National Institute for Play (Really!)

This is serious stuff. The science of play.   Stuart Brown, founding director of the National Institute for Play,  is interviewed on my favorite early-early-Sunday morning radio show, "On Being" with Krista Tippett.  "Play, spirit and character."


"Who knew that we learn empathy, trust, irony, and problem solving through play — something the dictionary defines as "pleasurable and apparently purposeless activity." Dr. Stuart Brown suggests that the rough-and-tumble play of children actually prevents violent behavior, and that play can grow human talents and character across a lifetime. Play, as he studies it, is an indispensable part of being human."




So when I brought my remote control helicopter back to work today, so I could fly it out of the wind in the school gym, I did so with a sense of higher purpose.




Lighten up.  Seriously.  It's good for your soul. It's good for your creativity.  And that's good for all of us.