Play Isn't Just Fun—It's Fundamental. Here's How UNICEF Champions Play for Every Child.

Ever heard of “Blast Ball”?

I hadn’t until my three-year-old granddaughter joined a team last year. It’s basically T-ball for tiny tots. In her first season, she didn’t want to hit the ball and wouldn’t join the scrum that chased the ball when another player did hit it.

In year two, though, as a four-year-old, she came out of her shell and blasted the ball off the tee like a future big-leaguer. Playing Blast Ball was a confidence builder. It helped her step up in front of a crowd, engage with teammates, listen to coaching and learn how to run the bases—more or less in a straight line.

I’ve always believed playing sports is one of the must-dos for kids who are able. Team play teaches teamwork and enhances creativity, problem-solving and confidence, while fostering emotional regulation and resilience by processing both winning and losing. Truly, any type of play—whether in formal games or informal activities, in groups and even alone—is essential for a child’s development.

Did you know that the most widely-ratified human rights treaty in history—the Convention on the Rights of the Child—identifies play as one of the fundamental rights for all children? Article 31 of the Convention recognizes “the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.” 

That right is celebrated each year on June 11—the International Day of Play. In New York, children will mark the day by playing a variety of accessible games and activities on the lawn at the United Nations while delegates from member nations meet inside to commit to fostering increased opportunities for play for children in their countries.

UNICEF promotes play in many of its programs around the world. For example, in Uganda, girls from South Sudan play volleyball at a UNICEF Child-Friendly Space established within a refugee settlement. A similar space in Venezuela has a variety of games and activities for children who have been exposed to various forms of deprivation. The data is clear that play can be an important part of healing from violence and displacement as well as an important part of healthy development.

In the lead-up to International Day of Play, I had the chance to lace up my soccer shoes and join my UNICEF USA colleagues who had set up a UNICEF Kids Zone at The Soccer Tournament, the world’s biggest seven-on-seven soccer festival drawing dozens of men’s and women’s teams and thousands of spectators to Cary, North Carolina.

We created space for kids attending the event to join UNICEF USA friends and Ambassadors, and celebrate both structured and unstructured play. Attendees had the chance to test their soccer skills alongside former professional soccer player Jenny Chiu, demonstrate their fitness alongside Olympic gold medal gymnast Laurie Hernandez and create their summer wish lists with actress Sofia Carson. I challenged the kids to see who could juggle a soccer ball the longest. Let’s just say my rusty soccer skills (it has been a long time since my college playing days) were no match for a number of the young players.

I sure enjoyed myself, though. After all, play and recreation isn’t just for children. It is important for all of us at any age. Corporate leaders have recognized this. By now, it is a cliche that ping pong, foosball, pool tables, dart boards and other “games” are a staple in tech company offices. Afterwork softball, soccer and other leagues are very popular. Pickleball has taken off, and not just among the retired set; young adult leagues have sprouted up, as well. And don’t forget kubb, an increasingly popular yard game that my family in Minnesota plays that recently even got a mention in the New York Times.

How do you exercise your right to play? What’s your favorite sport, game or recreation?

Today, for me, play often involves a 50-mile bike ride on the backroads of southern Connecticut where I live, competing against myself (and the darn hills). As I learned over the weekend in North Carolina, it is a good thing I’m a cyclist now because my soccer skills sure have eroded over the years.