PLAY FUN WHY IT’S NOT JUST FOR KIDS

lay shapes us as human beings. Yet, as we get older, it can be tempting to write off play as something flippant that we either ought to leave behind us in childhood, or turn into a deadly serious business instead. In the world of work, for instance, play often becomes linked to competitiveness and to winning, rather than to growth and happiness: “He’s back in the game”, “She’s a key player”, “They smashed it out of the park” – you get the idea! The danger is that if we simply write off play as irreverent and superfluous, or as something that entails hard graft and competition, we are