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Why not give this group of one-year-old children child-sized brooms? Maybe it is useful for them to confront non-trivial problems by using the big brooms and to be successful. Maybe the very fact that these are grown-up brooms explains why the children love to use them and why they persist in spite of difficulties.

Notice how the boy in the dark blue shirt persists in his efforts to sweep, or at least move, the leaves. In his play, we observe no particular adult-level goal of moving the leaves in one specific direction in order to clear the concrete play space. Without this goal, the boy can focus on what he is able to do and improve his command of the broom as he plays. The goal-free nature of play is one of its main values.

Run time 4:00 minutes. Download includes a high resolution video file, the above text, plus an action transcript with comments.