Play: Not just for kids

Last week, I had the opportunity to teach at an institute workshop for teachers in a k-12 district. One of the activities that I have developed is a Humor Styles Inventory. The purpose of doing this is to stimulate thinking about how our sense of humor impacts our communication style.

One of the questions is "How do you play?", and it gets the same puzzled inquiry each time. There seems to be a common belief that play is only for children. Yet play is critical for both children and adults according to Stuart Brown who wrote the book, " Play". In his TEDx video Play Is More Than Fun. he provides the rationale for play. It is not just joyful and energizing, it is integral to human development and intelligence. He has found that with enough play, the brain works better. Without play, life is a grinding and mechanical process organized around survival according to Brown.

Most early childhood educators realize the critical importance of play for young children. Children learn through play. Of all of the species, humans engage in the longest period of developmental play: and that length of play contributes to our level of intelligence. The research is quite clear about the importance of play for children. This is explored by Joan Almon in The Vital Role of Play in Early Childhood Education. I have written in the past about concerns on the current focus in education on assessment and accountability as undermining the importance of this research on play. This issue extends to the lack of play and fun in the adult world.

The opposite of play is not work--it is depression according to Brown. And stress and depression are saturating our world today. As usual at this workshop, I saw a lot of puzzled looks and fielded several questions asking what I meant by by the question about how they "play".

What did you enjoy as a child? Include these activities in your life again. Do a skip or jump, ride a bike, fly a kite, shoot marbles, play hopscotch, use the hula hoop. Try new games, and purposefully add unexpected fun into your life. Constantly seek to be with those who are full of joyful energy and avoid the humordoomers -those folks who can suck the energy right out of you.

One lady who lived to be 100 said the reason that she lived that long is that that she jumped every day. I encourage you to jump for joy and increase the play in your life. How do you play? Let me know!