Does play really matter? Do children get anything out of it? Or is it just messing around; time that could be better spent preparing our children for success in life?

Today we talk with Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play, about the benefits of play for both children and – I was surprised to find – adults.

This is the first in a series of episodes on play – lots more to come on outdoor play (and how to raise kids who love being outdoors), risky play, and imaginative play.



References

Bjorklund, D.F., & Brown, R.D. (1998). Physical play and cognitive development: Integrating activity, cognition, and education. Child Development, 69, 604-606.

Brown, S. (2009). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. New York, NY: Penguin.

Christakis, D. A., F. J. Zimmerman, and M. Garrison. (2007). Effect of block play on language acquisition and attention in toddlers a pilot randomized controlled trial. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine,161 (10), 967-971.

Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper and Row.

Duckworth, A.L. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. New York, NY: Scribner.

Elkind, D. (2003). Thanks for the memory: The lasting value of true play. Young Children 58(3), 46-51.

Lancy, D.F. (2015). The anthropology of childhood: Cherubs, chattel, changelings (2nd Ed.). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

 



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Transcript

Jen:                                      https://www.temi.com/editor/t/grKjDBLKJIWUTUR1odQ3E7dW7ZFM53njgDr3Xdgc-cqz8sj2yiCz2j2xOh5ol8ymm_B426E32EU4W2hIkUS-BrL17QQ?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=40.09 ([00:40])                   Hello and welcome to the Your Parenting Mojo podcast. We’re kicking off a series of episodes today on the topic of play. Now I hear you wondering: play? There’s enough research about play to be able to do one episode, never mind a series of episodes?! And my response to that would be, Oh yes, there is just you. Wait, so we’re going to kick off today with an overview of the topic and then we’ll delve into various aspects of play with a particular focus on outdoor play because it’s important to me and just sometimes that’s how we pick topics around here. So today we have is our very special guest Dr. Stuart Brown, MD. I first learned of his work when I heard the National Institute for Play mentioned during a show on NPR. I thought to myself, there is a national institute for play. I have to talk to somebody from there, and so Dr. Brown, who’s the founder and director of the National Institute for Play is here to share his research and work. I was fascinated to read his book play, how it shapes the brain, opens the imagination and invigorates the soul because I was expecting it to tell me how important play is to my daughter’s development, but I wasn’t expecting it to tell me how important play is to my own wellbeing as well. So we’ll get into that to welcome Dr. Brown.

Dr. Brown:                         https://www.temi.com/editor/t/grKjDBLKJIWUTUR1odQ3E7dW7ZFM53njgDr3Xdgc-cqz8sj2yiCz2j2xOh5ol8ymm_B426E32EU4W2hIkUS-BrL17QQ?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=111.34 ([01:51])                   Glad to be here Jen.

Jen:                                      https://www.temi.com/editor/t/grKjDBLKJIWUTUR1odQ3E7dW7ZFM53njgDr3Xdgc-cqz8sj2yiCz2j2xOh5ol8ymm_B426E32EU4W2hIkUS-BrL17QQ?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=113.02 ([01:53])                   So let’s start with something that seems kind of obvious, but then you think about it a bit and you realize that you’re actually not quite sure what it is. So I’m wondering, can you please define play for us?

Dr. Brown:...