Play and Human Development

I think a lot about play, observe it frequently, and read the research. Yesterday I heard a newscaster describe a public kindergarten program as school "not just play and a nap". Just play I thought, wondering if people have read the research that supports the importance of play. According to play specialist Stuart Brown, "play is not just joyful and energizing - it's deeply involved with human development and intelligence." It's been proven that "nothing lights up the brain like play. Three-dimensional play fires up the cerebellum, puts a lot of impulses into the frontal love (executive portion) and helps contextual memory and attention development". The opposite of play is not work as many would suggest, but it's depression. Life without play lacks humor, flirtation, movies, games, fantasies, etc.. Humans are designed to play lifelong, unlike other animals who play only in their early development. It increases our adaptability; so it is more than fun, is it vital. Its purpose is the act of doing it. It increases our sense of belonging and our survival may depend on it. When they researched play in rats, one group was allowed to play and the other was not. When presented with the smell of a cat, both groups hid but only the group that practiced play ventured back out to check that the threat was gone. The other group continued to hide and starved to death. In the words of Stuart Brown, "preschool kids should be allowed to dive, run, whistle, scream, be chaotic, and develop through that a lot of emotional regulation and a lot of the other byproducts - cognitive, emotional and physical, that come as part of rough and tumble play." Did you know that both NASA and Boeing in their hiring process, ask if the applicants have worked and played with their hands? They do this because those are the people they want to hire; they are better problem-solvers. So what if we stopped undervaluing play and set up environments for young children to fully express their playful nature and learn what they need to learn in the process? Perhaps adults would remember their playful side, too. Do an experiment and bring a sense of play to your work and life today, then notice the effect and check out Stuart Brown's TedTalk "Play is more than just Fun".