The Importance of Play in Education | David Groth | TEDxCoeurdalene

[Slushkin]

He was my 5th grade teacher, learned everthing I know from him. You are the greatest ever Mr. Groth!

[tamara]

*Why Adults Should Play*

Playing is a very important means for development. When we play, we develop new relationships and connections.

While it is common knowledge that children need to play in order to develop, which is why we buy them games and put a lot of effort into working out the most suitable games for each stage of their development, it is not so clear with us adults. We do not really like to play. Our relations end up quickly deteriorating into each one of us degrading the other, which ends our playing.

As a result, we miss out on a lot of what we can get out of life. We fail to examine all of our options for development as adults, and we thus put a halt to our further development.

We have turned our daily lives into a prison of sorts. That is, we need to look, behave and talk in certain kinds of ways—and only in those certain kinds of ways—otherwise, we will not fit in with others and gain their respect. Without their respect, we get treated in ways that harm us. We suffer from living in such a prison, but it has become so ingrained into our lives that we cannot escape from it.

The essence of our playing as adults should be that we treat each other positively even if we do not feel like it, and to teach others to do the same. Playing in such a way would emulate the higher state of positive connection that nature is developing us toward, and we would thus draw positive forces of connection that dwell in nature into our relations, and start feeling happier, more confident, and that our lives are purpose-driven.