Talk:Free play

Free play is currently a Culture, sociology and psychology good article nominee. Nominated by MolecularPilot ^{🧪️✈️} at 03:11, 4 January 2025 (UTC)

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Short description: Spontaneous and self-directed activity of children

Psychology Low‑importance

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Education Low‑importance

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GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Free play/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: MolecularPilot (talk · contribs) 03:11, 4 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewer: Pokelego999 (talk · contribs) 14:02, 6 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Taking on this article per our exchange discussed in the Discord.

Six GA Criteria

1. Article is well-written. Very minimal mistakes if any at all.

2. No OR, all info is cited in the article.

3. Coverage is broad in depth and focus. Shows multiple aspects of the subject.

4. Article appears neutral, and does not appear to hold a significantly negative nor positive stance on the subject.

5. Article appears stable. Does not appear to have had any major vandalism occur.

6. Article uses no fair use media.

Lead

-Looks good

Key Elements

-Cardboard box example is not cited.

Developmental benefits

-Could gross and fine motor skills be clarified? The terms are a bit technical and so can be confusing to those outside of the subject area.

-Who is Colliver et al? It's not clear why they're important. Additionally, and this may just be due to subject matter inexperience, but is the et al usually included when referencing a group's paper?

-"Through free play, children gain a sense of agency, discovering their own capabilities and limits, reinforcing their sense of self-efficacy." The second half has an incomplete fragment. Reword this.

The role of the environment

-"This approach acknowledges the inherent value of the child’s own internal drive and capacity for self-directed learning." This sentence is uncited.

Misconceptions

-" Free play as unproductive or less valuable than structured activities, with many schoolchildren given less free time and fewer physical outlets at school, according to Ginsburg et al. 2007." This sentence is incomplete, and should be reworded.

-"Free play is not merely a pastime; it is a fundamental process through which children learn and develop across multiple domains" This feels a bit opinionated, and is kind of telling the readers what to do. I'd reword this to be a bit more passive, so it feels less like an order and more like it's just explaining what the sources have gone over.

Impact beyond childhood

-Looks good

Overall

@MolecularPilot: -Article overall looks solid, barring some minor issues here and there.

Spotcheck

-Will do this later today. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 14:02, 6 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@MolecularPilot due to time constraints on my end, would you be willing to give me the quotes that each source is clarifying in the text? If you can't it's no biggie, and I'll just the spotcheck done over the weekend when my schedule clears up. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 03:00, 7 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@MolecularPilot pinging as a reminder to reply to the review, both to the above and to my above critiques. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 18:53, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi! Sorry I was busy doing the source analysis for your Pokemon FLC and totally forgot about this. Once I've posted my source analysis (it's almost done) I'll give you the quotes from the source for each in-line cite as we discussed off-wiki (didn't know there was a bot that required replies on-wiki, sorry if it looked like I was ghosting you on-wiki because we discussed off-wiki). :) MolecularPilot ^{🧪️✈️} 22:52, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@MolecularPilot no worries! Just wanted to make sure all was good. There's no bot that requires it, but it's good to be transparent about off-wiki discussions on-wiki, since it helps in a lot of different ways. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 02:35, 22 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@MolecularPilot Super sorry about the long wait! I ended up going through the sources, selecting a random usage of sources from throughout the article.

-"Children also develop strength, coordination, balance, and dexterity as they climb, jump, run, build, and manipulate toys." Source 4 does not mention any of this. Toys are not brought up once, and though it's mentioned it's good for physical activity, none of these activities are mentioned specifically.

-Source 4 is predominantly about the mental and attention span relations of free play, yet is being constantly cited for strength and physical health rationales.

-"providing access to a variety of open-ended materials, such as blocks, art supplies, dress-up clothes, and natural materials, allows children to engage in diverse and imaginative play. The availability of both indoor and outdoor spaces is crucial, each offering unique opportunities for exploration and discovery." None of this is in Source 4 either, and Source 4 also at points states that there are negative correlations, not positive ones, in the study, though I'm skimming a bit, so correct me if I'm wrong.

-"Furthermore, free play often involves symbolic representation, where objects or actions take on different meanings, reflecting a child's developing imagination and narrative abilities" Source 2 doesn't back this up at all. Source 5 does mention some of this though.

-You could potentially use the pillow fort example in Source 5 to replace the uncited cardboard box example.

While Source 5 does back up that outside activities are beneficial, "provide opportunities for gross motor activity, sensory exploration, and interactions with nature, contributing significantly to a child's holistic development" is not mentioned. Source 1 mentions the outside but does not mention any of the specific examples. Source 3 also doesn't describe the outdoors at all.

I haven't looked over every source yet, but this is a concerningly high amount of errors, especially for a topic like this. Please let me know on these, and make sure to look over your sources to make sure they're actually backing up what the article's saying. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 18:40, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Additionally, please make sure to actually respond to my above comments. You have done nothing with them in the month this review has been active. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 18:40, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi for me the comment you sent above about the source review only came out today??? Sorry if you sent them sooner!! I think I actually got my referencing numbers mixed up (sorry!) and actually all reference 1s are meant to be 3s or something like that, looking through it now! I'll fix it up and thank you for your time! MolecularPilot ^{🧪️✈️} 21:53, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]