Does play make you relaxed

The Finnish playground manufacturer Lappset promotes playgrounds for adults in their website (btw, playground in Finnish is leikkialue and children “lapset”). According to their websites, “the world of adults is all about performance, scoring, setting targets. Play can offer an alternative where adults can express themselves and relax.”

I disagree here – adults do play. We play football, floorball, soccer, hockey, golf and so on. The play of adults is usually s called “hobby”, and the meaning of all these hobbies is tha same as mentioned above: to relax and do something else than what we do in everyday life, which usually means work.

The element of scoring is present in these adult plays called hobbies. We want to beat another team, our competitor in game, or our own ranking. We do want to score, even if we say that it is “just a play”. When looking at inter-company games where not-so-fitty adults are running after any ball, stress-free is not the word that comes first in mind. I do not even know how well the players are able to express themselves, if we do not take into account that they are not wearing their everyday suit but shorts and t-shirts instead.

Roger Caillois was a French intellectual, who in his work discussed widely about the meaning of the play. In his book “Man, Play and Games” he defines the play by six core characteristics: Play is not obligatory and it is separate from the routine of life; the results of play cannot be pre-determined and so that the player's initiative is involved; it is unproductive; it is governed by rules that suspend ordinary laws and must be followed by players; and that it involves make-believe that confirms in players the existence of imagined realities that may be set against 'real life'.

There have been critiques towards Caillois similar than mine above: in the western society, everything is more or less subordinated to the social pressure and we do think what the right ways to use your time are. But Caillois’ definition does provide an interesting connection between play and the relaxation. In Caillois’s definition the idea of escapism is obviously present – and escapism is strongly connected with relaxation.

So maybe scoring is related to relaxation, after all, but not so straightforwardly than presented above. And in any case, the play does not start from game or playground – it starts from the attitude. We adults adore children’s ability to surrender oneself to game; we admire the way children can make up stories and play almost out of nowhere. This attitude is something to look for, whatever its presentation might be.

Playground in shopping centre

In a good old times some more advantageous shopping malls had children’s play room in some dark corner, where adults were able to drop their children while they were shopping. In modern malls the playground (in Finnish, leikkialue) is located in the middle, and surrounded with benches for adults to watch and rest.

One of these indoor playgrounds can be found from Örebo, Sweden. There the playground is truly located in the middle of the shopping mall. The entrance is made easy as there are no walls or entrance fee – anyone can come and join fun. In this busy environment, the simple forms and striking colors of playground equipments attract passersby eyes, and encourage them to participate.

In this case the playground environment is by Smartus concept, which is totally new way to approach the playgrounds. Smartus is digiplay concept created by Finnish playground manufacturer Lappset, which uses digital environment for deepening the play experience. This playground for the 21st century combines modern technology with playground equipment and turns play environments into a network. As any other playground, Smartus encourages users to exercise, play together and succeed together, but with the aim of the technology the players do not even need to be in the same space.

But it does not have to be the latest technological invention of the playgrounds to attract visitors! To have public playground in indoor area is a great idea at least in northern countries, where the weather can be nasty sometimes. It will not replace the good effects of being outdoors, but definitely physical exercise and play are better than just sitting indoors and watch television.

Shopping malls are ideal places for indoor playgrounds as the mall provides the basic functions already. In malls, there are already good air conditioning systems and public toilets; there are services like restaurants around; and people come to malls to spend their free time, so there are no need to seduce them to come over.

Malls providing the possibility to physical exercise have understood that providing free services like this do serve the public and individual good. Obvious is that they want to attract families to spend more time in their mall – but this way to spend time is probably much healthier than traditional hanging around.

Get teenagers out and play!

The old stereotype is about a teenager who sits inside and plays video games or watches TV, with his parents complaining “go out and play”. There might be a true reason behind this action, as the studies have shown that obesity in teen ages brings the same risks as heavy smoking.

Some playground manufacturers like Lappset have realized this need and designed their own playground equipments for teenagers (playground in Finnish leikkialue). Their series of playground equipments for teenagers include rougher looking climbing nets and frames, that are made from hot-dip galvanised thin-walled tubes and steel, and no bright color are used like in kids’ park.

This is actually following the first rule of teenager playground design. As being the teenager is rebelling against being a child, this has to be taken into account when designing playground areas for teens. The playground must set them apart from the younger ones in order to please this target group.

The nature of play changes also when growing to teenager years. Playgrounds for teenagers should focus more on exercise. As for younger children playing is learning, for these more adult ones playing is more physical and competitive by its nature.

The ideal playground offers the possibilities for sport and socializing, and it should nurture the need of adventure and physical challenge. The area offering wide choice of play different kind of games and do various exercises would be ideal: from football to basketball, climbing areas to just places to hang around and socialize. And the more plentiful the assortment of the games is, more likely there are more teens to gather there!

Play for teenagers is not anymore their work, as it is for younger ones. Play in teenager years is closely linked with the areas of social growth. Playing might provide the way to handle issues that cannot necessarily be put into words, and understand changes in the body through the physical exercises.

Teenager playgrounds are great way to direct the unchangeable energy to in more practical framework. Facilities like this can reduce anti-social behavior and help to prevent teenager crimes.

The importance of play

I never really thought of the reason for all the different playground equipments until now, when I have been spending a lot of time hanging in playgrounds (that is BTW in Finnish leikkialue).

Most of the equipments are still same as in my childhood: swings, carousels, springs, slides, and climbing frames. According to the manufacturers, they are made to develop children’s balance, muscles, spatial awareness and sense of rhythm.

According to the studies it is indeed so. Physical playing develops skills needed for surviving in modern world. These exercises develop the ability to reach and grasp, estimate measures and the power needed to crawl, run or climb. These skills even help them to develop the ability to write.

In his book “The importance of play: Moving and Learning for the Young Child” (1990) C. S. Rogers says that play supports the entire development of a child in all levels: physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally. So not only the physical part is present on play, but also other qualities what are needed for growing up.

As the saying goes, play is a child’s work. Through play, children learn how society works, about their environment and of their own skills. Along with physical exercise, playing gives children the lessons of teamwork skills and other social interaction - like co-operation, taking turns, play by the rules and lead the team - and provides sources for intellectual development. Play develops the creativity and language skills when interacting with others.

And to go even further: positive experiences while play creates positive emotions. That is good for child’s well-being. Play, which is closely connected with imagination, can help child to master their feeling and experiences, even the negative ones. I read somewhere that when children feel secure and safe while play, they acquire important components of positive emotional health.

Playing is not just for the human child while growing up. Other animals play too. So it is not something we, or our age, invented. Play is something built inside us, and it truly has an important meaning for our development.

My playground places

Lately I have been introduced to a place I haven’t visited for a long time: the playground (in Finnish, leikkialue). The reason is the most common one any adult visits in this place, but this is not about cute and clever child. This is about my relationship with the playground.

As hard as I try I cannot remember, when I was taken to play in the playground for the first time. I was probably quite young, as we lived in a suburb where there were lots of playgrounds placed around the area. The kindergarten I went to had one as well: there were swings, carousels, springs shaped as horses, slides, sandboxes, and climbing frames, many of each as the suburb was new and kindergarten full of children. I can remember my favorite equipment, which was some kind of mix between swing and spring, and would probably be banned today as being too dangerous. Then again I cannot remember the games we played; I just remember that we played.

When reaching the teenager years, we local teenage rebels had a habit of gathering at the local playground after dusk. At those days we didn’t play with the equipments anymore, if you do not count the coincident swinging while sitting on the swing and chatting to each others. We were there to spend some quality time with our fellow rebel teenagers.

I find it very symbolic that after our childhood we teenager gathered in the playground. The location was familiar to all of us, as we had played there when we all were kids. Maybe the location represented us the safe place to be. It at least gave us the frames to try the games of adults: social intercourse and shy steps of getting to know the other sex. After a while, we were ready for discos and bars and the days spent in playgrounds were history.

And here I am again. Something like ten years later, standing next to a sandbox and watching the child play. As history has a habit of repeating itself, the playground I spend time is located in a brand new suburb with lots of kids around. The role of us adults is the same as when we were teenagers: sit and speak, this time usually about the children playing around. And after couple of years from now, my relationship with the playground will break off again, this time maybe forever.

Adults wants to play too!

We tend to think that play is the work of children. The Finnish playground (in Finnish, leikkialue) manufacturer Lappset has taken another approach to the subject matter. They want to encourage adults to play as well – and are even making playgrounds for that!

The idea of Lappset starts from the fact that we adults live busy life, full of performance and scoring. Play could be the alternative to that, action which gives adults the possibility relax and express themselves.

This way of thinking has a lot of potentially in itself. Adult life in first world countries is a continuous search of finding the balance between work and time without work. It is more than common to hear how stressed we are, and about the various ways to unstress ourselves. Why not think of play as the one?

I suppose here the world “play” do not mean playing squash, football, badminton or tennis with crazy look in eyes and eager to win the game in the soul. If I understand right, Lappset means play as playful, kind of a mental stage.

Wiktionary defines play as “liking play, prone to play frequently, such as a child or kitten; rather sportive”. The alternatives are “funny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome”, ”fun, recreational, not serious” and “experimental”, which all kind of sum up what kind of action is this relaxing and stress-free play.

But what good could come up from play, or being playful? Obviously lowering one’s stress level should work positively for everyone’s body. Also, playing is often exercise, and the best way to do that: because of fun, not because we have to. Playing can be the way to spend quality time with children and get some fresh air, if done outside. And last but not least: it is believed that being playful can be the reason your partner is choosing you, as the creative and fun person do not possess the threat to the children or family. And they can be more fun to live with, too!