The Art of Play

Oh the art of play. I first heard the phrase from a Family doctor and running guru Dr. George Sheehan in the 80's.

He stated that evidence was indicating that we as a society was loosing the art of play. We are loosing the ability to interact and creatively build

How important is Play to the learning process? Check out an article on this subject that my wife sent me. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27789613/

In our state robotics competition RoboRAVE we have a motto: "Today's Play for Tomorrow's Play". This program demonstrates that play can be very educational. Robo"RAVE". Robots are very educational. Students play with computer programming, mechanically building drive systems, delivery systems, etc and learn a tremendous amount. At the competitions we will have hundreds of middle and high school students cramped in a high school from 7:30 AM to about 4:00 PM; yet we have no security guards, no administrators to handle discipline referrals, no time out areas. The students are engaged in the learning process because it is play.

What do you think? Are we losing the art of play? Can we learn by playing?