Play, play, play, play. Play is an endless array of activities that spark joy, happiness, friendship, you name it. Play is something that never ends in everyone’s lives and has been a part of everyone since birth. When a child is born, the parent talks to the child, plays with the child. and does what they can to start off their journey of learning. As the child continues to grow, they are introduced to more of life and the playful, fun things it has to offer. As one matures. play changes. It’s not like the coloring books, or sandboxes like kids use. It becomes something else. Play becomes whatever you want it to be. Play can be a hangout with a friend, a book, a movie, or even a video game.
“My childhood was a wonderful experience filled with many play dates. We played with Play-Doh, bubbles, dolls, and many other things. When I become a parent, I’d like to make my children’s childhood memorable and when they become older, they’ll have a wave of nostalgia when they see their toys.”
Reading is one of the most important and best ways of learning. A good book can suck you in and put you on a journey that you’d never dream of. Reading is a form of play that wouldn’t come to mind at first thought. When you dig deeper, reading is form of play that many kids have experienced. The different characters and places make you imagine that you are in the story, experiencing the same things the character does. One book I remember well was The Magic Pickle. It’s a story about military experiment gone wrong, giving a pickle the power of levitation, a consciousness, and magic powers. He goes on missions to destroy the evil vegetables in the world and it was a story that made me feel like I was in the story as well. It was my way of playing and learning at the same time.
There are no limitations or rules to how someone should play. When rules are introduced, play can become restricted and it isn’t really a game anymore. For example, there are rules in a game of checkers. Checkers is a game of strategy, and there are many ways someone can play. In the professional field, people memorize strategies and turns the game into a force of habit, dissipating the fun, exciting part of the game. Free the rules. Play games your way, a way that doesn’t have to follow the rules of the game.
A big part of my life is video games. Video games are my main form of play, and it is something I can experience with people anywhere around the world, through the magic of online. A good example of making play however you want is the well-known game of Minecraft. Minecraft is a game by Mojang and is an adventure game in a world of blocks. The main and original way to play Minecraft was a survival world. The player starts off with nothing and eventually gains items as he progresses in the world. It is a very creative game, and the player can build anything they want. Through people’s creativity, people were able to turn Minecraft into something completely different. People craeted mods, which are add-ons to the game that can completely change it from the original game. A dinosaur mod can turn a once dinosaur-less Minecraft world into Jurassic Park. Through the making of multiplayer servers, people and creators have created mini-games. One popular minigame is survival games, which is a spin-off of the movie/book The Hunger Games. The idea of a free for all battle, where people find items in a dome and fight for last person standing was implemented into the block-like adventure game of Minecraft. Play will never cease to exist and will continue to grow as long as creativity survives.
It sounds like play couldn’t get any better huh? Well it can! Playing with a close group of friends is one of the best experiences in the world and is something money cannot buy. CSGO, a competitive shooter game, is a game that I currently play with my friends. We jump on a call and just start playing. The sounds of laughter and screaming can be heard around the house and it just makes you want to smile hearing it. Something I believe is that you’re not really having fun unless the other side of you comes out. The wild, unchained energy that sprouts when having fun through the magic of playing.