Saturday, July 9, 2011

The Right to Expression....Play

The act of play
fuels our imagination
as well as our social skills.
We learn to suspend disbelief,
which allows us to take life less seriously.
We learn to compete, win and lose.
We connect with others and with ourselves.



The benefits for children are even more numerous:
cognitive, affective, language, social, and physical development.

Play is about having fun.
Having fun, you laugh.
There is a chemical reaction in the body:
endorphins are released, which relieve stress.

What do you play?
When do you play?
How long do you play?

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

I recently rescued a puppy and have decided to keep him due to my daughter's love for animals. As he's a puppy, we play with him every day and to be honest, it is a great stress reliever. Not only do we enjoy our new companion, it is a great way to be with my girls and is also a wonderful stress reliever. I declare the right to play, every day! Etel

Anonymous said...

The Right to Play is a wonderful right. I love to play and stay active every chance I get. When I am playing it feels like I have unplugged myself from all the problems that really exist. Playing allows you to have fun and relax a lot more than you think. It also causes laughter and excitement. The right to play has no substitute.
ACA

Anonymous said...

I agree with the right to play. "All work and no play makes jack a dull boy" This nursery rhyme is actually true. If you take a look at people who do not take some time out of their day to play they are always stressed out or mopey. Playing is not just for children. There are adults out there who still play video games, surf, free run, practice karate, go out and have karaoke nights with their friends, have picnic's, play ball in the park, etc...., and there is nothing wrong with it. The world would be a miserable place if we did not have the right to play.
L.A.R.

~MSM15 said...

This is my favorite right. I enjoy too much when I play volleyball with my friends in the week. With this sport, I disconnect my mind from the daily activities and I get more energy to continue every day and relieve stress. I recommend to everybody the use of this right.
~MSM15

Anonymous said...

I love playing and just having fun in general. I love the game of soccer even though it brings out the best and worst of me at times but at the end of the day it clears my mind of anything going on in my life. When I play soccer it soothes my soul and I forget about any difficulties I have at home. This is one of my favorite rights because this is one of my favorite things to do.

P.Picone

A.N.A. said...

Playing leads to laughing, and laughing leads to a joyful soul. My fiancé has an autoimmune disease that causes her to feel sick a lot of the time. The balancing act between drug side effects and symptoms of her illness is a constant stressor, yet she most always has the ability to make a joke out it. Taking the time to play, even if it is just joking around and smiling can ease the soul.

Anonymous said...

There should be a rule that playing is a requirement for life. As the blogger said, children learn through play and I teach children, so I play with them. Play is an incredible tool for children and adults to use as we manage life. Play teaches many lessons in values, such as respect, competition, winning, loosing, honesty, cooperation, and concentration just to name a few.A.L.

Anonymous said...

To have fun means to enjoy whatever you are doing at the current moment. If you do not find time for fun there is no point of living life. It’s just that simple!
J.M.

Anonymous said...

I try to play every chance I get with words, people, or even technologies. Only for my own amusement though, I think the communal play time that we enjoyed as kids becomes more individualistic as we grow older. Play time is definetly a must in order to overcome the drama life inserts in our everyday routine. I also declare the right to play even if is for selfish reasons.

Carlos G.

Anonymous said...

There must always be a balance, a time to play and a time for business, if you schedule the two wisely, happiness is iminent.

"The one advantage of playing with fire...is that no one ever gets singed. It is the people who don't know how to play with it who get burned up."
-Oscar Wilde



Monica C.

Anonymous said...

Many times, I believe, many of us take life too serious, including me, we forget how to have fun through the course of our life. Therefore, we forget how to laugh again and enjoy life, our life, the one and only, at least, in this lifetime.

Playing, like laughter, enlivens our spirit, taking us back to the playful times we all had when when we were young - some of our most happiest moments. There's a playful child lurking in each of us, waiting to come out and play again, let it, before life passes us by. F.G.

We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Anonymous said...

In a world that is so demanding, we as adults are forced to work hard to survive. I myself get caught up with the mundane activity of working, paying bills and occasionally participating in fun activities like going to the gym. I have a puppy who happens to be very playful, as I enter my home I often find her by the door with her stuffed animal waiting for me to play with her. She is so adorable I give in and everyday for 10 minutes I run with her, we play catch and for those 10 minutes I feel the release from playing.
PoPcOrN

Anonymous said...

The right to play is the engagement of recreational activity without seriousness. It is important to keep a balance in our lives especially if we are highly stressed. The term "Work hard, play hard" is a good example as a definition of the right to play. When we are active we also release negative toxins. The right to play gives us the choice to free ourselves from our boundaries, regulations, and responsibilities.

-G.R.

Anonymous said...

I came across an article in USA TODAY, and I found that a psychiatrist named Stuart Brown did over 6,000 play studies on everyone, from serial killers to substance abusers to over worked CEOs. He has proven that having play time helps relieve stress, especially in tough times. I agree with the right to play. SJB

link to the article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-03-23-play-stress_N.htm

Anonymous said...

The right to play is a right we all need to have. No matter the age, race or moment. Life is sometimes very tough and without playing we would be very sad. I think playing can mean doing differents things, I don't really play with a pet or have a daily rotuine. I just have fun with certain things that happen, for example sometimes I'm with my boyfriend and we just tickle eachother until we can't anymore. Every form of playing bring happiness! MV

Anonymous said...

I love to play in whatever way possible, it is a way to enlighten my soul and make myself happy and what better way to do that than play? We play a lot in our lives, we have to play the work game the school game the happy game the sad game and so much more, its all about a game in life, you just need to figure out which games you like to play. Honestly Playing is my way of retreating from the real world and rediscovering the kid in me, i love and enjoy it, it is what makes me happy and isn't that what life is all about? being happy? I declare the right to play along with the right to happiness and right to freedom! -J.J.V.

Anonymous said...

It has been said that "life is a stage and we each must play a part". Life is a game with different players, different roles/positions,different rules, and different circumstances. The manner or attitude in which we handle the above, produces the end result or score. Play to your fullest potential but have fun while you're at it!
-Ana DM

Anonymous said...

I agree with the right to play. All life forms should have right to play. Playing allows you to learn from others and how they do things or how people or other life forms treat each other. Playing also gives us exercise for our brain to interact with all life forms. It also gives us a sense of freedom to do what we want and how we want to do it, to make our own rules, and it helps us learn from our mistakes.
Chelsea M.

Anonymous said...

The use of simulation in games to aid in education has been floating around, but hasn’t been accepted. However, some believe that the elements of games that favor learning in children also work for adults. Playing games can help stimulate cognitive development and should be considered not only for this reason, but because it brings people together when they are playing and more quality time is spent with our the ones. By: L.J.B.R.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes it's nice to put everyday stresses aside, and let your "inner child" out. I agree with the right to play, because even though it can bring out the jealousy and frustration feelings in some; in others it can serve as a self esteem booster. There is nothing more I enjoy then to spend some time with my beautiful niece playing doctor and hideandseek. It is the little joys that create the best memories.

Shani A.

Anonymous said...

In order to live a happy life, it is important to play as much as you work. Play releases the stress that one accumulates daily from life. If you don't play, you become easily irritable, angry, and bitter. Therefore, playing not only aids you, but those around you because you won't be in a bad mood.
J.F.

Anonymous said...

The right to play is a great right to be declared. I play and stay active with my girlfriend and family. When I am playing it feels like I have removed myself from all the problems that tends to stress me out. Playing allows you to have fun and relax a lot more than just meditation alone in my opinion. Life without play is life without joy as well.-D.E.C.

Anonymous said...

It is a shame that the way people play in today's world has change so drastically from how people used to do it in the past. We can now see that children and adults rather spend their time playing video games and with their computers than having fun by being active. We should make our kids and ourselves go out and enjoy playing sports with friends. If we finally accustom our minds to do this, we could also avoid many health issues in the future and the only thing we have to do to accomplish a healthy life, good social skills, and many other positive things, is to have fun. D.C.R.

Anonymous said...

Playing is even more important than ever in today's fast-paced world. It helps one to stay in shape, improves one's mood, and reduces stress. In my opinion, if adults today had a little more play time, they would be healthier and happier.
-A.B.

Anonymous said...

I love to play. I don't believe that work is what we are supposed to be doing. I believe that we are missing out on something so simple. Something that is taken for granted so often. Why be part of a vicious cycle of work, sleep, and so little play. Many of us spend more time at work than we do with anything else. Disrupt the cycle and enjoy life. Embrace the right to play.

Sheeda M.

Anonymous said...

I declare the right to play. There is nothing better to be able to release stress by playing. Sometimes we as adults forget that there is no age to stop playing and we keep living are lives to seriously. We need to release the child inside of us and start playing again. (LCL)

Anonymous said...

The right to play is the most enjoyable right that we have. While we play, we laugh, and release our stress. I love playing and having fun, it makes life more enjoyable and I couldn’t imagine life without it. It’s even more rewarding when I win but it’s still a lot of fun when I lose. At the end, it doesn’t matter what we play, or how we play, as long as we do something that we love. I declare the right to PLAY. O.V.

Anonymous said...

Just like the right to laughter, the right to play releases stress causing happiness to the soul. What is life, if all you do is work, work, work. Work=stress, so why not have a balance in life. I declare the right to play.
CR

D.Zabala said...

I declare the right to play. Many times people only associate playing with children. As an adult people feel that it’s immature or a waste of time to play. Some how throughout life they have forgotten how playing lets you enjoy life and reduces stress.

Anonymous said...

To me playing should never be a matter of age or "I’m too old", there should always be a time and age to play some more extreme than the other ones. It makes us happy and gives us joy, keeps us conscious of our childish side preventing us from growing bitter while keeping us young inside.
AG