The Spirit of Adult Play

10/25/2017

Real learning is not copying. That’s the wrong word. Copying is taking somebody else’s solutions. Learning is taking somebody else’s problems.
Twyla Tharp, Choreographer

In the book Developing People in Early Childhood Organizations (part of the Art of Leadership series), Bonnie Neugebauer asserts that children need adults in their lives who "model the importance of play...but in so many early childhood programs, people have forgotten how to be playful. They are focused on order and routines...there is no serendipity, no wonder, no surprise." She explains that adults who embrace play will be "extravagant with their:

Time: The process is valued beyond the outcome...so it must be possible to continue the experience across blocks of time, even across days and weeks...

Energy: Play requires total commitment…

Resources: Play consumes resources. For a block city to grow, there must be enough blocks to meet the ever-expanding need...

Sense of Self: Play requires that one forget oneself. If self-conscious about their play...children and adults are crippled...

Sense of Order: There must be room for using things and doing things in new ways...

Joy: Play without enjoyment is just plain hard work. Players need to laugh, and boast...Play brings out the best in us."

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