What would it be like in a world without play?
Wouldn’t it be boring, dull, dark, and gray?
What would we see when we looked around?
No shapes, patterns, nor colors would be found?
There wouldn’t be any grief or any sorrow.
There wouldn’t be any hope for tomorrow.
No hobbies, no interests, there’d be no joy.
No games or toys, for adults, girls and boys.
No curiosity or wonder, no where to wander.
There wouldn’t be anything for us to ponder.
No creativity and no imagination.
No inventions, nor great explorations.
No books to read or stories to write.
Would we even have both day and night?
In a world without play, what would happen to all of creation?
Wouldn’t we lose all of our sensation?
Wouldn’t we lose all of our emotions?
And what would happen to all of Earth’s oceans?
What would happen to all creatures, both big and small?
Wouldn’t all of nature just crumble and fall?
Would we be able to see, hear, taste, smell, and feel?
How would we know what could or could not be real?
We would have no knowing, no intuition.
No sense of belonging, no connection, or even religion.
No beliefs, philosophy, or any spirituality.
We wouldn’t even have any sexuality.
We would not be fully conscious,
Have no awareness to fully process.
What would happen inside of our brain?
Wouldn’t we all just go insane?
Howard Gardner, Mildred Parton and B.F. Skinner,
Erick and Joan Erickson, and Bronfenbrenner,
John Dewey, Vygotsky, and Jean Piaget,
What would they all have to say?
“The Father of Kindergarten,” Friedrich Froebel,
Most likely would say that we live in Hell.
Malaguzzi, Gerber, Steiner, and Montessori,
What would happen to all of their theories?
Has anyone read or listened to Dr. Peter Gray?
What would he think of a world without play?
Or what about Einstein, Freud, or Carl Jung,
Doctors Stuart Brown, Walter Drew, or Sir Kenneth Robinson?
Without any of these many theories,
Where would they, or all of us be?
Would there even be any education?
Would we have any communication?
Play isn’t measured on standardized tests,
But play is how we all learn the best.
In a world without play, there’d be no careers.
From physicians, lawyers, construction, and all engineers,
To teachers and healers, artists and musicians,
Even military, government, good and bad politicians.
We need to shout it out loud, for all to hear.
“Play is nothing that we need to fear.”
Millions have talked and wrote about play.
It’s not something that will just go away.
From doctors, professors, and scholars,
To many theorists and philosophers,
Even spiritual leaders, mystics, and seers.
There are so many play pioneers.
Our children are here to remind,
That play can be so easy to find.
Look within and let out your inner child
To find strength, calm, and your wild.
Play is structured in our DNA.
It’s innate, it’s natural, for us to play.
It’s part of our spiritual and human design.
To move, dance, love, and to explore our mind.
It is definitely time to shift the play paradigm.
Play is the revolution.
Play is part of the solution.
Play is part of our evolution.
In play, we find our purpose, passion, our role.
That is our meaning, that is our goal.
It’s not possible to have a world without play.
This is what drives us each day.
Play is for all of us, from birth to old age.
We need play in order to survive.
We need it in order to thrive.
Play is what helps us all feel alive.
Play is for learning, our health and well-being.
Play is what gives our lives full of meaning.
So, you see, play is something that we cannot resist.
Because, in a world without play we wouldn’t exist…
The Owl’s Nest 