Brut McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manningus podcast.

In Finland, children don't start formal schooling till age 7, aren't subject to standardized

testing, and always get at least one hour of physical activity a day, broken into 15 minute

free play breaks every hour, which take place outside, no matter the weather.

Finished parents and teachers as spouse mantras like, let children be children.

Children must play, and the work of a child is to play.

Yet despite this emphasis on play, Finnish students still achieve inviable academic outcomes

and grow up to become some of the happiest adults on earth.

My guest day says the Finnish model of education and parenting with its heavy emphasis on play

is worth replicating in other countries.

His name is Posse Solberg and he's a Finnish educator and researcher currently living

in Australia, as well as a co-author along with William Doyle, the book Let the Children

Play.

How more play will save our schools and help children thrive.

Posse begins our conversation by sharing what the data says as to how much less kids

are playing today than they did in the past, and the factors that have led to this decrease

both at school and at home.

We then discuss the fact that even when kids do play today, it's often more structured

and adult directed, even sometimes involving something called a recess coach, and how this

is led to the sad phenomenon of children who no longer know how to play on their own.

We then discuss what is lost when kids don't play enough from a decline in physical and

mental confidence to a decreasing creativity.

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