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56-495: A play date or playdate is an arranged appointment for children to meet and play . This parenting article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Play (activity) Play is often interpreted as frivolous; yet the player can be intently focused on their objective, particularly when play is structured and goal-oriented, as in a game . Accordingly, play can range from relaxed, free-spirited, spontaneous, and frivolous to planned or even compulsive. Play

112-412: A polar bear and a dog . Yet play seems to be a normal activity with animals who occupy the higher strata of their own hierarchy of needs . Animals on the lower strata, e.g. stressed and starving animals, generally do not play. However, in wild Assamese macaques physically active play is performed also during periods of low food availability and even if it is at the expense of growth, which highlights

168-884: A relay race (cooperative and competitive) or building a blanket fort (construction and creative). Separate from self-initiated play, play therapy is used as a clinical application of play aimed at treating children who suffer from trauma, emotional issues and other problems. In young children, play is associated with cognitive development and socialization . Play that promotes learning and recreation often incorporates toys , props , tools , or other playmates . Play can consist of an amusing, pretend, or imaginary activity alone or with another. Some forms of play are rehearsals or trials for later life events, such as "play fighting", pretend social encounters (such as parties with dolls), or flirting. Findings in neuroscience suggest that play promotes flexibility of mind, including adaptive practices such as discovering multiple ways to achieve

224-402: A ball in a certain direction and push opponents out of their way as they do so. While appropriate within the sport's play space, these same behaviors might be inappropriate or even illegal outside the playing field. Other designed play spaces can be playgrounds with dedicated equipment and structures to promote active and social play. Some play spaces go even farther in specialization to bring

280-497: A bat, a ball, and an impromptu playing field. With the rise of motor vehicle traffic in the 20th century, teenagers were increasingly organized into club sports supervised and coached by adults, with swimming taught at summer camps and through supervised playgrounds. Under the American New Deal 's Works Progress Administration , thousands of local playgrounds and ball fields opened, promoting softball especially as

336-506: A common pattern in game preferences among older adults: seniors often favor activities that encourage mental and physical fitness, incorporate past interests, have some level of competition, and foster a sense of belonging. Researchers investigating play in older adults are also interested in the benefits of technology and video games as therapeutic tools. These outlets can lower the risk of developing particular diseases, reduce feelings of social isolation and stress, and promote creativity and

392-1101: A community. Play time can be a way for children to learn the different ways of their culture. Many communities use play to emulate work. The way in which children mimic work through their play can differ according to the opportunities they have access to, but it is something that tends to be promoted by adults. Sport activities are one of the most universal forms of play. Different continents have their own popular/dominant sports. For example, European , South American , and African countries enjoy soccer (also known as ‘football’ in Europe ), while North American countries prefer basketball , ice hockey , baseball , or American football . In Asia , sports such as table tennis and badminton are played professionally; however soccer and basketball are played amongst common folks, with cricket popular in South Asia . Events such as The Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup showcase countries competing with each other and are broadcast all over

448-932: A decrease in staff turnover, absenteeism , and stress. Decreased stress leads to less illness, which results in lower health care costs. Play at work may help employees function and cope when under stress, refresh body and mind, encourage teamwork, trigger creativity, and increase energy while preventing burnout. Companies that encourage play at work, whether short breaks throughout the day or during lunch breaks, are more successful because this leads to positive emotion among employees. Risk taking, confidence in presenting novel ideas, and embracing unusual and fresh perspectives are associated with play at work. Play can increase self-reported job satisfaction and well-being. Employees experiencing positive emotions are more cooperative, more social, and perform better when faced with complex tasks. Contests, team-building exercises, fitness programs, mental health breaks, and other social activities make

504-635: A desired result, or creative ways to improve or reorganize a given situation. As children get older, they engage in board games , video games , and computer play, and in this context the word gameplay is used to describe the concept and theory of play and its relationship to rules and game design. In their book, Rules of Play , researchers Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman outline 18 schemas for games, using them to define "play", "interaction", and "design" formally for behaviorists. Similarly, in his book Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds , game researcher and theorist Jesper Juul explores

560-432: A form of playtime, but researchers have found that most electronic play leads to lack of motivation, no social interaction, and can lead to obesity. Play is children using their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Dramatic play is common in younger children. For youth to benefit from playtime, the following are recommended: By participating regularly in

616-569: A lot of time in the workplace. Many adults in North America are in the workforce and spend half of their waking hours in a workplace environment with little to no time for play. Play in this context refers to leisure-type activities with colleagues during lunch breaks or short breaks throughout the working day. Leisure activities might include physical sport activities, card games , board games , video games , foosball , ping-pong , yoga , and boot-camp sessions. Playing games may promote

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672-440: A persistent and optimistic motivational style and positive affect . Positive affect enhances people's experiences, enjoyment , and sense of satisfaction , during their engagement with a task. While people are engaged in work, positive affect increases the satisfaction they feel from the work, and this increases their creativity and improves their performance on problem-solving tasks as well as other tasks. The development of

728-584: A persistent motivational style charged with positive affect may lead to lasting work success. Work and play are mutually supportive. Employees need to experience the sense of newness, flow , discovery , and liveliness that play provides. This provides the employee with the sense that they are integrated within the organization, and therefore they feel and perform better. Incorporating play at work results in more productivity , creativity and innovation, higher job satisfaction, greater workplace morale , stronger or new social bonds, improved job performance, and

784-583: A positive outcome for youth development. Research shows adolescents are more motivated and engaged in sports than any other activity, and these conditions predict a richer personal and interpersonal development. Anxiety, depression and obesity can stem from lack of activity and social interaction. There is a high correlation between the amount of time that youth spend playing sports and physical (e.g., better general health), psychological (e.g., subjective well-being), academic (e.g., school grades), and social benefits (e.g., making friends). Electronics are

840-467: A sport for all ages and genders. By the 21st century, Chudacoff notes, the old tension between parental controls and a child's individual freedom was being played out in cyberspace . The act of play time is a cross-cultural phenomenon that is universally accepted and encouraged by most communities; however, it can differ in the ways that is performed. Some cultures, such as Euro-American ones, encourage play time in order to stress cognitive benefits and

896-1154: A variety of resources to play. In addition, there are groups that have access to crafts, industrialized toys, electronics, and video-games. In Australia, games and sports are part of play. There, play can be considered as preparation for life and self-expression, like in many other countries. Groups of children in Efe of the Democratic Republic of Congo can be seen making ‘food’ from dirt or pretending to shoot bows and arrows much like their elders. These activities are similar to other forms of play worldwide. For instance, children can be seen comforting their toy dolls or animals, anything that they have modeled from adults in their communities. In Brazil, children can be found playing with balls, kites, marbles, pretend houses, or mud kitchens, like in many other countries. In smaller communities they use mud balls, little stones or cashews to replace marbles. At an indigenous community of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia, children's play

952-414: A variety of sports, children can develop and become more proficient at various skills (such as jumping , kicking , running , throwing , etc.) if they focus on skill mastery and development. Young athletes can also develop: Regular participation in sport and physical activity is associated with a lower risk of diabetes , heart disease , obesity , and other related diseases. According to research by

1008-450: Is associated with the decline in cognitive and physical capabilities, but the higher levels of inactivity in older adults. Play and activity tend to decline with age which may result in negative outcomes such as social isolation, depression, and mobility issues. American studies found that only 24% of seniors took part in regular physical activity and only 42% use the internet for entertainment purposes. In comparison to other age groups,

1064-453: Is highly valued and encouraged by leaders and parents. They interact with the children of different ages and explore together different environments to let the children express themselves as part of the group. Some children in the Sahara use clay figures as their forms of playful toys. Toys in general are a representation of cultural practices. They usually illustrate characters and objects of

1120-403: Is not just a pastime activity; it has the potential to serve as an important tool in numerous aspects of daily life for adolescents, adults, and cognitively advanced non-human species (such as primates). Not only does play promote and aid in physical development (such as hand-eye coordination ), but it also aids in cognitive development and social skills, and can even act as a stepping stone into

1176-854: Is that activity can be as educational as instruction, especially in early childhood. Most children's museums are nonprofit organizations, and many are run by volunteers or by very small professional staffs. International professional organizations of children's museums include the Association of Children's Museums (ACM), which was formed in 1962 as the American Association of Youth Museums (AAYM) and in 2007 counted 341 member institutions in 23 countries, and The Hands On! Europe Association of Children's Museum (HO!E), established in 1994, with member institutions in 34 countries as of 2007. Many museums that are members of ACM offer reciprocal memberships, allowing members of one museum to visit all

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1232-680: The Smithsonian 's children's room opened in 1901. The Brooklyn Children's Museum also inspired other children's museums either housed separately or even developed completely independently of parent museums, like the Boston Children's Museum (1913), The Children's Museum of Detroit Public Schools (1915), and the Children's Museum of Indianapolis (1925). The number of children's museums in the United States continued to grow over

1288-766: The Australian Early Childhood Mental Health Initiative, children can be assisted in dealing with and managing stress by developing their sense of optimism when playing sports. Young people also tend to be more nutrition-conscious in their food choices when they participate in sport. Girls involved in sport are less likely to experience teenage pregnancy , begin smoking , or develop breast cancer . Young athletes have shown lower levels of total cholesterol and other favorable profiles in serum lipid parameters associated with cardiovascular disease . Sport provides an arena for young people to be physically active and so reduces

1344-471: The United States tend to set aside time to play and teach their children through games and activities. In the Mayan community, children are supported in their playing but also encouraged to play while watching their parents do household work in order to become familiar with how to follow in their footsteps. All around the world, children use natural materials like stones, water, sand, leaves, fruits, sticks, and

1400-531: The ages of six and twenty years". Their goal was to gain children's interest and "to stimulate their powers of observation and reflection" as well as to "illustrate by collections of pictures, cartoons, charts, models, maps and so on, each of the important branches of knowledge which is taught in elementary schools". Anna Billings Gallup, the museum's curator from 1904 to 1937, encouraged a learning technique that allowed children to "discover" information by themselves through touching and examining objects. Visitors to

1456-460: The arts, or curiosity-driven science. Some adult " hobbies " are examples of such creative play. In creative professions, such as design, playfulness can dispel more serious attitudes (such as shame or embarrassment) that impede brainstorming or artistic experimentation in design. Imaginative play and role play may allow adults to practice useful habits such as learned optimism , which is helpful in managing fear or terrors . Play also offers adults

1512-655: The century viewed themselves as institutions of public education, their exhibits were often not made accessible for children, who may have struggled with simple design features like the height of exhibit cases, or the language of interpretive labels. Furthermore, touching objects was often prohibited, limiting visitors' ability to interact with museum objects. The founders of the Brooklyn Children's Museum were concerned with education and realized that no other institution had attempted to establish "a Museum that will be of especial value and interest to young people between

1568-473: The course of the twentieth century, with over 40 museums opened by the 1960s and more than 70 children's museums opened to the public between 1990 and 1997. The next earliest children's museums were: By 1975, there were approximately 38 children's museums in the United States. An additional 80 institutions opened between 1976 and 1990, and more than 130 opened between 1990 and 2007. As of 2007, ACM estimated that there were approximately 80 children's museums in

1624-832: The data surrounding children and adults, play and activity are associated with improved health and quality of life among seniors. Additionally, play and activity tend to affect successful aging as well as boost well-being throughout the lifespan. Although children, adults, and seniors all tend to benefit from play, older adults often perform it in unique ways to account for possible issues, such as health restrictions, limited accessibility, and revised priorities. For this reason, elderly people may partake in physical exercise groups, interactive video games , and social forums specifically geared towards their needs and interests. One qualitative research study found older adults often chose to engage in specific games such as dominoes , checkers , and bingo for entertainment. Another study indicated

1680-444: The development of preventative measures, such as establishing safer recreational areas, that promote play throughout elderly life. A moderate level of play has numerous positive outcomes in the lives of senior citizens. To support and promote play within the older population, institutions should set up more diverse equipment, improve conditions within recreational areas, and create more video games or online forums that appeal to

1736-448: The developmental and evolutionary importance of play. Children%27s Museums Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children . In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feature interactive exhibits that are designed to be manipulated by children. The theory behind such exhibits

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1792-430: The elderly are more likely to experience a variety of barriers, such as difficulty with environmental hazards and accessibility issues, that may hinder their abilities to play. Although playing may benefit seniors, it also has the potential to negatively impact their health. For example, those who play may be more susceptible to injury. Investigating these barriers may assist in the creation of useful interventions and/or

1848-404: The form of improvisation, pretense, interaction, performance, mimicry, games, sports, and thrill-seeking (including extreme or dangerous sports like sky-diving, high-speed racing, etc.). Philosopher Roger Caillois wrote about play in his 1961 book Man, Play and Games . Free-form play gives children the freedom to decide what they want to play and how it will be played. Both the activity and

1904-422: The formal characteristic of play, we might call it a free activity standing quite consciously outside "ordinary" life as being "not serious" but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no profit can be gained by it. It proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It promotes

1960-443: The formation of social groupings that tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress the difference from the common world by disguise or other means. This definition of play as constituting a separate and independent sphere of human activity is sometimes referred to as the "magic circle" notion of play, a phrase also attributed to Huizinga. Many other definitions exist. Jean Piaget stated, "the many theories of play expounded in

2016-401: The importance of learning how to care for one's self. Other cultures, such as people of African American or Asian American heritages, stress more group oriented learning and play where kids can learn what they can do with and for others. Parent interactions at playtime also differ within communities. Parents in the Mayan culture interact with their children in a playful mindset while parents in

2072-479: The interplay between parental control of toys and games and children's drive for freedom to play. In the colonial era, toys were makeshift and children taught each other very simple games with little adult supervision. The market economy of the 19th century enabled the modern concept of childhood as a distinct, happy life stage. Factory-made dolls and doll houses delighted young girls. Organized sports filtered down from adults and colleges, and boys learned to play with

2128-508: The maintenance of cognitive skills. As a result, play has been integrated into physiotherapy and occupational therapy interventions for seniors. The ability to incorporate play into one's routine is important because these activities allow participants to express creativity, improve verbal and non-verbal intelligence, and enhance balance. These benefits may be especially crucial to seniors because cognitive and physical functioning declines with age. However, it might not be aging itself that

2184-507: The museum were able to compare the composition, weight, and hardness of minerals, learn to use a microscope to examine natural objects, and build their own collections of natural objects to be displayed in a special room of the museum. In addition to emphasis on allowing interaction with objects, Gallup also encouraged learning through play. She believed learning at the Brooklyn Children's Museum should be "pure fun", and to this end developed nature clubs, held field trips, brought live animals into

2240-484: The museum, and hired gallery instructors to lead children in classification games about animals, shells, and minerals. Other children's museums of the early twentieth century used similar techniques that emphasized learning through experience. Children's museums often emphasize experiential learning through museum interactives, sometimes leading them to have very few or no physical collection items. The Brooklyn Children's Museum and other early children's museums grew out of

2296-513: The needs of seniors. Evolutionary psychologists believe that there must be an important benefit of play, as there are so many other reasons to avoid it; observations have shown it has arisen independently in such varied groups as mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. Animals are often injured during play, become distracted from predators, and expend valuable energy. In rare cases, play has even been observed between different species that are natural enemies such as

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2352-545: The nineteenth century. Some scholars argue that objects, while once critical to the definition of a museum, are no longer considered vital to many institutions because they are no longer necessary to fulfill the roles we expect museums to serve as museums focus more on programs, education, and their visitors. After the Brooklyn Children's Museum opened in 1899, other American museums followed suit by opening small children's sections of their institutions designed with children in mind and equipped with interactive activities, such as

2408-429: The opportunity to practice concepts that may not have been explicitly or formally taught (e.g. how to manage misinformation or deceit). Thus, even though play is just one of many tools used by effective adults, it remains a necessary one. There has been extensive research on the benefits of play among children , youth , and adolescence . Overlooked are the benefits of play for adults—more specifically, adults who spend

2464-471: The others for free or for a discounted fee. The Brooklyn Children's Museum was established in 1899 by the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences . It is often regarded as the first children's museum in the United States. The idea behind the Brooklyn Children's Museum implicitly acknowledged that existing American museums were not designed with children in mind. Although museums at the turn of

2520-551: The past are clear proof that the phenomenon is difficult to understand." Another definition of play from the twenty-first century comes from the National Playing Fields Association . The definition reads as follows: "play is freely chosen, personally directed, intrinsically motivated behaviour that actively engages the child." This definition focuses more on the child's freedom of choice and personal motivation related to an activity. Play can take

2576-837: The planning phase. The children's museum concept has spread worldwide from the United States. Le Musée des Enfants in Brussels was started in 1978, inspired by Boston Children's Museum. The Boston museum also inspired the Museo Pambata in Manila , which opened in 1994. The Children's Museum of Caracas , Venezuela, became Latin America's first museum for children when it opened in 1982. The Children's Museum of Bogotá , Colombia, followed it in 1986. Eureka! The National Children's Museum in Halifax, England , established in 1992, claims

2632-535: The play indoors, and charge admission, as seen at Children's Museums , Science Centers , or Family Entertainment Centers . Family Entertainment Centers (or Play Zones) are typically for-profit businesses that facilitate play and entertainment, while Children's Museums and Science Centers are typically non-profit organisations for educational entertainment. The California-based National Institute for Play describes seven play patterns: Another classification system uses these categories: Some forms overlap, such as

2688-834: The relationship between real rules and unreal scenarios in play, such as winning or losing a game in the real world when played together with real-world friends, but doing so by slaying a dragon in the fantasy world presented in the shared video game. Play is explicitly recognized in Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations , November 29, 1989), which declares: American historian Howard Chudacoff studied

2744-651: The rules are subject to change in this form, and children can make any changes to the rules or objectives of the play at any time. Some countries in the twenty-first century have added emphasis of free play into their values for children in early childhood, for example Taiwan and Hungary. Structured play has clearly defined goals and rules. Such play is called a " game ". Other play is unstructured or open-ended. Both types of play promote adaptive behaviors and mental states of happiness . Sports with defined rules take place within designated play spaces, such as sports fields—in association football for example, players kick

2800-555: The social life of a youth care institution and sits at the core of what inmates and staff have to deal with Older adults represent one of the fastest growing populations around the world. The United Nations predicted an increase of those aged 60 and above from 629 million in 2002 to approximately two billion in 2050 but increased life expectancy does not necessarily translate to a better quality of life . For this reason, research has begun to investigate methods to maintain and/or improve quality of life among older adults. Similar to

2856-405: The time spent in sedentary pursuits, such as watching TV and playing video games . Although adults who engage in high amounts of play may find themselves described as "childish" or "young at heart" by less playful adults, play is an important activity, regardless of age. Creativity and happiness can result from adult play, where the objective can be more than fun alone, as in adult expression of

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2912-787: The title of the United Kingdom's first hands-on children's museum. Austria's first museum for children was ZOOM Children's Museum in Vienna , established in 1994. Korea's first children's museum is the Samsung Children's Museum in Seoul , which opened in 1995 under the sponsorship of the Samsung Culture Foundation. India has seen rise in children's museums in recent years. The first children's museum in Japan

2968-428: The tradition of natural history museums, object-centered institutions. Over the course of the twentieth century, the children's museums slowly began to discard their objects in favor of more interactive exhibits. While children's museums are a more extreme case, it is important to note that during the twentieth century, more and more museums have elected to display fewer objects and offer more interpretation than museums of

3024-402: The work environment fun, interactive, and rewarding. Playfighting, i.e. playful fights or fictive disputes, may contribute to organizations and institutions, as in youth care settings. Staff tries to down-key playfight invitations to "treatment" or "learning," but playfighting also offers youth and staff identificatory respite from the institutional regime. Playfighting is a recurrent pattern in

3080-424: The world of integration, which can be a very stressful process. Play is something that most children partake in, but the way play is executed is different between cultures, and the way that children engage with play varies. The seminal text in the field of play studies is the book Homo Ludens first published in 1944 with several subsequent editions, in which Johan Huizinga defines play as follows: Summing up

3136-499: The world. Sports can be played as a leisure activity or within a competition . According to sociologist Norbert Elias it is an important part of "civilization process". Victory and defeat in sports can influence one's emotions to a point where everything else seems irrelevant. Sport fans can also imagine what it feels like to play for their preferred team. The feelings people experience can be so surreal that it affects their emotions and behavior. Youth sport can provide

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