Is it still OK to play?

Abstract

This essay provides a personal account of my experience working in a school climate of increased student and teacher accountability where play, recess and extra-curricular activities were devalued and pushed to the brink of extinction. The two works of fiction explored in the essay, Santa Claus is comin’ to town and ‘All summer in a day’, serve as powerful metaphors exploring how devaluing play can adversely affect the overall wellbeing of children.