Playing
I spent this past week in Chiapas, Mexico with my family climbing up a dry riverbed in a cave, hundreds of feet underground, repelling down underground waterfalls, sliding down natural slides into black water inside a cave, jumping off underground waterfalls, mountain biking to remote villages, and getting soaked standing beside a 400 foot waterfall, “El Chiflon.” Why on earth would grown men and women want to jump off 30 foot underground waterfalls into black water and go up hills on rickety bikes at 6,500 foot elevation? Isn’t it obvious? For fun.
There are preschools founded on the principals of play because children are curious beings. Montessori schools in Mexico are all about children discovering the world through play. Then as we get older and enter middle school the word “play” becomes juvenile. Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” answers, “Yes!” to that awful question. He calls on us to make a major overhaul to bring creativity back into schools before creativity is obsolete and we crush the dreams, spirits and ideas of the next generations.
When we refer to “play” in the sense of inspiring creativity we are not talking about children jumping on the bed and swinging from the chandelier without purpose or consequences. Play in regards to creativity engages all of the senses, is done for pleasure and out of curiosity, and frees the mind to stumble upon new discoveries. As soon as one overthinks and tries for specific results, it stops being play and becomes work once again. Play is experimental for the sake of the experiment, not the results.
In the case of my family, some of what we did over the past week was “everyday play” for the adrenaline rush that doing something crazy sometimes brings. Although, I argue that it is still deep play. Take my dad for example; he is 58, a chemical engineer by trade, small business owner by current practice, has a Masters in International Business, and his current business is booming requiring every ounce of his concentration to the point that it is taking a toll on him physically. So how did playing for 4 hours climbing up a dry, underground riverbed and then down an angry underground river help him be more creative in his work? It gave him a break.
When we came to the first jump, a 30 foot drop over an underground waterfall into the darkness below with only your head lamp to provide light, my dad fell over himself he was so eager and excited to go first. We spent the days playing, and he spent the evenings feverishly working on his iPad. He was able to send out his annual Thanksgiving email with a new twist this year. He was also inspired to try something a bit different for the company team-building outing. Maybe the playing we did was not directly related to the work he produced, but it gave him the break he needed to play with ideas and de-clutter his mind.
When we use play in the classroom our students are much more likely to retain information they learned from class Jeopardy than from reading the facts in their textbook. Play can make a lasting impression on students. I designed a game of pictures from cities all over the world and the students have to guess the location. It serves as a good introduction to examining the single stories we have about countries.
Instructions: The object of the game is to guess the location of the picture correctly. Look closely at some of the pictures and they may lend you some clues, but look too closely and you may also be tricked! Click on the picture to bring you to the answer page. In the case of the video, click on the button below to bring you to the answer. Good luck!
There are preschools founded on the principals of play because children are curious beings. Montessori schools in Mexico are all about children discovering the world through play. Then as we get older and enter middle school the word “play” becomes juvenile. Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” answers, “Yes!” to that awful question. He calls on us to make a major overhaul to bring creativity back into schools before creativity is obsolete and we crush the dreams, spirits and ideas of the next generations.
When we refer to “play” in the sense of inspiring creativity we are not talking about children jumping on the bed and swinging from the chandelier without purpose or consequences. Play in regards to creativity engages all of the senses, is done for pleasure and out of curiosity, and frees the mind to stumble upon new discoveries. As soon as one overthinks and tries for specific results, it stops being play and becomes work once again. Play is experimental for the sake of the experiment, not the results.
In the case of my family, some of what we did over the past week was “everyday play” for the adrenaline rush that doing something crazy sometimes brings. Although, I argue that it is still deep play. Take my dad for example; he is 58, a chemical engineer by trade, small business owner by current practice, has a Masters in International Business, and his current business is booming requiring every ounce of his concentration to the point that it is taking a toll on him physically. So how did playing for 4 hours climbing up a dry, underground riverbed and then down an angry underground river help him be more creative in his work? It gave him a break.
When we came to the first jump, a 30 foot drop over an underground waterfall into the darkness below with only your head lamp to provide light, my dad fell over himself he was so eager and excited to go first. We spent the days playing, and he spent the evenings feverishly working on his iPad. He was able to send out his annual Thanksgiving email with a new twist this year. He was also inspired to try something a bit different for the company team-building outing. Maybe the playing we did was not directly related to the work he produced, but it gave him the break he needed to play with ideas and de-clutter his mind.
When we use play in the classroom our students are much more likely to retain information they learned from class Jeopardy than from reading the facts in their textbook. Play can make a lasting impression on students. I designed a game of pictures from cities all over the world and the students have to guess the location. It serves as a good introduction to examining the single stories we have about countries.
Instructions: The object of the game is to guess the location of the picture correctly. Look closely at some of the pictures and they may lend you some clues, but look too closely and you may also be tricked! Click on the picture to bring you to the answer page. In the case of the video, click on the button below to bring you to the answer. Good luck!
A) Tokyo, Japan
B) Detroit, Michigan
C) Nanterre, France
B) Detroit, Michigan
C) Nanterre, France
A) Nairobi, Kenya
B) Chicago, Illinois
C) New York, New York
B) Chicago, Illinois
C) New York, New York
A) Tijuana, Mexico
B) San Diego, California
C) San Jose, Costa Rica
B) San Diego, California
C) San Jose, Costa Rica
A) Phuket, Thailand
B) Bali, Indonesia
C) Kauai, Hawaii
B) Bali, Indonesia
C) Kauai, Hawaii
A) Kingston, Jamaica
B) Havana, Cuba
C) Johannesburg, South Africa
B) Havana, Cuba
C) Johannesburg, South Africa
A) Cancun, Mexico
B) Manila, Philippines
C) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
B) Manila, Philippines
C) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
A) Oaxaca, Mexico
B) Bangkok, Thailand
C) New Delhi, India
B) Bangkok, Thailand
C) New Delhi, India
A) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
B) Nairobi, Kenya
C) Panama City, Panama
B) Nairobi, Kenya
C) Panama City, Panama
A) Singapore, Singapore
B) New York, New York
C) Venice, Italy
B) New York, New York
C) Venice, Italy
A) Colombo, Sri Lanka
B) New Delhi, India
C) Oaxaca, Mexico
B) New Delhi, India
C) Oaxaca, Mexico
A) Copenhagen, Denmark
B) San Francisco, California
C) London, England
B) San Francisco, California
C) London, England