Play Times

This month, we’re exploring the power of playfulness—a core trait wired into the brain that helps shape how we move through the world. We spotlight the work of Dr. René Proyer, a leading researcher in adult playfulness, and share exciting updates on upcoming events you won’t want to miss.

Adolescents often lack awareness of their intrinsic play—activities that bring deep satisfaction and engagement which contributes to the current youth mental health crisis. This month’s Play Note digs into this. We profile Dr. Peter Gray who works passionately to attenuate the crisis. In News our next webinar with Dr. Stuart coming March 25, 2025 and more.

For January our Play Note covers the importance of free play for children, highlighting its role in fostering creativity, self-regulation, and problem-solving. We Profile Dr. Joe Frost, a pioneering researcher in play and playground design. Play News provides an example of the benefits of free play in youth sports, a suggestion of how to reduce overparenting with a mindset shift, and we highlight articles on the importance of playfulness in adult friendships, and again include links to current issues of peer reviewed play journals.

The December issue of The Play Times explores the transformative benefits of adult play, highlighting its role in reducing stress, enhancing creativity, and fostering resilience. It addresses misconceptions, explains play’s emotional, cognitive, and social advantages, and offers strategies to integrate play into daily life. Dr. Marian Diamond is profiled; she was a pioneering researcher who identified play’s critical impact on brain development.

What is play? For some, it’s a game of tennis. For others, it’s listening to music or camping in the woods. Play is different for everyone because it’s a state of being, something we each uniquely feel and experience. This month’s Play Note explains what true play is and how to recognize it in yourself and others. We document the characteristics of play as identified by some of the leading and pioneering play researchers. The profile section introduces two of the first scientists to study and publish about play, Karl Groos and Johan Huizinga.

This month’s Play Note provides details on some of the many sources indicating that playing and being playful catalyzes creativity. We document the fact that our creativity is greatest when we are children and falls off precipitously as we grow older flattening out at a very low level for most adults. We cite famously creative people as well as many researchers who have closely studied creativity. In addition, the news section of this issue of Play Times reports on a newly published anthology of over 50 essays about play that are freely available from the ipausa.org website.