Imagine your employer mandating that you go out and jump on a trampoline, or spend forty-five minutes at the company playground each day? It’s a simple equation yet as we age many of us forget the most inherent wisdom we had as children. Playing is not only fun but it is also healthy for the body and increases brain function. Incorporating play into various parts of our life will increase happiness while reducing stress.
“When it comes to brain development, time in the classroom may be less important than time on the playground.” – NPR Ed, Scientists Say Child’s Play Helps Build A Better Brain
Kids don’t need to remember the power of play. It’s us adults who often forget. Play fosters creativity, enhances relationships, and improves mental health. Activities like board games, sports, or hobbies rekindle the joy of discovery and relaxation. Play keeps the mind sharp and provides social interaction, reducing feelings of isolation and allowing us to keep our vitality.
Play and the Brain
The Executive Function is an umbrella term for the management (regulation, control) of cognitive processes. This includes, reasoning, task, and problem-solving planning and execution. It is the part of the brain that is most enhanced by play.
The experience of play changes the connections of the neurons at the front end of your brain, and without play experience, those neurons aren’t changed.
–Sergio Pellis, University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada (Source: Scientists Say Child’s Play Helps Build A Better Brain)
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt and form new neural connections throughout life. Play stimulates this process. Activities like puzzles, games, or imaginative play challenge the brain, helping it stay flexible and adaptable. This is particularly important for learning, memory, and recovery from injury.
Play helps children and adults explore problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making in a low-pressure environment. Free play encourages experimenting with ideas, fostering innovation and “outside-the-box” thinking. It also allows people to understand the world and themselves by testing boundaries and discovering new concepts.
Work and Play
Business owners recognize that a cohesive work-environment requires good social skills, cooperation, reduced stress, and the happiness of employees. These traits are all enhanced by playing. Some corporate retreats also include play-therapy to assist colleagues in “taking it light” while on the job.
If happiness in the workplace brings increased returns to productivity, then human resource departments, business managers and the architects of promotion policies will want to consider the implications. – Jamie Doward, Happy people really do work harder
Play Therapy
The Association for Play Therapy suggests that unstructured, collaborative imagination in action is essential for optimal mental and physical health. If you are feeling stuck you may want to visit a play-therapist. Though we don’t need a therapist to prescribe some play time.
Through pretend play or games, people practice processing emotions like joy, frustration, and even trauma in a safe environment. Play helps develop and strengthen the amygdala-prefrontal cortex connection, improving the ability to manage emotional responses.
My favorite play-therapists are my nephews who are nine and eleven years old. While I’m with them anything and everything can become a game. A rock, a stick, or a leaf can become natural toys to keep us occupied for hours.
Play and Physical Exercise
Physical exercise will get you out of your head and into your body. Moving the body loosens the mind and releases stress. Moving your body and activating your cardio-vascular system causes your whole being to loosen up. This is a great way to create the ideal environment for a playful mood to flourish.
Physical activity promotes the release of BDNF, a protein that supports the growth of new neurons and enhances brain plasticity. This fosters neurogenesis (the creation of new brain cells) and strengthens neural pathways, improving cognitive flexibility—a cornerstone of creative thinking.
Divergent thinking, or the ability to generate multiple ideas and solutions, is essential for creativity. Studies have shown that moderate aerobic exercise, such as walking or cycling, increases divergent thinking more effectively than sedentary activities.
I like putting on silly music with friends and letting wordless drama unfold. Turn up some tunes with friends to role-play interactions, gestures and responses. Or just dance freely and let your body express itself.
Ask Yourself
- When, where, and with whom do I feel the natural urge to play?
- How can I bring play into your daily life more?
- What are the ways that playing can be incorporated into my work?
Asking these questions is the first step in bringing the universal urge to play back into your life.
Bring the Smiles
Before your next company board meeting do something out of character. Ask if everyone would be okay to throw an invisible ball around for a few minutes. Even if you get resistance to your silly request you will lighten the the energy in the room. There is plenty of seriousness in the world for all of us. That’s why it is important to make a conscious effort to be playful.
Here are some other ways to create a playful social environment around you:
- Offer Compliments: A genuine, thoughtful compliment can instantly lift spirits
- Share Humor: A funny joke (even a bad joke), a witty meme, or a goofy moment can elicit laughter.
- Practice Random Acts of Kindness: Buy someone a coffee, hold the door, or leave a kind note.
Any practice that breaks the monotony or catches people by surprise is healthy. It is contagious and you will find that others look forward to lighthearted moments with you. Play makes the day more interesting. It makes life more fun and it is good for you.
Play is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. It nurtures creativity, strengthens relationships, reduces stress, and makes life richer and more joyful. By embracing play at any age, we reconnect with our humanity, ignite our imagination, and remind ourselves of the beauty in simply being alive. The more often you do this the more natural it will become until it is part of your daily routine.
