Free Play is vital for children. Without it kids can suffer increased depression and anxiety. Children engage in play freely and joyfully without worrying about the “right way” to do things. It is “childhood’s work” and it can help kids in problem solving, cooperation, self-regulation, and creativity. This month’s Play Note defines and categorizes Free Play for children and addresses its many benefits.

Research consistently confirms the profound benefits of play for adults. In this Play Note we highlight the benefits of adult play for well-being, creativity, and resilience and suggest how to add more play toyour life.

In this Play Note, we will explore what play truly is and how to recognize when someone is genuinely playing.  Future Play Notes will delve deeper into how play manifests in and benefits adults and children differently.

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.

The goal of this Play Note is to help you find the activities that feed your soul; recognizing those activities will help you to be play-nourished and gain the mental health benefits play has to offer.

Play, like our fingerprints, is unique to each of us. Two people can be playing catch and for one it feels playful, for the other it feels stressful. The activities and situations that engage us, that give us a feeling of personal, internal satisfaction are elements of your Play Nature.

Play and stress are closely linked.  Playfulness serves a strong adaptive function, providing individuals with cognitive resources to cope with stressful situations.  The benefits of playfulness extend well beyond childhood, throughout the lifespan.  Adult playfulness seems to contribute to resilience, by enabling effective coping styles in the face of stressful situations.  This resilience may explain why playful adults report lower levels of perceived stress. In 2018 the Academy of Pediatrics reported that pediatricians “need to promote the benefits of play and to write a prescription for play” for their young patients.