The Link Between Peace and Play

"I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden."
–Ruth Stout

THE LINK BETWEEN PEACE AND PLAY

A United Kingdom organization called Peace through Play (go to contains a most interesting article by Elizabeth Stutz on the link between peace and play. The following is an excerpt.  (To read the entire article, go to http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~estutz/ptpcontent.html.)

"In young children at play one can often detect a quietude and calm, as though they possessed a deep, private and distant existence, which is just beyond the observer's understanding. It emanates a sense of peace. A fragment of this property, which might be defined as childish innocence, stays alive in each individual into maturity, but may remain dormant. Wisdom, and the flashes of intuition and inspiration that occur from time to time throughout life, spring from this same quiet place. This quality in young children, ephemeral as it may appear, is a powerful force, and lies deeply embedded in the psyche. It is culture-based and linked with the world of myth, magic and the imagination.

"Play is its natural expression, and in playing the creative energies are released. These may take the form of singing, dancing, music making, painting, sculpting, building, working in wood or other materials, including water and wind; embroidery, role-play, story telling, poetry, or in many other ways; some original and inventive, some picked up from others. Play and creating are often indistinguishable from each other. This force is refreshed and renewed every time it is used. It gives self-confidence and a certain protection from negative influences. It has the properties of healing, revitalizing, strengthening and calming. The products of our creation are an outward sign of our personality. By creating outwardly our personality is affected inwardly. This means that we are involved in creating the person we become. By using our creative potential, we are able continually to recreate ourselves. Creating is an important source of our inner peace. By creating we are able to contribute to the shared pool of peace that exists in the world."

The Beginnings Workshop teaching training section of Child Care Information Exchange has featured play in several issues. Check these out at...

https://secure.ccie.com/catalog/cciecatalog.php?cPath=23

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