Play, play, play

Child-led play reflects real life, teaches everything from social skills to numeracy, dexterity to emotional and physical balance. Climbing, running, twirling; in this movement a healthy sense of freedom and of moving towards one's goals is experienced. The older we get the less we play. Take a moment to think about your day to day life in the last seven days. You and the majority of the population can probably count on one hand the total number of times you have played freely.

Now this doesn’t mean playing a structured sport, it might be video games, playing a musical instrument, or shooting a basketball for ten minutes in your lunch break. Whatever it is we need to be doing more. Play is one of five elements that I feel must be participated in every day. The other four will be coming out in our blog in the following weeks.

I have started with play for a reason, as I feel it is something we all neglect, when a simple 10 to 20 minutes a day of play can change your entire life, improving your health and wellbeing.

One of the best books I have read recently is called ‘Play by Stuart Brown’, I have found my two favorite quotes from this fantastic book.

“The truth is that play seems to be one of the most advanced methods nature has invented to allow a complex brain to create itself.”

“Those who play rarely become brittle in the face of stress or lose the healing capacity for humor.”

This is all really simple, if you struggle to fit play into your day, schedule slots in your dairy or calendar. This will force you to have zero distractions and be fully in the moment to enjoy everything about play.

If you would like to hear more about the benefits of play check out the following podcast interviews we have conducted around the topic:

Episode 43 - Getting the most out of life with Kara Fortier

Episode 40 - The pursuit of play in education with Ryan Fahey

Episode 35 - Play, dance and fun with Tracy Lockwood 

Episode 29 - Games, play and fun with Mark Collard