Although many cite the No Child Left Behind Act ([NCLB], 2002) as the first result of public outcry for accountability in American education, evidence of this change can be traced back more than three decades, to the Reagan administration and "A Nation at Risk" (National Commission on Excellence in Education [NCEE], 1983). This overemphasis on accountability has resulted in a paradigmatic shift away from experiential learning; student-centered instruction has been supplanted by curriculum-based evaluation. This article strongly supports the argument that educators must reintroduce practices that are rooted in meaningful experiences. The authors believe that by including self-directed play in their methods of teaching, teachers can adopt a more constructivist approach--one that allows students to explore, think for themselves, and develop the whole self in an enjoyable way. The authors conclude by proposing the theory that if the self directed play approach were reintroduced, students would acquire a depth of understanding that serves them for years to come beyond the short-sighted goal of passing the next test.