"In an age-mixed game of capture the flag, one team, the Big People, consisted of three adolescents and one 11-year-old, and the other team, the Hordes, consisted of ten 4- to 8-year-olds and one 12-year-old. Larry (age 4) would often run across the line and get captured by Sam (age 17) in an act that included lots of tickling and carrying of Larry in mock combat. After Larry was set down, he would prance merrily back to his side, without going to jail. Often one or more of the Big People would cross into the Hordes' territory not to go after the flag but simply to run around with a gang of small children chasing them. Nobody seemed to be much focused on winning, but when the Hordes did finally capture the flag, they cheered loudly."[2]
Board games and card games, likewise, are played in more playful, creative, non-competitive ways when the players vary widely in age than when they are age-mates. Feldman observed many games of chess, which happened to be a fad at the time of his research. Games between equally matched players tended to be quite serious; the players appeared intent on winning. Games between unmatched players, who usually differed widely in age, were more creative and light-hearted. To make the game interesting, the older players would typically self-handicap in some way, for example by deliberately getting into difficult positions, and would frequently point out better moves to the younger players. The older players seemed to be using such games to experiment with new styles of play, which they were not yet ready to try out in serious games.
Some of the most creative and joyful samples of play I have witnessed involved teenagers and younger children engaged together in shared fantasy play. Here is another quotation, describing one such scene that I observed not long ago:
"I was sitting in the playroom at the Sudbury Valley School, ... pretending to read a book but surreptitiously observing a remarkable scene. A 13-year-old boy and two 7-year-old boys were creating, purely for their own amusement, a fantastic story involving heroic characters, monsters, and battles. The 7-year-olds gleefully shouted out ideas about what would happen next, while the 13-year-old, an excellent artist, translated the ideas into a coherent story and sketched the scenes on the blackboard almost as fast as the younger children could describe them. The game continued for at least half an hour, which was the length of time I permitted myself to watch before moving on. I felt privileged to enjoy an artistic creation that, I know, could not have been produced by 7-year-olds alone and almost certainly would not have been produced by 13-year-olds alone. The unbounded enthusiasm and creative imagery of the 7-year-olds I watched, combined with the advanced narrative and artistic abilities of the 13-year-old they played with, provided just the right chemical mix for this creative explosion to occur."[3]
Age mixing is sometimes a means of matching abilities.
My main concern in this essay has been with the value of play among people with unequal abilities. Before closing, though, I should add that freely chosen play among people with relatively equal abilities is also valuable. In general, children who are similar in age are more similar in abilities than are those who are different in age, but that is not always the case. In an age-mixed environment, a person who is ahead of or behind his or her age-mates in some realm of activity can find equal partners among older or younger children. The child who is awkward at climbing can play at scrambling up rocks and trees with younger children without feeling constantly left behind, and in that way can improve her climbing ability. The talented 11-year-old guitar player, whose musical ability is beyond that of his age-mates, can jam with teenagers who are at his level.
Feldman observed a number of examples of students at Sudbury Valley who were advanced for their age in certain abilities and frequently played with older children. One example was that of 12-year-old Randy, an excellent chess player, who went to tournaments and had an official ranking. His only chess peers at the school were Jack (age 17), Elana (age 17), and Ken (age 18). All of his serious games, with which he measured his own progress, were with these older students. He might practice new moves in games with his age-mates and younger children, but he tested himself in games with students who were five or six years older than himself.
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I'd appreciate hearing about your own memories of age-mixed play, or about observations of such play in children you know, in the comments section below. In my next posting, a week from today, I'll describe some of the ways by which older children serve as natural models, teachers, and advisors to younger ones.
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References
1. Greenberg, M. (1992). On the nature of sports at S.V.S. and the limitations of language in describing S.V.S. to the world. In D. Greenberg (Ed.), The Sudbury Valley School experience, 3rd ed. Framingham, MA: Sudbury Valley School Press.
2. Gray, P. & Feldman, J. (2004). Playing in the Zone of Proximal Development: Qualities of Self-Directed Age Mixing Between Adolescents and Young Children at a Democratic School. American Journal of Education, 110, 108-145.
3. Gray, P. The value of age-mixed play. Education Week, April 16, 2008.
