Welcome to a year of Play at the Montessori Co-op School! We are dedicating the 2015-2106 Co-op Film and Speaker series to the study of Play; play for our children and play for us adults.
Here are some thoughts that we at the Co-op are going to be exploring this summer:
“You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than you can in a year of conversation” –Plato, Philosopher
“The opposite of play is not work, it is depression.” –Brian Sutton-Smith, Anthropologist and Play Scholar
“The truly great advances of this generation will be made by those that can make outrageous connections, and only a mind which knows how to play can do that.” –Nagel Jackson, Playwright
But how do we know we are playing? The definition of play has been debated for years but can be generally agreed upon that “Play is something done for its own sake. It’s voluntary, it’s pleasurable, it offers a sense of engagement, it takes you out of time. And the act itself is more important than the outcome. (Brown, 2009)”
More and more research suggests that healthy playtime in childhood leads to healthy adulthood. Childhood play is essential for brain development. As NPR reported just last week, time on the playground may be more important than time in the classroom. Let me repeat, time on the playground may be more important than time in the classroom for our intellectual and social development.
But playtime doesn’t end when we grow up. Adults need recess too. Take a moment and reflect on how you have played today, this month, this year? Stay tuned for how the Co-op will be exploring Play all year long for the young and the not so young!!
