As I watch my 2-year-old daughter go through her day, I am amazed at how important play is in her world. "Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth."[1] Play is so important that the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights has declared it to be a right for every child.[1]
It's not hard to look around and find all the reasons that play is so important to a child. What I don't understand is why people try to discourage play as we grow older, and supposedly wiser. I guess that as adults, we are "allowed" to play in certain very specific circumstances such as sports, hobbies, or board games, but even on many of these occasions we take things much too seriously. If someone decides to play their way through the more serious tasks of life, such as work, socializing, and housework we call them "juvenile."
Of course there are those people who cannot take anything seriously, but that is not what I'm talking about. As adults, we should be able to perceive a situation accurately and make a good choice about whether a playful or most serious attitude would best serve us. What if doing the dishes became panning for gold? Or if filing your taxes was filling out an application form for becoming royalty? The possibilities are endless and many of the stresses of life would be reduced by a simple change in perspective - that would be great for our health.
I wouldn't exactly call myself a model for playful behaviour. Goodness knows that I was the type of child who was serious far before it became "necessary." It absolutely exhausts me to try to play to the level of my daughter day after day. Even though I don't think it's too late for me (or anybody else), I bring this up more in the context of children. What if we were able to teach our children to keep a healthy sense of play throughout their lives? How might their future and the future of the entire planet be different?
How could we possibly accomplish this? Well, I have to bring it back to us adults because one of the best ways to teach a child is through example. Even with example, it's probably not the easiest lesson to teach as the rest of the world continues to function seriously. But even a small step is a step!
So pick one thing you "have" to do this week and make it a game. And while you're at it, make sure your children catch you at it, or better yet ask them to join in. Let's make play a right for everyone!
[1] Kenneth R. Ginsburg. The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds, Pediatrics 119, no. 1 (2007): 182-191. Accessed January 1, 2011. doi: 10.1542/peds.2006-2697.
I've often wondered why there are no adult playgrounds. Why are obstacle courses only for people training in the military? It would sure make going to the gym a lot more interesting.
ReplyDeleteBut most kinds of play are frowned upon for adults. Fantasy is low brow and non-fiction is wholesome, because imagination is the department of children. Exercise should only take place in a designated area - the gym or the park (but only if you are wearing the exercise uniform); you can't just break into a run or start dancing whenever and wherever you feel like it.
The only time when adults are given social permission to let loose and be playful is when they're getting drunk at the bar.
Sadly, we live in a very repressed society.
I wonder what it is about play that is such a threat to society? I guess it would have been more of a threat in the past, but is our reluctance to play now just an outdated confine?
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