PlayGrounding

For some of us adults, the kind of play we remember as kids doesn't exist anymore in many communities across America. It's a specific kind of play called "free play." When I was a kid, I remember running out into the neighborhood after school. I organically discovered and teamed up with the kids that lived nearby even if they were older or younger than me, girls or boys. We came together to play, to find things and make stuff. We had fights and made up. We made up games, put on performances, played pretend and dress-up.

So what's so important about this kind of play? And what does it mean for kids who don't get to experience it? What about us adults? Is something really missing from our lives? That's what we're going to dig into today with my new friend and our guest, Pat Rumbaugh, a.k.a. "The Play Lady."

Pat Rumbaugh is co-founder of Let's Play America and is affectionately known by many as The Play Lady. She founded the organization TakomaPlays! in Takoma Park, Maryland, in March 2009. TakomaPlays! is now part of Let's Play America.

"When I play, I am happy, energized and enthusiastic, and I feel like I can take on the world," says Pat, who is a passionate play advocate and encourages people of all ages to experience the benefits of playing.

Pat was a physical education teacher and coach at the Washington International School for more than 25 years. In 2009, she was named "All-Met Girls Tennis Coach of the Year" by the Washington Post.

In today's show, Pat will explain how free play allows kids to figure things out for themselves - to engage their peers without the obvious presence of an authority figure. She'll talk about how kids learn resilience through free play and are given the opportunity to make their own decisions and explore their creativity without pre-specified outcomes or boundaries.

You'll also learn about initiatives she's involved with that intentionally give children access to free play, even in today's world of increased concerns around child safety.

If you're thinking this show isn't for you because it's about kids, not adults, just remember: whatever is true about play for children is true for adults. Most of us don't experience free play in our grownup lives either. What is the lack of this magical, free time doing to us? Something to reflect on as you listen, and we'll keep looking for answers here on PlayGrouding.

Show Links:

• Visit the Let's Play America Website
• Watch Pat's TEDx Talk, "Saving Play - One Playful Step at a Time"

Lack of play is a serious problem for us humans. Play geeks like me call it "play suppression." In the worst cases, studies have shown that children who are kept from playing by their parents tend to have a hard time learning to relate to others and deal with their violent tendencies, leading to some of history's saddest violent acts.

Even those of us who did play as children but gave it up in adulthood suffer the effects of play suppression. One study that has sparked my interest in relation to this topic is called the Rat Park study. That's why I've been looking forward to this conversation with Stuart McMillen for so long.

Stuart McMillen is a cartoonist based in Canberra, Australia. Stuart draws long-form comics inspired by social issues involving science, ecology, sustainability, psychology and economics. His comics are currently translated into 9 languages, with the help of an enthusiastic international team of volunteers. In the podcast, Stuart refers to his work as science communication comics. He takes complex studies and subjects, spends vast amounts of time researching them then breaks them down for us laypeople in the form of a comic.

In this episode, we'll talk about two studies that relate to addiction and isolation, Rat Park and Deviance in the Dark. They shine a light on the importance of community, intimacy and of course, play. After we discuss the basics of these studies, we launch into a conversation that, if you like this podcast at all, will be one you won't want to miss. It's at the very heart of why I'm so passionate about helping adults realize the vital importance of play.

Enjoy!

• Visit Stuart McMillan's website
• Read Stuart's Rat Park Comic
• Read Stuart's Deviance in the Dark comic
• Check out Bruce Alexander's book, The Globalization of Addiction
• Read Stuart's reflections on his research and the "making of" the Rat Park Comic
  • A bustle in the cage-row: the making of Rat Park
  • Globalization of Addiction: the post-Rat Park research of Bruce Alexander
  • My Drug Period
• Watch the video of Stuart's personal reflection on "connection" at Sunday Assembly

Have you ever started a passion project only to find it suddenly feels like work? And not the fulfilling kind of work either – just plain, to-do list work. It's not easy to rediscover the spark that led you to start your project, but one way to achieve that is to revisit the reasons we got started in the first place. Maybe you've changed and grown? If the project hasn't grown with you, maybe it's not the right project for you anymore? Or maybe our discomfort with it is a growing pain – maybe it's time to start thinking about how your project can change and grow as you do.

In this episode you'll meet Chris Kim, the podcaster responsible for the awesome storytelling show about the great city of Las Vegas called Faces and Aces. Their show is "our love letter to the city and the people who work in it." I was just recently interviewed for his show which sparked a larger conversation offline about this very topic - so I asked him if we could share that conversation on here on the PlayGrounding Podcast.

Chris and I are both coming back from a bit of a hiatus from our shows – for me it's been a month and for him, he's been away from podcasting for about six months. We've both come back to our podcasts after some deep soul searching and decided to move forward – we've found motivation to keep our projects fresh and fun. And while this particular conversation is about podcasting, it can apply to any project you started out of pure passion, curiosity and fun that has begun to feel like a little too much. Don't give up quite yet. Start asking yourself the right questions so that whether you decide to lay it down or not, you know you're doing it because it's what you really, really want.

Show Links:

• Check out Chris Kim's podcast, Faces and Aces Las Vegas!

He hasn't been on vacation in years, but if he did, he'd miss what he does every day too much. There's still so much to create.

Bruce Gray is a prolific artist whose work has been exhibited worldwide, has appeared in over 45 books and countless times on television, in movies, and in the press. And yes, that was his magnetic sculpture you saw in Doctor Evil's lair from the movie, Austin Powers (One of my personal favorites). Being in his shop is like a trip down the rabbit hole with giant robots, metal paper planes, alligator tables and giant pieces of cheese. And that's just the start.

Before he took the plunge and became the artist he is today, Bruce had some fascinating adventures such as a stint in the military serving in the isolated, hauntingly beautiful Aleutian Islands. Each step he took brought him closer to realizing that his true calling was to become that kid in shop class who gets to dream big, take chances and build amazing things with his hands.

Bruce works in a wide range of styles and mediums which include abstract painting, functional art, giant objects, abstract and figurative sculptures, found object assemblages, and various forms of kinetic art including mobiles, rolling ball machines, suspended magnet sculptures, and more. Hear his story and how he's managed to create a life of play - every day.

Show Links:

• Visit Bruce Gray's website
• Check out the magnetic sculpture he describes in the interview
• Check out the 5-minute video, An Afternoon with Bruce Gray from the USC School of Cinematic Arts

Kids love to play make-believe. When we talk about bringing back play as adults, this one seems like a stretch. Adults don't play make believe, do we? Grownups don't get together and announce that today we're going to play Star Wars and you get to be Luke. Or do they? This week's guest reminds us that the imaginative play that we engaged in as children gave us access to tools we can use throughout our entire lives. Imaginative play provides us with the opportunity to be agile and creative in our thinking – to see new paths, new scripts to follow when we start to feel stuck.

If you're tired of carrying around that weight - of trying to meet everyone's expectations and following the very serious grownup path we're all supposed to, I invite you to meet Tony Perone, Ph.D., a lecturer at University of Washington, Tacoma. His incredibly lucky students have the opportunity to see what it's like to peel back that layer of expectation and write new "scripts" for our usual mundane daily interactions. Even our conversation is playful and fun

Here's an excerpt from Tony's profile on the University of Washington website:

"I examine the self-reported meanings, presence and developmental and educational benefits of life-span imaginative play in the lives of adults. I interview adults about their imaginative play: their meanings of the words "imagination" and "play," their self-reported engagement in imaginative play in their early childhood, elementary school years, adolescence and adulthood, its relationship with community practices and beliefs and their stance on how their imaginative play has helped them learn and develop. In addition, their experiences with imaginative play in their formal learning environments are discussed as well as their suggestions for the inclusion of imaginative play in formal schooling.

"I am a part of a larger international performance movement that draws upon and creates scholarship in psychology and the arts to support the presence and importance of play and performance across the lifespan. Members of this movement include urban, suburban, and rural youth, academics and practitioners such as teaching artists, therapists and community organizers. We believe in the presence and potential of play and performance, broadly construed and create practical performance opportunities for development across the lifespan to effect more humane, just and inclusive environments."

So get ready to start thinking in some new ways – throw out your expectations and get ready for some serious fun.

Links:

• Learn more about Tony Perone, Ph.D. and his playful research on his UW Tacoma profile page
• Freakonomics Podcast Episode with Trevor Noah
• Improv Everywhere
• Performing the World Conference
• Eastside Institute

We know that a playful approach to life can lead to better innovations, cooperation and even transform lives. But what about when disaster strikes? Does play still have a role? Desiree Matel-Anderson has proof that play is vitally important even when facing harrowing situations like floods, tornadoes and other types of crises.

In this interview, she shares how a Robot Petting Zoo helped the unaccompanied minors stranded in Texas border towns during the youth border crisis in 2013 – 2015. She talks about her team's fascinating uses for drones and how they're working with a town in Canada to gamify emergency prep – and it really IS a game. It sounds like these people are having an awful lot of fun. (Has anyone seen that mayor?)

Desiree (Desi) Matel-Anderson is the "Chief Wrangler" of the not-for-profit organization Field Innovation Team (FIT) and CEO of the Global Disaster Innovation Group, LLC. Ms. Matel-Anderson is the first and former Chief Innovation Advisor at FEMA and Think Tank Strategic Vision Coordinator. During her tenure at FEMA, she led the first innovation team down to Hurricane Sandy to provide real-time problem solving in disaster response and recovery. She also ran think tanks nation-wide to cultivate innovation in communities, which have historically trended globally on social media during the broadcasts. The Field Innovation Team has deployed to several disasters including, the Boston Marathon Bombings assisting at the scene with social media analysis, Moore, Oklahoma tornadoes for continued mobile registration and coding solutions, Philippines Typhoon Haiyan for cellular connectivity heat maps and the Oso, Washington Mudslides with unmanned aerial system flights and a 3d print of the topography for incident command. During the Nepal earthquakes, she led the team to work with Nepali women leaders in the earthquake relief efforts, which included rebuild, mobilizing survivors to assist in recovery efforts and empowerment trainings. Currently, her efforts are focused on the Syrian Refugee Crisis with team deployed to Beirut, Lebanon and virtual support in Turkey and Syria.

Desi began her emergency management experience by volunteering in Northern Illinois University's Office of Emergency Planning followed by working with the Southeast Wisconsin Urban Area Security Initiative, and the City of Milwaukee Homeland Security and Emergency Management Office. In addition to her regional emergency management duties, she worked as an assessor of the Emergency Management Accreditation Program Assessor nation-wide, which included assessing the City of Boston's emergency management services prior to the tragic Boston Marathon bombings. She has also worked on numerous innovative projects with agencies, communities, organizations and companies throughout her career. Desi also lectures on innovation at Harvard and various universities across the country and serves as consultant for agencies and governments, nationally and internationally, on innovative practices and infrastructure.

Desi attended the National Preparedness Leadership Institute at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and School of Public Health in 2011, advised on Harvard's Executive Education on National Preparedness Leadership Institute Advisory Board in 2013 and obtained a Juris Doctorate from Northern Illinois University in 2009.

Show Links:

• Visit Field Innovation Team's website
• Like Field Innovation Team on Facebook

The US Play Coalition believes that everyone in the world should have equal access to all forms of play. Play is a basic need that provides the foundation for all areas of development. It's an essential part of being human that helps us reach our full potential. But that's still not a very mainstream view. Play is just beginning to move beyond the perception that it's a fluffy "nice to have." That's why play needs a voice. One of them is the US Play Coalition.

The US Play Coalition is a collection of many voices - it's a deep well of knowledge around the subject of play. On their website, you can find research, publications, events and educational resources. They hold an annual conference in April. This year the theme is "The Value of Play: Where Design Meets Play."

I'm honored to have recently become a Play Ambassador for them and that happened when I met Ryan Fahey. Ryan's role at the US Play Coalition includes connecting with play ambassadors (which now includes me!), engaging them within the play ambassador network and promoting the US Play Coalition annual conference through social media. He also co-created #WePlayChat with the US Play Coalition, a professional learning opportunity which connects play advocates from across the globe to share a voice for the value of play on twitter.

Ryan is a firm believer in wellness and play being key aspects of a happy, healthy life. His passions include running, weight lifting and playing badminton. He believes that wellness is not a destination, rather it is a journey navigated daily through intentional actions which take you from a good life, to your best life!

Show Links:

• Visit the US Play Coalition Website
• Dr. Stuart Brown's TED talk, Play is More Than Just Fun
• Conference registration – early bird through February 15, 2017
• Follow Ryan Fahey on Twitter and join the monthly #WePlayChat

The fun of a Rube Goldberg machine is watching a task, one that should be simple, being performed through a drawn-out series of seemingly meaningless detours. But we hate detours, right? Not always. This interview with Brett Doar, I hope, will challenge how you look at finding your "path" to success, to contentment, to your goals, whatever they are. (Hint: Play plays a pretty big role).

Brett Doar is a multi-disciplinary artist known for his work building Rube Goldberg machines and other types of interactive and kinetic devices. You might have seen his work in the OK Go This Too Shall Pass video from a few years back. He and his team have also brought these, what he likes to call "Chain reaction machines" to live stages at places like such as The Colbert Report, Google IO and SO many more. He holds an MFA from the Arts, Computation and Engineering program at UC Irvine. But really, what's most important to us, he's capable of building ANYTHING out of paperclips.

His background includes working as a commercial fisherman, a bus driver, a film and video editor, and teacher (preschool, middle school, and university level). His work has received press in NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Village Voice, PC Magazine, CNN, Rolling Stone, and the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and Comedy Central.

Show Links:

• Visit Brett Doar's website to see more of his work
• OK Go's This Too Shall Pass music video
• Brett's machine opening an episode of The Colbert Report
• The Book of Henry - Opening June 2017

Ilana Ben-Ari's startup, Twenty One Toys, is part of a revolution. A toy revolution. On their website they ask: "Our revolution demands answers: Where are creativity, play, teamwork and empathy in our classrooms, our boardrooms or the public square? More importantly, how do we teach these critical skills?"

In school we learn to compete, to win, to make the highest marks and try to become the best. But how do we teach future generations – and even our own generations in the workplaces and political discussions we engage in right now – the skills we desperately need to thrive in the 21st century? How do we teach things like empathy, creativity and how to handle failure? Ilana's answer - with toys of course!

Ilana Ben-Ari is a multiple-award winning industrial designer, TEDx speaker, and Ariane de Rothschild Fellow. She has been featured in the Guardian UK, was Independent UK's small business person of the week, and winner of C2MTL's emerging entrepreneur award. She has been working at the intersection of design and social innovation for over 7 years at studios in Montreal, Helsinki, London, and, most recently Toronto, Ontario.

Ilana is best known as the founder, CEO and lead designer of her first startup - Twenty One Toys. She transformed her thesis project into the company's first product, The Empathy Toy. Originally designed for visually impaired students and their sighted classmates, it is now used as a tool to teach Empathy to anyone and everyone. Already in 43 countries, over 1000 schools, 30 post-secondary institutions, 100 offices, and even 3 MBA programs, it was featured in TIME magazine as "one of six new technologies shaping classrooms of the future."

Show Notes & Links:

• Ilana Ben-Ari's website
• Ilana on Twitter @IlanaBenAri
• The Twenty One Toys Website
• The Empathy Toy Website
• [VIDEO] Ilana's TEDx Talk
• [VIDEO] Ilana's Creative Mornings talk, School is a Poorly Designed Game
• Ilana's Medium Blog Post – These aren't my pants and other ways I'm bootstrapping my way to the top.

Science tells us how important play is for kids – for the development of their minds and ability to adapt. But what about adults? Once we reach the age of adulthood, and often even in the midst of adolescence, play is left behind. Ben Ross (a.k.a. The Flying Raccoon) passionately believes that this can't be right. His mission is to reintegrate Play into the lives of all adults to "grow their ability to let go; to gain a calmer outlook and become more able to respond positively to the events that life throws at us."

In this episode, Ben shares about steps we adults can take to reclaim play unapologetically. He talks about how we can start reintroducing play into our day-to-day experiences and begin to recognize and expand on the types of play we're most drawn to. We explore the connection between play and mindfulness, as well as how we can only be really good at the work we do when we learn to play.

• "To the Burning Man Community Regarding the Oakland Fire" from the Burning Man Journal

Today's Guest - Ben Ross

• Ben's website, The Flying Raccoon
• Follow Ben on Twitter @flyraccoonfly
• Learn about Ben's play coaching for adults

Ben's Inspirational Trip to Big Sur

• The Esalen Institute
• Lissa Rankin

Some Organizations to Help You Rediscover Play

• School of Play
• Morning Gloryville
• Antidote and a Playful Escape Festival
• Project Awesome
• November Project