Have you ever felt guilty for playing your favorite video game and having just too much fun?

Well, maybe your mother has told you not to play before finishing your homework. In a way, she has a point. Homework is best done
as soon as possible, so you won’t have to think about it afterward. Anything you’re playing will be much more fun.

Even though playing feels like something you do just for the sake of it, without thinking much about it, did you know it is much more important?

Behavioral scientist Stuart Brown points out that play is much more important than we ever thought. Brown’s initial studies
examined the lives of murderers. He was surprised to find that one striking fact that differentiate murderers he studied from other people was that they did not play enough when they were children.

He also studied the behavior of rats. He noticed that when laboratory rats are given the opportunity to play regularly, they are more likely to find their way out of a maze that had been marked with cat scent. Another group of rats that were not allowed to play at all could not find their way out of the exact same maze. Most of them only stayed in a corner and did not try to do anything. Some of them almost died because they did not move closer to where food was waiting for them. Stuart Brown concluded that free play helped the rats to wire-up their brains to solve problems. Put simply, playing made the rats smarter. Can we say the same for us? Through play, we learn creative ways to do things.

Playing also gives you more energy. Believe it or not, adults need to play too, not just kids. In Brown’s 2009 book, titled of course Play (Penguin, New York), he tells the story of Lynn, a woman who is happily married with children. But she felt something was missing. At first, she was not sure what it was. Then she remembered when she was a girl she had loved horseback riding. Once she decided to go back to riding horses in her spare time, she once again felt her picture is complete. And to her surprise, she felt more energetic than before to deal with her daily activities as a mom and wife.

Another thing that playing can do is that it can bring you closer to your friends and family. Don’t believe me? Try playing Frisbee alone!

Many games are designed to be played by two people or more. Some sports, like soccer, can require more than 20 people for a game. We learn about relationships and team work when we play these games. And games are ofter more fun with more folks. And these people are most probably your friends and family members.

When we play together, we share the fun and laughter and then later on, we share the same stories. Since some of these stories are inevitably funny it brings people closer. People who share the same funny stories tend to become good friends. If they are family, those bond can get stronger.

Computer games are the exception because you don’t play with other people who are physically around you. (It is actually complicated and there are social rewards but not the same as human-on-human interaction.)

In short, play is fun and satisfying in itself. While your mother is right to keep on telling you to finish your homework before playing, a complete life consists of both work and play. Play helps make your life more balanced, and this will make you a happier person. Or, as the inspiring Mr. Brown points out:
 
PLAY + SCIENCE = TRANSFORMATION
 
Go have fun and be happy!

- Nelden -