The authors consider play to be critical and intrinsic to healthy human life and development, and they argue that children's right to play should be supported by the environment in which they live. Their study seeks to understand what children do when they appear not to play during free play periods at early childhood education and care institutions. Their analysis of nonplay activities produced five categories: conversations, practical tasks, passive observation, wandering, and conflicts (or crying). These categories, they believe, can help kindergarten teachers become aware of factors in the physical environment that prevent children from playing and detect children who fall outside the play community.