Independent play

If you’ve ever watched a four-year-old play independently, you know it can be fascinating.

These blocks go here. This figure needs to do this thing. I’ll talk to these animals. Where’s my bag? I need a very specific book; where did it go?

Children of this age have a beautiful way of setting very short-term goals (e.g. my doll is in immediate need of a bed made from blankets) and then operating like curious little scientists.

And while preschool-age ambition in make-believe can create challenges, it has a way of liberating play and experimentation. There’s little fear of critical review. There’s not really a little kid-version of cost justification. There aren’t metrics. It’s just play… where freedom and confidence work together.

As adults, we can still play… creating situations where we can act freely and confidently. And truly great work can come of it.