Peter, thank you for this further written exploration on play. I hope it make a difference to future parents, teachers, and educators. Years ago I made a comment to a friend, who has since shared it every chance he gets: "Education is not always playful, but play is always educational."
"But when people are asked to perform the same task anonymously, just for the fun of it, with no judgment of individuals’ performances, they often come up with new, creative, and sometimes brilliant ways to do it."
Or, if you're into hanging boards with cliches on your kitchen wall, "Dance like no one is looking"
I choose to see a future when humanity trusts the intrinsic intelligence, inner-guidance, and broader view of children and allows them to lead their own way. Thus growing into adults for whom living is play. Learning from play to respond to life with ease, grace, and power, these adults create a future for humanity that is yet to be imagined.
Play can also tell us so much about the child engaging in it. Too often, the adults want to lead or change the play in some way, but if you sit back and observe deeply, you will see play schema at work. Children use their bodies and minds in play and often a dominant or several schemas will be evident. I'm observing a child at the moment who chooses objects to play with that spin or roll - marbles, buttons, bike wheels...and he spends a long time figuring out how to move thsee objects in various ways. He also uses his body in this way...loves spinning around in a circle, rolling down a hill or playing with hula hoops, winding string around a cone. I believe he has a dominant rotational schema. Absolutely fascinating to observe and to silently provocate when I can by adding different resources to the mix. Today I will see what happens when I add water in bowlls and stirring sticks!
The more of these letters I read, the more I keep thinking, how can we apply these lessons about play to adults? Can we make more opportunities for adults to "perform well for the joy of performing well", or is t too late for us? Do we even learn in the same way as children, through play?
Peter, thank you for this further written exploration on play. I hope it make a difference to future parents, teachers, and educators. Years ago I made a comment to a friend, who has since shared it every chance he gets: "Education is not always playful, but play is always educational."
"But when people are asked to perform the same task anonymously, just for the fun of it, with no judgment of individuals’ performances, they often come up with new, creative, and sometimes brilliant ways to do it."
Or, if you're into hanging boards with cliches on your kitchen wall, "Dance like no one is looking"
I choose to see a future when humanity trusts the intrinsic intelligence, inner-guidance, and broader view of children and allows them to lead their own way. Thus growing into adults for whom living is play. Learning from play to respond to life with ease, grace, and power, these adults create a future for humanity that is yet to be imagined.
Play can also tell us so much about the child engaging in it. Too often, the adults want to lead or change the play in some way, but if you sit back and observe deeply, you will see play schema at work. Children use their bodies and minds in play and often a dominant or several schemas will be evident. I'm observing a child at the moment who chooses objects to play with that spin or roll - marbles, buttons, bike wheels...and he spends a long time figuring out how to move thsee objects in various ways. He also uses his body in this way...loves spinning around in a circle, rolling down a hill or playing with hula hoops, winding string around a cone. I believe he has a dominant rotational schema. Absolutely fascinating to observe and to silently provocate when I can by adding different resources to the mix. Today I will see what happens when I add water in bowlls and stirring sticks!
Have you seen this yet?
https://intranet.csf.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/12/ressources/EA_indigenous-games-for-children-en.pdf
The more of these letters I read, the more I keep thinking, how can we apply these lessons about play to adults? Can we make more opportunities for adults to "perform well for the joy of performing well", or is t too late for us? Do we even learn in the same way as children, through play?
What does adult play look like?
The more I read this Substack, the more convinced I become that sex is often pure play. Obviously sex causes babies, but that's not why we do it!