Go Wild: International Day of Play

Yesterday, Thursday 11 June, was the International Day of Play. The theme for this year is "Protect play, protect childhood."

I love this, and it makes me feel sad. We are at the point in our world today of needing to protect childhood by promoting the one thing that is supposed to be synonmous with children: Play.

Less and less children play as they are designed to; that is in unstructured, spontaneous and explorative ways and with a lot of outdoor play.

More and more children spend time predominantly indoors on screens and this is severely hampering the growth of skills they would usually acquire through face to face, physical play. Play is not only about skills and learning, it is also exceptionally regulating.

From a nervous system perspective, play is often a blended state - you might be energised and mobilised (like running around in a football game), while also feeling safe, connected, and socially engaged. This mix of sympathetic and parasympathetic activation helps build nervous system flexibility and resilience, because you’re teaching your body that a little stress can be safe and manageable. Lauren Baird. Psychotherapist.

From a nervous system perspective, adults today desperately need play too! Play takes us out of our heads and into our bodies. Movement is regulating, literally moving our body in some ways helps to process and metabolise stress and 'stuckness'. Going for a walk doesn't solve your problems, but it goes a long way to clearing your head. Movement helps activate all the yummy feel-good chemicals in our bodies that help boost our mood, giving us energy and appetite for life. When we play with others, we multiply the feel-good chemicals and increase a sense of connection and co-regulation, that sense that we're together in this.

In mid-May I started a couch to 5km running program with a group of strangers. We're a month in and the sense of togetherness and accomplishment is lovely. We still don't all know each other's names, but we all recognise one another's faces, greet one another and talk about how our bodies' are coping, encourage one another and flow in and out of talking during our times together. There are so many great "hits" on my nervous system with this one activity during my week.

I started talking about protecting childhood by protecting play for children and now I'm talking about adults. It's intentional.

Here's my hypothesis; If adults play more, then so will children. And childhoods will be saved!

Play is regulating for all of us; big and small.

So here's my fun challenge for the weekend; Go Wild! Being outdoors in natural spaces is incredibly calming and soothing for us. Find a space in the great outdoors this weekend to spend some time. Sunlight on your face, bare feet on earth, hug a tree, dig in the sand...ahhh. That's putting a smile on my face already!

Dean Hall BioWild Psychology - a psychologist discovers for himself and then shares with others the powerful positive effect being in nature has on the nervous system. And my goodness, if you want to read his story, here is a link to a news article interview.

Coming Soon!

I'm thrilled to be using Midlands Expressive Art Studio's space to host two journalling workshops in the school holidays! What a beautiful space in nature to delve into journalling. Two options; Intro to journalling and the Parent-Child journalling workshop.

You can find out more here.

You can find out more here.