Mother, Why Do We Play?

A child who plays learns to deal with their feelings, with others, and with the world around them. Free play is for a child what words are for an adult. It is the source of human development, creativity, and mental well-being. Free play is severely suppressed and hampered in a world dominated by reason, fact, and control. And when children play, they do so increasingly according to the laws and rules of adults: efficient and performance-oriented. In this book, child and adolescent psychiatrist Ilse Van Loy makes a passionate and scientifically sound plea for a radical return to free play. So that children and young people can gain control of their own lives and develop into resilient adults. And we no longer have to watch helplessly as waiting times for mental health care increase dramatically every year.