More play on play

I just downloaded & listened to Krista Tippet's interview with Stuart Brown from the National Institute of Play that broadcast on Speaking of Faith last August. Really interesting stuff. As the mom of an almost-three year old boy, this is required listening! The research on the developmental benefits of engaging in unrestricted play are compelling, and the repercussions of denying play are significant and sometimes brutal. Even if one does not turn out to be -- literally -- a murderer (Brown's early research has shown a connection), in order to access playful moments in our adult lives we really need the memory of participating in play as a child. Makes you want to go out and climb the monkey bars ... and lucky me, I get to do this all the time now!

For those of us who are interested in how people perceive technology use by preteens and teens, Brown uses some wonderful language that can be used to show parents the positive aspects of behaviors even when on the surface it might look "dangerous" or "risky."

In this interview Brown and Tippet attempt to connect the dots** between what is happening outside on the playground with what happens inside on the screen (be it TV, computer, video games, etc.), but more can be said on this subject. To his credit, Brown hesitates to make too many assumptions w/r/t what is "good" or "bad" about screen time, however he does highlight interesting discoveries by neuroscientists about the need for body movement in three-dimensional space to activate certain parts of our brain, suggesting that catatonic video gaming is not going be interpreted by the brain as "play" and therefore might not have clear benefits. Perhaps the new breed of active video games, like Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero, touch this sector of our brain better than navigation games like Grand Theft Auto? Just a thought.

More to listen to: Paul Holdengräber from the New York Public Library hosted an evening with Krista Tippet and Stuart Brown on January 29, 2008. They posted an audio transcript, but I haven't listened to it yet.

UPDATED:  additional story about the psychological benefits of old-fashioned play on NPR

** this section of the interview is about 35 min. in on the podcast