The Serious Business of Play - DuPage Children's Museum

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The Serious Business of Play

September 15, 2016

With the dawn of a new school year always comes a lot of chatter in the news about education topics. This school year I have been hearing a lot of stories pertaining to homework and recess. Finland, which consistently has one of the highest rankings in the world, is also a leader in the areas of recess and play. As play is a topic we are rather passionate about at DCM, I thought that this would be a good opportunity to share with you a “classic” Ted Talk by Stuart Brown who presented an interesting perspective on play. In this talk he covers everything from the neuroscience of play to play behaviors of animals. Around 18 minutes into this talk he focuses in on a course he developed with a group at Stanford University called “From Play to Innovation.” The course he describes, was designed to investigate the human state of play and its importance to creative thinking: “to explore play behavior, its development and its biological basis; to apply those principles, through design thinking, to promote innovation in the corporate world.” This aspect of the talk I feel nicely compliments what we hope to foster in our visitors. We strive to present our visitors with experiences that will develop a lifetime of creative thinking and a playful disposition that will benefit them in both their personal and professional lives.

What are your thoughts on recess? How do you, as an adult, value play in your life? What about the incorporation of play into the workplace? I encourage you to listen to this NPR story, watch this Ted Talk and let us know your perspective.

Click here to listen to the NPR story