Peter Gray Explains How Humans Learned Through Play
Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn, writes about a subject central to my work: play. I incorporate traditional children's games and theater games into practically every class I teach. The games, drawn from the work of Viola Spolin and Neva Boyd, are not competitive but cooperative and actively build communication, social skills, and a sense of community. Playing together, students with widely divergent personalities and backgrounds form a bond of mutual respect. Over time I realized the learning happened mostly through play, so the games became a priority.
Gray explains how all human beings used to learn everything through play. We were hunter-gatherers, and as hunter-gathers we first learned to hunt and gather through play. For example, young boys would playfully target toads or birds before trying larger animals, and learn how to track local residents as a game that eventually led to being able to follow more dangerous creatures.
I will add that we learned everything not just through play, but also through story. The role of the elder in primitive society was often the storyteller. Every society has trickster tales and folktales that teach caution, common sense, values and responsibility. Even in our modern lives, I believe that the most important things we learn as individuals are learned through explorative play and the power of storytelling.
Think back to the games you played before you went to school, unstructured games that could be created and recreated by the players. Many kids “invent” the game of playing house, where they might practice being adults by caring for dolls or pretending to make dinner, each player often vying fort the role of mom or dad. I, however, never wanted to play house. I wanted to play school and to be the teacher! I was playing the very game that would allow me to practice the work that became my calling! Freedom to play equals freedom to learn!
Through play we can discover our true selves. If we indulge in unstructured play, we will naturally play at our eventual purpose, finding our true path. Play is the creative mind seeking to experiment until it finds a truthful moment that resonates in the soul. It is the way of all learning.
June 27-29, 2025, Peter Gray be at the annual AERO Conference in Manchester, New Hampsire this year, giving a keynote speech titled “Restoring childhod” on Saturday June 28 from 1:30-3pm.
Articles on play
Is Education Work or Play? by Laurie Block Spigel
A Genius Cartoonist Believes Child’s Play is Anything But Frivolous interview with Lynda Barry by David Marchese, NYTimes, Sept. 2, 2022
Play Makes Us Human - Peter Gray on Substack
Freedom To Learn - Peter Gray’s column in Psychology Today
The Importance of Play by the staff of Psychology Today
Books on Learning Through Play
Letting Them Lead: Adventures in Game-Based, Self-Directed Learning by Laurie Block Spigel
Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Dr. Stuart Brown
Playing for Keeps: Life and Learning on a Public School Playground by Deborah Meier, Brenda S. Engel, and Beth Taylor
Kids Play: Igniting Children's Creativity by Michele Cassou This author also wrote Life, Paint and Passion, and Point Zero: Creativity Without Limits. Through her focus is on art, Cassou helps the reader to understand the power of play and creativity.
Games for the Classroom by Viola Spolin