"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."
- Plato
Play promotes curiosity, seeks novelty, teaches perseverance and invites creativity. It nourishes the immune system.
Each person has a unique play personality. When one gets in touch with it, pleasures and fun abound.
Animals teach human beings about play. A string dangled in front of a cat or a ball toss to a dog result in playful expressions in action.
In his book, The Genesis of Animal Play, Gordon Burghardt, psychology professor at the University of Tennessee, reports playful behavior in lizards, turtles, and birds. Even fish amuse themselves in play.
His organization , The National Institute for Play, focuses on making human play, "a credentialed discipline in the scientific community.
Many children today have lost touch with tree climbing and scouting for discoveries in nature. Computer games attract them more that wriggly creatures.
Nagel Jackson writes, "The truly great advances of this generation will be made by those who make outrageous connections. Only a mind which knows how to play can do that."
A few play starters:
Problems find solutions through activities that have no specific goal. They flow in a fun process. Spontaneity teases curiosity and creativity.
Become playful in a flow process. It might take work if you have no experience with play.
Try writing with dancing words and images. Make connection and search for nuances and discoveries.
What would you do with a teapot, maple syrup, a parakeet, and a harmonica?
Go for a walk and choose five items. Touch, smell, listen and notice their charms. Play with them in conversations.
Teach a mockingbird your school's fight song.
Create a sandcastle with an alligator.
How would you capture the sun for fun?
Invite a cheetah on your morning walk or run.
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