Since I published my piece about play last week, a very interesting conversation has been unfolding below it.
In the article, I focused on how necessary unstructured play is for us as a species in order to learn. But some great contributions from members and invited experts pushed the idea of play well beyond that.
These are some of the other elements we explored:
- Is playfulness in adults a trace that remains from childhood, asked Theresa Casey, a play advocate and former chair of the International Play Association.
- Stop worrying about screen time, as some of the most creative, intelligent and playful adults grew up watching a whole lot of TV, said Tim Gill, an independent scholar who is an advocate and consultant on childhood.
- Building forts with pillows and cushions is a great way to play inside, and “a good toy is 90% child and only 10% toy”, wrote Susan Linn, expert in creative play and award-winning ventriloquist.
Ventriloquist? Yeah, you heard that right. I want to give a shout-out to Linn here, because she’s been entertaining children in lockdown via Skype with her Audrey Duck puppet!
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