Sculpting Project 17: Built to Play: Week 1

In the animal kingdom the more complex the brain the more a creature plays. We have the most complex brains of all. We are built to play. And it is not just children who have been built for play. Humans continue to play into adulthood more than any of God’s creations.

What is play? Definitions are difficult, but here are a few word that have been used as an attempt: Fun, voluntary, seemingly purposeless, pleasurable, needless, focused on experience not accomplishing a goal.

Q: Why keep playing even when we are all grown up?

A: God designed us for play and when we play we will experience physical and mental benefits.

Here are a few that have been discovered in psychological studies.

Play:

Develops emotional maturity
Stimulates nerve growth in the emotion area of the brain
Increased development in the cognition area in the brain
Develops decision-making ability
Stimulates creativity
Makes us more open to change
Helps us learn new information

Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.

How do you play?

As a way to explore play that fits you well you may want to ask yourself, ‘ What was my favorite way to play as a child? How could I do that today?