Problem Solving Play Examples

Problem solving play examples isn’t just for kids! It is a very practical and fun way to find answers to many dilemmas for any age!

First, let’s start with children and play. According to the Institutes of Health, here are ten benefits of play.

Based on that research here are ten reasons why you should make play a part of your everyday life.

• Play Strengthens You.
• Play Makes You Smarter.
• Play Helps You Solve Problems.
• Play Boosts Creativity.
• Play Reduces Stress.
• Play Helps You Make Friends.
• Play Enhances Attractiveness.
• Play Builds Resilience.

As kids get older, there should be activities within a classroom or a home environment which foster the freedom that play allows. With the pressures of more required testing by schools, it makes the concept of play all the more important. Plenty of recess, physical education, art and music as well as hands on lab “work” can actually help build intelligence, potentially raising scores in a more fun, efficient and humane way. It is easy to see that play can enhance problem solving abilities.

Adults at Play Enhances Solving Problems

We should welcome play, even as adults. Anything that puts a little joy and levity into our activities can benefit us as well. Of course as someone into the arts, I recognize that creating an artwork can be a welcome way to play. In thinking of music, it is no accident that it is called “playing” an instrument! There is always playing sports or playing a game. Going for a walk and examining nature’s treasures of floral, fauna and minerals is something all ages enjoy. Simply give yourself permission to have fun!

I was intrigued to hear that several famous people would hold walking meetings: Aristotle, Sigmund Freud, Steve Jobs, Harry S. Truman, and Charles Dickens. See: https://blog.ted.com/walking-meetings-5-surprising-thinkers-who-swore-by-them/ Since these successful people found the movement of walking to be to their advantage, it must be a good practice. Their problem solving must have been enhanced or they wouldn’t have walked while meeting. Obviously if one must have meetings, this would be a nourishing way to keep everyone alert and awake, refreshed and revitalized, inspired and intrigued.

Why We Should Play

This next resource should really be a wake up call to include and promote free play for all ages. There can actually be catastrophic results by withholding the need to play. Here is a highlighted part from the following resource: https://www.playcore.com/news/rough-and-tumble-play-is-it-necessary-part-2. In a study, an incarcerated male as well as the other “homicidal males had NOT engaged in normal rough and tumble play.” Quite unfortunately, these jailed individuals missed the opportunity for free play during childhood.

The art teacher in me will not allow me to close this writing without these two posts: Invitation to Creativity and Psychological Benefits of Art!

Now, take a hike. Play a game. Dance your dance. Toot your horn. Pen a poem. Paint a picture. Pound the piano. Whatever you do, make certain to have lots of fun problem solving while you play!