The Benefits of Free Play for Children’s Attention: Implications for Teachers’ Pedagogy

Research indicates that attention impacts executive function skills, which playful activities can enhance. While free play is valued in early childhood education, realising it is difficult. Using mixed methods, we examine the benefits of free play for children’s attention and explore the means to realise it as true play. This study involved 16 children aged 21–34 months. Quantitative data were collected by measuring children’s attention levels during playful activities. Qualitative data were obtained through observations and reflections on their play. Data were analysed to examine children’s attention longitudinally and capture the environmental inputs of the teacher who facilitated the children’s free play environment. The results showed that children’s attention increased after free play, which had been tactfully manipulated by the teacher with professional pedagogical skills. Based on the results, we formulated a Playfulness Realisation Framework that illustrates the dialectical interaction between environmental inputs in the play context and children’s playfulness, which ultimately enhanced their attention. We highlight in the framework the importance of the continuous interplay between children’s interests and teachers’ pedagogical inputs, which is presented as a 5Cs model. This framework serves as a practical guideline for teachers to nurture children’s playfulness and improve their attention.