Back to Play by Brian Swichkow

"Many teachers think of children as immature adults. It might lead to better and more ‘respectful’ teaching, if we thought of adults as atrophied children." ~ Keith Johnstone

Play purely for play's sake is seen as a waste of time, a view based on the purpose-of-life-is-to-survive assumption that underlies modern science and economics. However, far from being frivolous or silly, play for kids serious business. Play is a child's version of what adult life should be as well.

We adults have relegated much of our play and creativity to the margins-weekend hobbies irrelevant to our livelihoods. The same goes for another kind of play that instead of creative might be called "Exploratory." We play with our boundaries, explore our limits, define who we are. Experiment, which is nothing other than the spirit of "Let's see what happens if..." as a way of playing with nature. [1]

~ AfterCharles Eisenstein, The Ascent of Humanity

Contexts

[1] Back to Play, The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein