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On a recent trip to the Library, I stumbled across the book ‘Play – How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul’ by Stuart Brown, M.D. I was intrigued and picked up the book. In an era when it seems like kids have less and less time to just play, I was curious to read an expert opinion about how important (or not) play really is. |
All of my reading so far, and my instincts and experience with my own kids have reinforced the feeling that free play is essential to early childhood development. This book discusses not only the impact of play during childhood, but its effects throughout childhood and into adulthood. It turns out that many of us adults have simply forgotten how to enjoy guilt-free playtime. And worse; we keep taking free play time away from our kids in favour of more structured activities. The book talks about how play influences our well-being throughout life, including our work, our relationships, and our satisfaction with life in general.
Brown explains the reasons why we play, colouring his scientific analysis with stories of play in the animal kingdom, in children, and in adults. He relates how play impacts brain development, and describes ‘play personalities’ for those of us who have forgotten how to play and need help figuring out what makes us tick.
The book goes into ways we play from infancy into adulthood. Brown discusses the benefits of play in the workplace, including innovation and mastery. He also talks about play in relationships, and what happens when we lose our sense of playfulness.
i enjoyed reading this book. The anecdotes and analysis reinforced my belief in the importance of free play, and the book served as a good reminder to integrate play into my parenting. I feel like I started out with a playful approach to parenting, but as my kids get older, their schedules busier, and my expectations of them higher, I’ve slipped a little. Since reading the book I’ve been making a conscious effort to maintain a playful attitude within my parenting, and I can see the results. Through using a playful approach, I have diffused several conflicts that would have easily gone sour otherwise. The book also served as a good reminder that it’s important – even essential – to make time for my relationship, myself and my interests – in other words, to find more time to just play!
Find more information on Stuart Brown and the National Institute for Play that he founded, or watch his talk on play.