1Defining Play

Play, in its simplest terms, begins with asking the question “What if?”

For a child, it’s asking, “What if I stack these blocks as high as I can?” or “What if my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures stomp on the bad guys?”

The idea takes shape in the mind, and the child, in this case, puts it into action and sees where it takes him or her. And therein lies the key.

Play is really nothing more than an idea followed by action where the outcome is not known until the action is taken. Now, you might say that this is like a science experiment, and in a way it is. Experiments, though, are devised out of a desire to prove or disprove a hypothesis. Play, on the other hand, starts not with a hypothesis but an idea inspired in the moment. ...

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