Sharky's Blog - No Seriously, Go Play

George and I have built a business based around ‘finding the fun in everything’. Our answer to friends, clients and journalists to the question of why we do it? How we come up with the ideas? or what do we attribute to the company's success? The answer is always the same. We’ve never really grown up! 

Obviously putting on amazing events is a ‘very serious business' but the core of our philosophy is to seek out the playfulness, the mischief, and the fun element in any situation. This certainly came from starting life in children’s parties but as the company has grown into doing lots of adult events and corporate events, this skill, if you can call it that, has never been more relevant.

The key skill is to create environments, games, narratives or situations where adults don’t feel forced to play but feel compelled to play.

 “We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing” - George Bernard Shaw.

Who doesn’t love hearing the giggles and screams of joy from children who are out and about playing? Seeing children play is a joyous moment in itself. We are often transported back to a simpler time when life was about having fun and enjoying ourselves.

Adults should not look at play as something they did when they were young but as an active part of their adulthood.

“Almost all creativity involves purposeful play” – Abraham Maslow

But what if we could tap into play to enhance our life experiences, professions, relationships, and family lives as adults as well?

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold” - Joseph Chilton 

Play for adults is critical in our stressful ‘on-the-go’ lives. The play has been shown to release endorphins, improve brain functionality, and stimulate creativity. It can even help to keep us young and feeling energetic.

Play allows us to learn how to be creative and helps boost critical thinking, personality development, and adaptive pathways for us in childhood. The benefits of play are far-reaching, but we often give up play as adults for more serious pursuits such as careers, relationships and families.

Studies show that play improves memory and stimulates the growth of the cerebral cortex. Play has also been shown to trigger the secretion of BDNF, a substance essential for the growth of brain cells.

One of the things that may often stop us from playing is that we, as adults, get very set on who we are and the types of activities that we do and do not like. But play is healthy and fun, so it benefits us to figuratively, or literally, roll the dice and allow play back into our lives.

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct” - Carl Jung

Physical exercise, the taste for a life of adventure, the appreciation of art and aesthetics is to name but a few activities that are driven by play. Play is inside us all but there might be a different key to unlock it in each individual.The play instinct in psychology is one of the group of human instincts which promotes the life and development of the individual as a conscious being.

Find What Works For You

Fortunately we can easily create play in our lives as there are many different ways to play and many different types of play. 

Studying the importance of play for decades, Stuart Brown MD (founder and president of The National Institute for Play) outlines 5 main archetypes of play:

Rough-and-Tumble Play

Rough-and-tumble play is a great learning medium for all of us. Diving, batting, tug-of-war, capture the flag, treasure hunts, dodge ball, racing and chasing are all ways to play actively. According to Dr. Brown, through this form of play we develop emotional regulation as well as cognitive, emotional, and physical mastery.

Ritual Play

Chess, board games, and activities or sports with set rules and structures all fall into the world of ritual play. It is in ritual play that we can create, strategize, design, and engage in activities that bring people together for a common purpose or goal.

Imaginative Play

Remember when you were a child and had so much fun living out your fantasies and letting your imagination run wild? This is what imaginative play is all about! Colouring, storytelling, painting, drawing, crafting, and acting, as well as comedy and improv classes all foster our imaginations through play.

Body Play

Brown defines body play as a spontaneous desire to get ourselves out of gravity. Yoga, Pilates, hiking, whitewater rafting, riding roller coasters, mountain climbing, surfing, and snorkelling all fit the mould of body play… and space travel of course!

Object Play

This form of play will really bring us back to our childhoods as object play can encompass building with Legos, playing with Jenga blocks, building fortresses, and even having snowball fights. Manipulation of objects, building, and designing all fall into the object play category.

The Side Effects 

These include (but are not limited to): improved cognitive functioning, being able to deal with stress with greater ease and fluidity, creative thinking, childlike exuberance, and laughing more often. 

Experiment a bit to find what works for you, as we all could use a bit more play in our responsible, adult lives.