A Short Description Of Play

(image by cristi tohatan)

Hi and welcome to the first of the Under Blue Skies blogs for October (The Month of Play).  I looked around for a description of the play that I could use and although this article cites children as its main focus I felt it was the best description I had found during all my research.

So now let us look at what Play actually is

In psychology and ethology, play is a range of voluntary, intrinsically motivated activities normally associated with recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Wikipedia

Play is the universal language of childhood.

It is through play that children understand each other and make sense of the world around them. Children like to play because there is no “right way” or “wrong way”, they can use their imagination to develop games and interact with each other without being in an adult-led environment.

Play is a very emotive word which means different things to different people, and has been defined in many ways.

Some ways that play has been defined.

The meaning of play has been debated by philosophers and academics for centuries, and was recognised as far back as Plato who is quoted as saying ‘avoid compulsion and let your children play’!

In the last century David Lloyd George stated that ‘play is a child’s first claim on the community’ (1926), and play gained wider recognition under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in which Article 31 enshrines the child’s right to play.

Students of play often quote that ‘Play is the spice of life’ 

It also provides a state of mind that, in adults as well as children, is uniquely suited for high-level reasoning, insightful problem solving, and all sorts of creative endeavours. 

The characteristics of play are about motivation and mental attitude, not the overt form of the behaviour.

Two people might be throwing a ball, or pounding nails, or typing words on a computer, and one might be playing while the other is not. To tell which one is playing and which one is not, you have to infer from their expressions and the details of their actions something about why they are doing what they are doing and their attitude toward it.

         

Play is not necessarily all-or-nothing. Play can blend with other motives and attitudes, in proportions ranging anywhere from 0% up to 100% percent play.

Pure play occurs more often in children than in adults. In adults, play is commonly blended with other motives, having to do with adult responsibilities. That is why, in everyday conversation, we tend to talk about children “playing” and about adults bringing a “playful attitude” or “playful spirit” to their activities. We intuitively think of playfulness as a matter of degree. 

Play is not neatly defined in terms of some single identifying characteristic. Rather, it is defined in terms of a confluence of several characteristics. People who have studied and written about play have, among them, described quite a few such characteristics; but they can all be condensed into the following five:

(1) Play is self-chosen and self-directed;

(2) Play is activity in which means are more valued than ends;

(3) Play has structure, or rules, which are not dictated by physical necessity but emanate from the minds of the players;

(4) Play is imaginative;

(5) Play involves an active, alert, but non-stressed frame of mind.

“The more fully an activity entails all of these characteristics, the more inclined most people are to refer to that activity as play”.

Reference:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/freedom-learn/200811/the-value-play-i-the-definition-play-gives-insights

So I sincerely hope that you have found this article of interest and you will join me again next week when we further talk about the fascinating subject of PLAY.

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As the founder of The Blue Sky Company I am dedicated to building a business that:-

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I am a Personal Development coach; speaker; radio presenter; therapist and co-owner of a virtual light centre called The Crystal Spring .

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