Play and its characteristics
There are 5 main characteristics of human play(1):
✅ it is self-selected and self-directed;
✅ it is intrinsically motivated;
✅ it is guided by rules, but these leave room for creativity;
✅ it is imaginative;
✅ it takes place in an active, dynamic, non-stressful mood.
When we talk about what “play” means, we can define it as “a set of voluntary, intrinsically motivated activities associated with leisure, pleasure and enjoyment"(2).
As a free activity, 7 defining aspects of play have been identified(3):
Exercise for the sake of exercise and not necessarily to achieve something as a result.
It is intrinsically attractive because it is fun, it makes us feel good, it relieves boredom.
We detach ourselves from every thought, every worry, it does not matter what others think of us, we immerse ourselves completely in the activity (Maslow called it Peak Experience, Csikszentmihalyi called it Flow).
The practice of play does not cancel the need, but increases it each time.
It has no element of obligation, in fact, the introduction of obligation results in the loss of the aspect of play.
Its exercise causes the loss of the feeling that time is passing, it expresses a kind of escape from all other constraints.
The ability to adapt flow, to create, to imagine, to discover another facet of things.
Regardless of whether we are talking about children, adolescents or adults, these elements are fundamental and general and can be found in any form of play. "Play is an irreplaceable lesson for life and a constant source of exhilaration"(4) and leads us in adult education to the moment when we can bring play into work, but also into learning, leaving aside the preconceptions according to which it is rejected(5).