A Thousand Ways to Play

I am sharing this example of origami folding done by Bruno Boden of Google while accompanied by Rufus Cappadocia on his cello. It is a wonderful example of how many different kinds of play that there are. This is an example of what psychologists call coplay. In early social development, children play next to each other in proximity but do not truly interact. I think this is an adult version of that.

I also wonder how much his love of origami built his other mental skills. Bruno Bowden was part of the team at Keyhole, the company that built EarthViewer lets you fly smoothly over an image of the globe assembled from satellite photos, and then zoom in on your own house. When Google bought Keyhole, Bowden helped turn the software into the indispensable Google Earth. Recently, he's moved over to the Google Gadgets side, helping to build more gotta-have-it technology.

Time to Play

How often do you play? Do you play at all?

Many of us left play behind when we were children but it has much to offer to us as adults- and I do not just mean the few occassions that we play when we are drawn into it with children. In those circumstances we pretend to do it for the child or worse yet just do it for the child. I don' think I mean the competitive "play" that many engage in for organized sports either.

We must relearn play with the end of rediscovering a part of ourselves that we left behind.
Here are a few suggestions:

1. Let sand run through your hands or rub your hands over a velvet fabric or play with playdough (perhaps I'll find the recipe and post it in a future blog).
2. Get some paint and mix colours together one at a time and enjoy the sensation of the distinct and then the blended colours.
3. Lay on the grass on a summer's night and really see the stars and feel the grass.
4. Listen to the different sounds that striking a spoon against different things creates - a jar, a can, a pot
5. Sit and just create different rhythms by hitting your knees or slapping a table.
6. Use a whole variety of cookie cutters with play dough or cookie dough just to create or sculpt.
7. Jump on a trampoline and do not see it as exercise but as creative movement.
8. Sing the silliest song you know. Or whistle it.
9. Rhyme a chain of eleven words
10. Build a model of something from a kit or get a puzzle and enjoy putting it together.

OK, I've started you off with ten suggestions. Come up with a couple better ones of your own and do them first.
I suggest starting off by playing this way alone. In child development, little ones learn to play alone even in a group before they learn to co-play side by side and then genuinely play together. Repeating the process might be a good chance to experience it in a new way.

Have fun!