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Play: The Key to Creativity

May 16, 2011 by notjustcute Filed Under: Create, Learning through Play and Experience 2 Comments

It’s time for the final installment of my series on creativity for Willow Creek Pediatrics.  Here’s a little snippet:

It has been said that play is a child’s work.  While play has been around since the dawn of time, the science of play is relatively new.  What some may consider to be only a frivolous pastime for children has, over the last century, been uncovered as a powerful tool for learning, a key to creativity and innovation, and, some would argue, a biological necessity akin to sleep. 

Researchers, like Dr. Stuart Brown of the National Institute for Play, assert that play is more than just good fun, and even more than a way to practice and imitate skills for the future.  Play, they submit, is a necessary component to healthy human development.  It helps build emotional regulation, appropriate risk-taking behaviors, abstract thinking, curiosity, and resiliency.  Incorporating neuroscience, they have found that play “lights up the brain” and builds intelligence in a truly unique way.

And yet, while the science of play is gaining ground, the actual occurrence of play seems to be diminishing in our culture.

As this article in the New York Times  stated, “The average 3 year-old can pick up an iPhone and expertly scroll through the menu of apps, but how many 7 year-olds can organize a kickball game with the neighborhood kids?”

Scoot on over to WCP’s blog to read the rest!  (And don’t miss out on the treat at the end!)

I’ve been really lucky to work with Dr. Jopling and his staff (a special thanks to Mandy), and am really impressed with their interest in promoting wellness for the whole child.  Thank you so much!

 Top photo by D. Sharon Pruitt.

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  1. Learn: Play! « TanGreen says:
    May 20, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    […] Play! Recently I have seen many articles and posts regarding the importance of play.  Not of early reading, not of leaning matrix calculus in 8th […]

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  2. Recommended Reads - Creativity and Ideas | | Becoming you says:
    July 7, 2012 at 10:10 am

    […] Play: the key to creativity @ Not Just Cute […]

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I’m Amanda Morgan. Here’s what I’m about…

In early education, there is too much distance between what we know and what we do. I bridge the gaps that exist between academia, decision-makers, educators, and parents so that together, we can improve the quality of early education while also respecting and protecting the childhood experience.

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