Types of play
We’ve already considered the importance of play for grown-ups. In this post we’re going to think about some of the different types of play that you can explore.
For the purpose of this post, we’re defining play as being the participation in or pursuit of an activity that has no serious purpose or goal other than for recreation or joy. The beauty of this definition, of course, is that what is play to one person, might not be play to another. Or the same activity can take playful and non-playful forms. We can be playful with how we even chose to define “play”. You make the rules.
Let’s consider an example. My garden has different zones. In one zone this year I plan to simply throw a whole load of wild flower seeds onto a patch of ground and see what happens. That is, by our definition, an act of play. My only intended purpose is joy. At the other end of the garden is the place where I grow food. The activity I do there has a very real purpose: to provide food and sustenance. It is therefore not an act of play because it has a serious purpose, even though it is still deeply enjoyable.
So for me, a personal feature of being “at play” is to not let myself get attached to a specific outcome or it having to go a particular way.
What follows is by no means a full and comprehensive list, but it gives some ideas of the different types of play that you could be engaging in.
Creativity
Playfully making or creating something, or just getting stuck in with our hands - or even our feet! The point here is that the joy comes from the process of creating something, not from the finished “product”. In other words, what you create isn’t important. You might not create anything at all. It is creativity without an actual goal.
Examples:
Play dough
Finger painting
Doodling
Build something in lego
Make your own slime (and play with it)
Self-expression
Activities that allow us to express ourselves in expansive ways can be great forms of play. The important thing here isn’t about how good you are at these things. You might be (like me!) totally tone deaf, but you can still get all the playful benefits of singing at the top of your voice in the shower.
Examples:
Singing
Humming or whistling
Make a lip sync video
Dancing
Experimenting with face paints or make-up
Imagination
Children are the masters of the make-believe. But guess what? So are us grown-ups if we let ourselves go there! Allowing your imagination to burst out from the inside of your head and into your physical being and the environment around you can be a great means of escape, and another form of self-expression.
Examples:
Role play
Cos play or fancy dress
Historical reenactments
Make up stories and fantasies
Build a den
Games
Perhaps the most obvious form of play is playing games. This can be solitary or beautifully social and interactive. It can be competitive or reward-based (like bingo or gambling), or totally without result like completing a cross-word puzzle and putting it in the recycling immediately after.
Examples:
Board games
Video games
Puzzles
Quizzes
Charades
Movement
Physical play opens up all kinds of opportunities for us to connect and express ourselves, while also having the added benefit of aiding our health and fitness too. Again, the important thing here for it to be playful is to allow yourself to just be in the moment, instead of striving towards a goal like losing weight.
Examples:
Team sports
Trampolining
Hide and seek
Play chase with your dog
Jump in puddles
Which will you take on in service of getting more play into your life? Take at look at my Play Boost at home retreat to inject more play into your life.