{"id":18276,"date":"2021-11-10T20:30:21","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T20:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/?p=18276"},"modified":"2026-01-26T15:49:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:49:52","slug":"playfulness-develops-drive-to-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childandfamilyblog.com\/playfulness-develops-drive-to-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"How playfulness develops and spurs a drive to learn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone talks about the benefits of playfulness for learning<\/a> and development<\/a>. But what do we do to become playful? What helps or hinders us on that road? And what is it like to stay on that road? If we can map out the path, including its obstacles and its benefits<\/a>, it will be easier to create the circumstances under which children \u2013 indeed, all of us \u2013 can benefit from play.<\/p>\n

We might also better understand why and when attempts to become playful misfire, those moments when we see a chance to play and get creative but it does not work out. We can come to see that this probably happens because one or more of the stepping stones is missing.<\/p>\n

Our research has identified four stepping stones that seem essential to becoming playful: autonomy, absorbed interaction, surprise, and feeling competent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First, individuals at play need to feel autonomous<\/a>. The choice about what to do, say, or make should belong to the player. It should not be claimed by another person who is orchestrating what is going on, whether an ambitious parent or a stressed boss at work.<\/p>\n

Second, when people become playful, they lose themselves in what they are doing and become absorbed in the interaction<\/a>. There is a blurring between them and the materials or the activity in which they are engaged. In tinkering with a material or a person, sensing the possibilities of an interaction by making them happen, it is no longer clear how a result came into being. Who built this tower? Who got that idea? Was it me, the other person, or the Lego bricks?\u00a0 It was all of us.<\/p>\n

Surprise is the third key feature of becoming playful. In the interactions described earlier, players tend to be less circumscribed by a set plan of what to do. They engage in actions not previously thinkable, which can introduce surprises. Things happen that are unexpected and have not been designed deliberately.<\/p>\n

This unmapped exploration, leading to surprises, delivers the fourth feature of playfulness: a sense of increased competence. Surprising oneself is a big deal. In our research, we found that people gained an unexpected boost about what they felt able to do, and this motivated them to see how much further they could go.<\/p>\n

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