Not long ago in another column, I shared how nervous I was about letting Edwin start Kindergarten. How would he ever be ready for a full day of school?! He has never even peeled a banana before on his own, yet here we are sending him to school with a fully intact banana(!) as his snack, and assuming that he will be able to navigate the hot lunch line and feed himself(!!).
As you can probably imagine, he hasn't had an issue whatsoever. So, lunch duty hasn't really been much of an issue for me. In fact, because several of the kids know me, the biggest problem is just getting them to actually stop talking to me and eat!
Then comes recess. Walking out on the playground for the first time was a lesson to me in self-control. Over and over again, while watching these first-graders and kindergarteners play, I just kept anticipating falls, scrapes, broken bones, concussions...you name it. Yet nothing happened. There are even kids who can navigate a set of swinging monkey bars that look like they belong on the popular TV show American Ninja Warrior. The worst injury I've witnessed so far was a skinned palm. Kids never cease to amaze me.
At times I was reminded of growing up on the playground at Fairview Elementary in Plymouth. Speaking of Fairview Elementary, in 3rd grade, I managed to climb myself onto the ROOF of the school. That was the first time the police ever came to my house to speak with my parents...but that's a story for another time.
Back to the playground.
The playground is a place where many of us learned lots of life's early lessons: how to entertain ourselves, how to get along with others, how to confront physical challenges, and how to overcome social anxieties, just to name a few. Much of this learning was made possible by what the experts now call "unstructured play". To understand why, it's useful to understand how this contrasts with structured play.
Structured play consists of activities with externally-imposed organization that generally involve rules and an objective of some sort. Things such as video games, team sports, board games and building model airplanes, for example, are all structured activities. At the other end of the spectrum are unstructured activities like inventing and running games, building with blocks, playing catch, looking for bugs in the woods, and drawing and painting. These activities are self-organizing and open-ended. Many times, they have no particular goal. In unstructured play, children make up their own rules as they go along and establish their own limits.
The Decline of Unstructured Play Time
Nearly every modern parent has heard his or her child whine or moan the dreaded words, "I'm bored." By most accounts, the "I'm bored" syndrome has actually become more common as the nature of play has shifted and parental engagement has changed. Sometime around the mid-20th century, children's play began to be centered on the toy rather than on the activity. And as today's "interactive" toys have evolved to actually direct and drive the activity (think about Wii, PlayStations, iPads, parents' phones, etc.), children themselves have become more passive in the process. The result is that many of them are less able to entertain themselves through their own creativity.
This inability becomes very apparent whenever the novelty of a new game wears out, and the kids reach out to their parents to provide the same level of structure and ongoing entertainment that the game had been providing. This places growing demands on parents, who may then begin to look for other outside sources of focused, constructive stimulation. Of course, the problem with this type of response is that it simply substitutes one form of externally-driven activity for another. What happens to a child who never learns to direct his or her own energy or to organize his or her own activity? There is a very good chance that the child who never learns to do these things will be unable to do them well as an adult.
A 2005 study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that children's unstructured play time had dropped by 25% between 1981 and 1997. This is a worrisome trend, since unstructured play is necessary in order for children to improve social skills, develop healthy coping mechanisms for stress, and boost cognitive skills, especially those involved in problem solving. Through unstructured play, children enhance their own creativity, become more self-confident, and learn to empathize with others. It develops neural areas in the brain that are concerned with emotional reactions and social understanding. Active forms of unstructured play also help to develop strength, stamina, balance, flexibility and coordination.
But what about play time for adults?
The Benefits of Never Leaving the Playground
Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play (yes, there is such a thing, and I want this man's job!) says, "What do most Nobel Laureates, innovative entrepreneurs, artists and performers, well-adjusted children, happy couples and families, and the most successfully adapted mammals have in common? They play enthusiastically throughout their lives." As we get older, however, we encounter barriers to playing. We not only have far less time to play, given the demands of work and family, but play is often frowned upon by our peers, who feel we should not be "goofing off" during the day when we have important responsibilities to meet. Nevertheless, play is very important to our long-term well-being.
At age 72, Stephen Jepson is a well-known educator and motivational speaker who has developed a unique philosophy of lifetime fitness called "Never Leave the Playground." His mission is to age-proof the brain and body through physical play that involves toys and games, many of which he has invented himself over the years. According to his website:
He rides a unicycle, juggles while balancing on a bongo board, throws knives and plays jacks with both hands, walks a tightrope, swam across Iowa's Spirit Lake at age 66, and has won over 80 gold medals in swimming since age 65. And more. Much more.
He knows the secret is to "just keep moving" through constant play, not exercise. He's developed toys for all ages and degrees of physical fitness to use throughout our daily lives, so we never have to leave the playground, no matter where we are or what we're doing.
No matter how impaired the body has become through neglect or disease or aging, consistent movement is imperative to regain and maintain balance, stability, coordination and growth.
Jepson's approach highlights how both the mind and body can respond to the right sort of stimulation at any age. If you're looking for the fountain of youth, you just may find it on the playground!
The main tenet of my office's philosophy is that Quality of Life is directly derived from Personal Independence. And Personal Independence is directly derived from mobility. So get moving--no, playing--and don't forget to exercise your brain muscle too!
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