My favorite game as a kid was hide-and-seek. We set the simple rules ahead of time — an agreed-upon home base, boundaries, how to decide who was “it”— but we also constantly adapted the rules as others joined, or parents shooed us off to another place. Childhood play taught us how to be fair, how to cooperate, and how to work together towards the common goal: playing as long as possible.
The play gap: Children are losing the joy and creativity →
By Nancy Richards Farese
San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 29, 2020
Americans recently witnessed another kind of play - the Super Bowl, as grown men who are paid millions of dollars played football. Certainly, this is the most serious of games -but is it also “play”? In an ever-expanded and reinterpreted definition of play, pro sports is hardly recognizable as play in its truest sense- spontaneous, voluntary, and joyful. Are we even talking about the same thing? This context confusion undermines play’s essential value in our lives. As a society, we should make the same investment and commitment that we devote to commercialized sports - to the art of play. Why? Because today “play” is endangered.
This 4th of July, Make Sure You Play: An essential tool for coping with social upheaval also points the way towards a better democracy. →
There is nothing frivolous about play. In childhood games like hideand-seek, we train to navigate a chaotic and uncertain adult world. Play is a complex tool for development and self-preservation we rely on as we continue to grow; it’s essential for nurturing the skills and resilience we need to complete our inner lives, and to engage fully in our public lives.
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