Playing for Adults

My son's surgery was successful. He's recuperating and we're all exhausted. So...for the rest of the week, I'm going to reprint past posts, and then continue with my series on Bipolar Blogging and Depression next week.

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In the foreword to Toy Tips: A Parent’s Essential Guide to Smart Toy Choices by Marianne M. Szymanski, Dr. Marvin K. Berkowitz, the Professor of Character Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, writes: "What do we want for our children? We want them to grow up happy. We want them to grow up healthy. And we want them to be people of good moral character."

"Play is a wonderful teacher," he continues. "Through play, a child learns physical skills, language development, and social skills. Play shapes a child’s personality and is part of the early material of moral character."

When we were children, many of us spent hours each week playing with our Slinky’s, Jacks, marbles, or Tinkertoys. Chances are that at sometime in our adulthood, we stopped playing with toys because we thought it was a childlike diversion. These days, if we play at all, competition is usually the name of the game. Yet, having fun and remaining playful are key components to a happy life.

"We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing," writes Charles Shaeffer, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Farleigh Dickenson College and the editor of Play Therapy with Adults.

With that in mind, stay tuned for my lists of my Top Ten Toys and Top Ten Games. The graphic is Chevelure by Henri Matisse and can be found at Dr. Schaefer's web site.