Self-regulation may not be the language used when people list 21^st Century Skills, but it is clearly a part of the portfolio. Old fashioned play, says Howard Chudacoff, a cultural historian at Brown University, is central to building this essential ability. His recent book on the history of play documents the emergence of toys that come with fixed narratives and the diminishment of free play. NPR's morning edition explores the issue with him and other child development experts. Alix Spiegel explains:

Clearly the way that children spend their time has changed. Here's the issue: A growing number of psychologists believe that these changes in what children do has also changed kids' cognitive and emotional development.

It turns out that all that time spent playing make-believe actually helped children develop a critical cognitive skill called executive function. Executive function has a number of different elements, but a central one is the ability to self-regulate. Kids with good self-regulation are able to control their emotions and behavior, resist impulses, and exert self-control and discipline.

A research experiment asking children to stand still shows a frightening decline in self regulation from 1940 to today. Senior researcher with Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning, Elena Bodrova, says, "Today's 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today's 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago. So the results were very sad."

Laura Berk, professor of psychology at Illinois State University, explains that the more structured the play, the more children's private speech (a type of metacognition) declines.

Essentially, because children's play is so focused on lessons and leagues, and because kids' toys increasingly inhibit imaginative play, kids aren't getting a chance to practice policing themselves. When they have that opportunity, says Berk, the results are clear: Self-regulation improves.

Yale psychological researcher Dorothy Singer says teachers and school administrators just don't see the value of free play.

"Because of the testing, and the emphasis now that you have to really pass these tests, teachers are starting earlier and earlier to drill the kids in their basic fundamentals. Play is viewed as unnecessary, a waste of time," Singer says. "I have so many articles that have documented the shortening of free play for children, where the teachers in these schools are using the time for cognitive skills."

Source: Morning Edition, audio and text at Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills

Also of interest: American Academy of Pediatrics report on the importance of play