Five Reasons To Play At Home

I teach the 12 and 13 year old youth Sunday School at our local church.  My aim this last week was to lead my class of young scholars to the point of loving learning for learning's sake. After about a half an hour of trying every type of questioning technique and many long silent moments I still couldn't a single student to share one tiny moment where they loved to learn something. Then it dawned on me. By the time most of us reach the age of twelve learning has become a drudgery, a chore, and quite joyless.

I quickly came up with a new approach. I scrapped the word "learning" and asked, "What do you like to do just for fun?" After another long silence some brave soul claimed that he enjoyed trying to solve unsolvable math problems in his room. Another girl said she loved to read under the blankets. Some kids liked to play their own music and act in plays. And then finally, with only two precious class minutes to spare one student finally said, "Well, I like this kind of learning because I do it on my own and I enjoy doing it." Happy Dance!

Sadly, my class illustrated what I have long observed as a teacher, counselor and parent. Play and learning for it's own sake have very little value in a culture obsessed with the institutionalized structure of our time and the need to have that time validated and scored by experts. School, work, organized sports, and other competitive activities feast upon the hours of our day leaving precious little time anything else.

We pay a lot of lip service to the idea of play, especially for children. There are scads of academic papers on the subject. In my own personal research of this topic I even ran across a scholarly article stating the amount of time preschoolers should be allowed free play during the school day. We can read magazine articles and more expert advice on the importance of a balanced life and finding time for play. Yet, even with the evidence of "experts" we seem determined to champion the externally organized, structured, and expert validated activity.

Home can be a great place to reawaken and protect our human and very real need to play. I like David Elkin's definition of play from his book "The Power Of Play."  He defines play as our need to adapt the world to ourselves and create a new learning experience. With Elkin's definition as the framework here are five reasons to make home a great place to play.

A stick and some sand turn into an artist canvas for Pen.

Our homes can be a place where it's safe to play.

Play requires the ability to adapt our surroundings to ourselves. Our homes can be a safe and ideal place to at least plant the seeds of play.  Here we can try new things and contemplate new ideas away from the demands of external forces such as school and work. Even if  play takes us outside our homes starting at home provides a solid launching pad for new horizons.

Play makes families stronger

We don't have to wait for the annual family vacation to have fun together. Even small amounts of family fun at home can recharge our batteries and strengthen family bonds. Think of the last time you had fun with your loved ones and how you felt after. Making time for family fun not only improves the immediate atmosphere in your home but it builds memories for the stressful and trying times we all encounter. Too often we sacrifice family fun time because we don't see it as essential. Let's be wiser and realize that strong and healthy families have fun together, often.

Scout and Pen taking full advantage of childhood.

Play at home can be messy and that's OK

Nearly every woman I talk to laments about the state of her house. It's not clean enough or she just cleaned and now it's a mess. I can't tell you how often these same thoughts run through my head. As I type this my family room is scattered with toys, pillows are tossed on the floor, and two kids doing jumping jacks really, really close to the piano. Remember the definition of play is adapting our environment to our needs. Play for both adults and kids is often messy. Letting go of the fretting and stressing about an overly clean home all the time will not only invite the creativity and fun of play but also free you from unrealistic standards.

Making time for play is just as important as work, school and organized activities.

I have a friend who needs to sew and create in order to be a busy home school mother of six. My husband,Ranger,finds martial arts energizing and practices three times a week. Scout, my five year old needs to run as fast as he can at least three times a day. Ignoring or denying our need for play is like denying our need for sleep or nutritious food. If every moment of our day is devoted to employment, school, sports teams, dance practice, or what have you we are doing a serious disservice to the health of ourselves and our families.

The front yard makes a great spy headquarters.

Play at home is cheap.
You don't need a lot of money, supplies, or equipment playing at home. Most of the stuff for a good afternoon of serious play is right with in your four walls. No doubt some hobbies can command big dollars but for the most part the best kinds of play are low to no cost. I keep a Rubbermaid container of old flat sheets that my kids, Pen and Scout, drag out to make forts, picnic blankets, togas and whatever else. Ranger keeps a sketch book and pen close by for drawing and recording ideas. I also keep a cheap spiral bound notebook and pen near by for writing, jotting down ideas or recording thoughts.  We've enjoyed many hours of creative play with these items and yet all of them put together cost less than $30.00. The possibilities endless even if your budget is not.

Take a moment and think about how you can get a good, healthy dose of play into your home this week either for yourself, your kids or your family. Make it a regular part of your routine and then watch as a breath of fresh, playful air breezes through your home.  Happy Playing.

Interested in finding out more about play in human development and strengthening families?  Check out these resources.

David Elkin's "The Power of Play" has an interesting research and theory based argument for play.
An article from Psych Central about the importance of play for adults.
Our faith encourages families to work and play together.