To Play.

While working on my recent wood project "Simply Playful" I have been considering what play is and what can be considered as play. I've found that what is considered "play" is very subjective and many people will tell you different things, however I think play is a state in which we as humans learn and entertain ourselves without being told to do a certain thing. Play is in many ways a freedom to allow ourselves to explore and learn more about the world in a relaxing manner.

It comes as no surprise then that when children don't experience play they can develop in very odd ways. For instance, in the case of Charles Whitman who carried out the Texas Tower Shooting in August 1966, the lack of play in his life may have played a large role in his actions. During his childhood his father was abusive and took away many of his opportunities to play when he was young, therefore depriving him of optimism in later life.

Play is also, in my opinion, not just for children. I think adults can develop a playful outlook on life and therefore live with less stress. Of course, in reality this is a lot easier said than done but I think that adults having time to learn more in a comfortable environment is a very positive concept. The benefits of play can't be counted, but one notable benefit is increased levels of dopamine which results in the individual being more positive and energetic.

When thinking about my own play as a child I think about the kind of toys that enabled me to dream and to create. I often used Lego, like many other children, to dream up new worlds and make the impossible, possible. As an adult some may consider these concepts as just a way to escape the reality we are living in as we are dissatisfied. However, I disagree with this notion entirely, I think it is important to dream and not confine ourselves to pure reality when exploring through play.

Although, there are many elements of real every day life that can be important to play as well. In particular, I used to play with Kapla bricks as a child which while simple, mimicked the idea of construction and architecture in real life. Kapla made me consider not only how a building looked, but its structural integrity. Often I would have to do a lot of problem solving to figure out how I could prevent gravity from pulling my structures to the ground.

Similarly, playing with Brio allowed me to copy the journey of trains and to learn about the interaction between a locomotive and the rail it sits on. Brio allowed me to design my own railway but I also had to follow rules set for me by the toy. For instance, certain pieces of rail can't fit together because of the angle that they are at to the rest of the track. Situations where pieces wouldn't fit together led to a lot of problem solving, and so you could often find me pulling apart my whole railway to create a new route where every piece would fit.

I think both reality and the absence of it have their place in play, and I think that construction play is extremely beneficial to a child's development, especially developing spacial skills and an eye for creativity. I like to think that the best play is both free and structured at the same time, allowing space for individual decision making as well as marking the importance of following rules in many areas of life.

Here is a link to an interesting article that details the benefits of structured block play versus unstructured block play: https://parentingscience.com/Lego-bricks-construction-toys-and-STEM-skills/

In my own toy, designed for children, I want to supply both structure and freedom in the hopes that it will provide the best possible development of skills in relation to problem solving and decision making.

In my next blog I hope to discuss more of the specifics of my project and the time I have spent in the workshop so far.

- Samuel Sant

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