More Than Fun: Why Play-Based Learning Matters More Than Ever

If you ask a child what they're doing while playing, you'll probably hear about a daring animal rescue, an expedition through the jungle, or a horse preparing for the biggest competition of its life. Ask an adult, and you're just as likely to hear, "They're playing." The truth is, they’re doing so much more than that. Playing is far more than entertainment – it’s one of the most powerful ways children develop the skills they'll carry throughout their lives. Through every imaginative story, collaborative challenge, and joyful discovery, children are developing the skills, confidence, and curiosity to make sense of the world around them

Play reminds us that some of the most important learning happens organically. It teaches children how to think, not just what to think. They're asking questions, testing ideas, solving problems, and laying the foundation for lifelong learning. For generations, play has been viewed as a reward earned after the "real work" of learning is complete, yet decades of research tell a very different story.

Studying Play:

• The American Academy of Pediatrics states that encouraging and supporting play is an important part of promoting children’s health. [Play experience] can impact their physical, mental, and social-emotional health outcomes. (Source: The American Academy of Pediatrics)


• 75% of children under 12 aren’t getting enough active free play. (Source: The Genius of Play).


• Research shows that just 10 minutes of play can make a positive impact for families. (Source: Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development)


• In one study by the AAP, 3- to 4-year-old children were two times more likely to feel less stressed when allowed to play for 15 minutes. (Source: The American Academy of Pediatrics)


• A study found that children who went without electronic devices for five days were better at recognizing facial emotions and reading nonverbal cues than those who lived life as usual. (Source: Science Direct)


• A study by the University of Koblenz and schleich® showed free play gives children important future skills, stating that 84% of parents would like children to spend most playtime in free play. (Source: schleich)

The evidence continues to point in the same direction: play isn't a break from learning—it is one of the most effective ways learning happens.

At schleich®, we've had a front-row seat to this for years.

Children rarely pick up one of our animal figures and simply place it on a shelf. Instead, they create entire ecosystems, invent stories, build habitats, solve challenges, and create unlikely connections between animals and humans. A lion is a protector. A horse becomes a pig’s trusted companion. Dinosaurs roam prehistoric landscapes created from blankets and books. In those moments, children aren't following instructions; they're creating their own ideas.

The benefits extend well beyond imagination. Through play-based learning, children can strengthen memory, attention, and problem-solving skills, develop empathy and communication, and refine fine motor skills.

Play Benefits:

• Cognitive Development: Play strengthens problem-solving, memory, and attention by allowing children to experiment with the world around them, building, sorting, and organizing objects, and asking and answering questions during pretend play.
  
  
• Social and Emotional Skills: Play helps children practice empathy, communication, and cooperation with others through actions like sharing roles in imaginative scenarios, resolving conflicts during group play, and expressing feelings through storytelling.
  
  
• Physical and Sensory Development: Hands-on play develops motor skills while engaging the senses by exploring textures, movement, and spatial awareness.
  
  
• Imagination and Creativity: Play encourages storytelling, invention, and creative thinking through practices such as turning everyday objects into scenery and props, creating imaginary play worlds, and inventing stories.

Play Patterns that Support Learning:

• Imaginative Play: Pretend scenarios and storytelling adventures help children invent new worlds
  
  
• Open-Ended Play: Toys without a single “right answer” encourage creativity and experimentation
  
  
• Sensory Play: Hands-on explorations let children learn through touch, movement, and discovery
  
  
• Role Play: Caring for others and acting out everyday roles builds empathy and understanding

At a time when childhood is increasingly structured, and screens compete for attention, protecting time for play has never been more important.

If there's one hope I have for parents and educators, it's that they'll see play for what it truly is. Not a distraction from learning, but one of its greatest catalysts. Because sometimes the most important lessons children learn don't come from being told what to think. They come from being given the freedom to imagine.

As an imaginative and learning-focused toy company, schleich®, instills its passion for play-based learning in everything we do. From product development to retail experiences, we create endless opportunities for children to learn about the world around them through detailed, lifelike toys, encouragement of open-ended play, and grounding resources that support play-based learning around Science & STEM, Geography & Habitats, Literacy and Storytelling, and Emotional & Social Learning.

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