This Year I Resolve to Play More

Play is seriously undervalued in our culture. It is frightening to me how much the play (and stillness) has been removed from the lives of young children, to say nothing of us old folks. For those of us who are older, before the days of computers and social media, we may remember playing outside after school until suppertime. We jumped rope, roller skated, rode bikes in addition, or instead of, playing sports. We traded the cards that came with bubble gum and played games shooting cards and marbles. We played Pick-up Sticks and Ball and Jacks. We played games of imagination, Red Rover, Simon Says. We negotiated friendships and learned to lead and to follow, to make up rules and play by the rules.

Here are some of my favorite quotations from the Strong Museum about the importance of play which I've just refound:

"Toys are serious fun."

"Toys are among the most important human artifacts. They are learning tools that illuminate our culture. By guiding play, they foster imagination, creativity, and critical thinking and help us imagine what's next. They also socialize us and teach us fairness. They reveal what we believe and value, encourange and endorse, and dismiss and fear. They remind us of who we were, who we are, and who we hope to become." - The Strong Museum re the reason toys merit a Hall of Fame.

"To the art of working well a civilized race would add the art of playing well." - George Santayana

"Do not ... keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play." - Plato

"A child loves his play, not because it's easy, but because it's hard." - Dr. Benjamin Spock

"Play is our brain's favorite way of learning." - Diane Ackerman

"Play is training for the unexpected." - Marc Bekoff

"The opposite of play is not a present reality, or work; it is vacillation, or worse, it is depression. Brian Sutton-Smith

"Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities." - Stuart Brown, M.D.

And my favorite ~ "The true object of all human life is play." G.K. Chesterton

As a dance movement therapist, I engage people with dementia through play and humor. I follow their lead, and we pass the leadership back and forth. I try to pick up on any themes or memories as well as their movements.

 

The Octaband is a wonderful tool for engaging people through play - people of all ages, colors, and abilities. In some ways, I think of the Octaband as helping us find the lowest common denominator - a way to each be equally human. You can see more photos on Octaband's Facebook page.