Play

Brain cancer is...

...thinking about play.

 Some days all signs point in one direction.  That's today!  Play!


My grad students are conducting case studies, wherein they explore questions related to learning as they work with a child "learning partner."  Many of my students are very interested in learning through play.

After grading their work, I walked out from the office  into the kitchen to discover this frolicking crowd:

 And and also the dino brigade:

Summer is working on her Master's degree and license in counseling.  She had just conducted a practice play therapy session.  (Thanks to her willing play partner!)

Then Darrell and I walked at Craig Park.  We saw this:

However, many other people at the park were pointing their smart devices at Pokemon that only they could see, thanks to the wildly popular, newly released augmented reality game, Pokemon Go.

Of course all four of our kids are loving it already.  Zachary showed us his avatar in our house.  Twankles at home looks like this:

With all signs pointing toward play, I went back to my scholarly source:
Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul .  Sure enough, according to the text:

"Play is essential to our social skills, adaptability, intelligence, creativity, ability to problem solve and more. Particularly in tough times, we need to play more than ever, as it's the very means by which we prepare for the unexpected, search out new solutions, and remain optimistic."

 Ready? PLAY!