Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul

Опубликовано 6 сентября 2016, 18:42

What enables us to innovate, problem-solve and be happy, smart, resilient human beings? Our ability to play. WeΓÇÖve all seen the happiness in the face of a child while playing in the school yard, or the blissful abandon of a golden retriever racing with glee across a lawn. This is the joy of play: purposeless and all consuming and most of all: fun. Yet play is anything but trivial, it is a biological drive as integral to our health as sleep or nutrition. Beyond playΓÇÖs role in personal fulfillment, its benefits have profound implications for child development and the way we parent; education and social policy and even the future of our society. From new research suggesting how the direct role of three-dimensional-object play shapes our brains to animal studies showing the startling effects of the lack of play: it seems that play might be the most important work we can ever do.