
50 of the greatest and most inspirational quotes about play
Iโve written before about what play is and why itโs so important for a childโs development here.
In this post I wanted to collect together some of the greatest and most inspirational quotes about play by some of the worldโs leading scientists, educators, writers and thinkers.
I hope that these amazing quotes about the importance of play will inspire you to play more and encourage our children to play more as well!
Play Matters!
50 Inspirational Quotes About Play
Here goes:

โPlay is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children.โ ~ Kenneth R. Ginsburg
โIt is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.โ ~ Leo F. Buscaglia
โWe donโt stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.โ ~ George Bernard Shaw
โPlay is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.โ ~ Joseph Chilton Pearce
โThe creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.โ ~ Carl Jung
โAlmost all creativity involves purposeful play.โ ~ Abraham Maslow
โPlay is training for the unexpected.โ ~ Marc Bekoff
โIt is a happy talent to know how to play.โ ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
โThe true object of all human life is play.โ ~ G. K. Chesterton
โChildren need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.โ ~ Kay Redfield Jamison

โDo not keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.โ ~ Plato
โPlay and playful forms of activity potentially lead towards increasingly complex forms of knowledge, skills and understanding.โ ~ Elizabeth Wood
โChildren learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.โ ~ O. Fred Donaldson
โThe playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.โ ~ Erik H. Erikson
โPlay is the brainโs favourite way of learningโ ~ Diane Ackerman
โPlay is the work of the child.โ ~ Maria Montessori
โNecessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father.โ ~ Roger Von Oech
โChildren donโt need more things. The best toys a child can have is a parent who gets down on the floor and plays with them.โ ~ Anonymous
โA little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men.โ ~ Roald Dahl
โPeople tend to forget that play is serious.โ ~ David Hockney
Some More Amazing Play Quotes

โDeep meaning lies often in childish play.โ ~ Johann Friedrich von Schiller
โGive childhood back to children: if we want our offspring to have happy, productive and moral lives, we must allow more time for play, not less.โ ~ Peter Gray
โIf animals play, this is because play is useful in the struggle for survival; because play practices and so perfects the skills needed in adult life.โ ~ Susanna Miller
โThis is the real secret of lifeโto be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.โ ~ Alan W. Watts
โIn every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.โ ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
โMan is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.โ ~ Heraclitus
โPlay keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesnโt taste goodโ ~ Lucia Capocchione.
โChildren at play are not playing about. Their games should be seen as their most serious minded activity.โ ~ Michel de Montaigne
โPlay is the royal road to childhood happiness and adult brilliance.โ ~ Joseph Chilton Pearce
โIn play a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior. In play it is as though he were a head taller than himself.โ ~ Lev Vygotsky

โPeople rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.โ ~ Dale Carnegie
โIn our play we reveal what kind of people we are.โ ~ Ovid
โAll play is associated with intense thought activity and rapid intellectual growth.โ ~ N. V. Scarfe
โThe debt we owe to the play of the imagination is incalculable.โ ~ Carl Jung
โWhen children pretend, theyโre using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero.โ ~ Fred Rogers
โThe very existence of youth is due in part to the necessity for play; the animal does not play because he is young, he has a period of youth because he must play.โ ~ Karl Groos
โWhoever wants to understand much must play much.โ ~ Gottfried Benn
โThose who play rarely become brittle in the face of stress or lose the healing capacity for humor.โ ~ Dr Stuart Brown, MD
โChildren have always learned and created places for themselves through play.โ ~ Donna R. Barnes
โPlay is the exultation of the possible.โ ~ Martin Buber

โA child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has lost forever the child who lived in him.โ ~ Pablo Neruda
โPlay is the beginning of knowledge.โ ~ George Dorsey
โTrying to define play is like trying to define love. You canโt do it. Itโs far too big for that.โ ~ Gordon Sturrock
โPlay is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a childโs soul.โ ~ Friedrich Froebel
โWe are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.โ ~ Charles Schaefer
โPlay builds the kind of free-and-easy, try-it-out, do-it-yourself character that our future needs.โ ~ James L. Hymes Jr.
โNothing lights up a childโs brain like play.โ ~ Dr Stuart Brown, M.D.
โUndirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, share, negotiate, resolve conflicts, and learn self-advocacy skills.โ ~ Winnie Wathu
โCulture arises and unfolds in and as play.โ ~ Johan Huizinga
โPlay is not a break from learning. It is endless, delightful, deep, engaging, practical learning. Itโs the doorway into the childโs heart!โ ~ Vince Gowmon
I hope these amazing quotes about play have highlighted the importance of play and inspired you to play more and to encourage your children to do the same.
If you enjoyed please share and/or subscribe and follow โ It would be very much appreciated!
Have you got any favourite quotes about play?
If you know of any quotes about the importance of play that could be added to list please leave a comment below and I can add them ( I guess Iโll have to change the title then thoughโฆoh well!).
Letโs nurture those neurons!

Love this, thanks for sharing! I have a journal where I like add quotes about each topic and Iโm always struggling to find good ones. Will definitely be referring back to this list:)
Glad you enjoyed it!
That’s a great idea about having a journal to keep quotes – I think I’m going to get myself one of those!
So inspirational! I’d love to print some of these to hang around the house as reminders for all of us about the importance of play!
Thanks Mellissa
Yes, it’s easy to forget how important play is sometimes as it’s something we see children doing so much – but they really do learn so much!
If you want to learn more about the research behind play you could read this post https://www.nurturedneurons.com/play-is-important-for-child-development/
Great quotes! I love this one–โPeople rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.โ
So true! :]
So many great quotes from so many great minds!
Thanks for reading!
I love seeing people inspiring others! I wish more people would step up and challenge themselves to be a light in this dark world. Because it’s those people who bring life into others and it spreads from there! Thanks for sharing so many valuable ways to inspire others!
I agree! There’s some brilliant quotes here.
Play is great and I think we should do everything we can to allow to promote it!