedoms and choices throughout their days. I was
able to see significant advantages in the two settings where the childrens thoughts and choices
were taken into consideration.

By exposing myself to different environments and contexts, I was able to discover my

passion for the importance of play in the early childhood setting. My eyes were opened to the
fact that despite the differences in location and socioeconomic status, each and every child I
taught enjoyed their time when they were actively engaged in play. I was able to see the positive
influence play has on children when they are given the freedom and choice to do so.
In order to fully recognize play as a right for children, it is important to understand what
it is exactly Article 31 is stating. There is a difference in allowing children to play under adult
circumstances, compared to giving them the opportunity to create their own guidelines and
boundaries. As a classroom teacher, I can allow my students thirty minutes to get something off
of the block shelf and play with it in a particular area of the classroom, or I can give them thirty
minutes of open play and see what they come up with, intervening when necessary. It is obvious
which scenario the children are going to learn more from. When giving them the opportunity for
open play, they are going to gain knowledge and confidence in decision making, problem
solving, and reading the emotions of their peers.
Another advantage of stepping back and letting the children explore and play is listening
and seeing where their imaginations take them. As they play, children rearrange their worlds to
make them either less scary or less boring (Sutton-Smith 1999). Children could reenact a
terrifying moment they have had in order to cope, they could add a brief moment of excitement,
or they could use it as an outlet to get out emotions they are having a hard time expressing.
One of the most meaningful experiences I have had watching children play was watching
a group of four year olds pretend they were at a hospital to visit a baby that was being born. One
of the children was the doctor, another was the mom, and then the rest were the family members.
The amount of problem solving and conflict resolution taking place when trying to figure out

which child was going to play each role was remarkable. One child said, I think we should let
her be the mom because she will be sad if she isnt. These children were thinking about the
emotions of others and making decisions with other people in mind. That is a skill that the
majority of adults have a difficult time with. Next came the vocabulary words. I heard things
such as; That baby is beautiful, You have to be gentle, You have to hold it soft. These
responses were not elicited because of an adult being there and guiding the play. These children
were playing based off of past experiences and emotions that they wanted to share with others. If
I would have said, Go play hospital, I would have most likely gotten different responses.
Giving children the right to play is influential to their overall development because for
one of the few times in their young lives, they are able to be in control. They do not have adults
analyzing their play through their adult filters. Often times, play is even therapeutic for children
that are coming from unstable or hostile living environments. For children whose daily lives are
chaotic, unpredictable, or violent, play may represent a time-space in which they can establish a
sense or order and predictability through repetitive play patterns (Lester, 2010).
There are a few things that a teacher can do to fully recognize play as a right for all
children. Previously stated, it is important for a teacher to be able to step back and give the
children room to share their thoughts, ideas, and emotions. Instead of a teacher planning
independently, it would be beneficial to hold class meetings with the children and discuss their
views and plan based off of their interests at the time. In the past, my classroom has studied bugs
for weeks at a time because the children kept questioning and reaching for further information. I
would not have been respecting their rights as children if I ignored their desires.
Another way to respect the right to play for children is to set up the classroom in a way
that fully supports independent and imaginative play for all children. There should be areas in the

classroom that are gender neutral and do not lean towards one sex more than another. The block
area of the classroom should still have items that females would be attracted to as well as setting
up the dramatic play area to be inviting for the males.
One of the most beneficial things I have ever learned as an early childhood educator is
that the less you give children, the more they will use their creativity and imaginations. This type
of thinking inspires play and innovative thinking. In a previous classroom, the children enjoyed
playing with old cabinet handles and marbles more than the plastic toys that fill the majority of
classrooms in the United States. They would use string and tape to set up booby traps to catch
monsters and would write letters to bugs they found outside in the garden. Those are situations
and events that a teacher cannot create for the students. When students feel confident,
independent, and free of adult filters, that is when those types of situations take place.
The benefits of giving children the opportunity to play far outweigh any negative aspects
that come along with play. When children play, they are learning how to question, investigate,
and discover the world around them. They begin to understand emotions and relationships with
others. As an adult, a teacher, and a graduate student, I know that there are things I can learn
from others teaching me, but the majority of my learning comes from my own interests and
discovering ideas on my own without any guidance or interruption. I learn and grow from
mistakes. If I believe I learn best through self-discovery, I believe children can as well. Once we
see childrens rights as important as our own, we will begin to see the learning through play, and
play will have a much deeper meaning.

Davey, C., & Lundy, L. (2010). Towards Greater Recognition of the Right to Play: An Analysis
of Article 31 of the UNCRC. Children & Society, 3-14.
Lester, S., & Russell, W. (2010). Children's right to play: An examination of the importance of
play in the lives of children worldwide. The Hague: Bernard van Leer Foundation.
(n.d.). Retrieved July 21, 2015, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
Webster's new collegiate dictionary. (1973). Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam.