This past weekend, I attended the PLAYTOPIA conference in Boston, Massachusetts. I don’t often get to attend conferences, so it's always an absolute pleasure when I get the time to focus on my own growth while connecting with others who share the same passion for play!
As someone who develops and facilitates professional development, it always makes me crazy when I have to create set objectives for each workshop. This is part of the state approval process. Why does this bother me? Because I know that in reality, people take away what they need to during workshops. I always walk away from a session I participate in with my own nuggets of information that inspire my teaching practices.
During the PLAYTOPIA conference, Darryl Edwards, the keynote speaker, shared so many inspiring nuggets about play, but the one that really stood out to me was the story he told about stairs.
Darryl shared that while he was out shopping, he noticed a young child with their parent. The young child got really excited when they saw a staircase. The parent, on the other hand, was looking for an escalator or elevator. The child happily ran up the stairs while the parent just shook their head. Darryl shared that the parent then slowly climbed the stairs to get to their child. The parents' slow movement was not reflective of mobility issues but more of the annoyance of having to climb the stairs.
The reason this stood out to me was two-fold. First, I get that parent. I remember being absolutely exhausted, yet my kiddo had endless energy. I get wanting to save any energy I had just in case - kids are wildcards sometimes! I also know that, as an adult without little kids, I still avoid the stairs while my husband, the Energizer Bunny, happily climbs them. My husband is a pretty playful human who usually doesn’t take himself too seriously. I, on the other hand, take myself way too seriously, and while I know the importance of play, I don’t always prioritize it for myself.
Second, I get that kid. Kids, especially young children, LOVE stairs. They get so excited when they can finally master climbing them on their own. It is fun for them to climb the stairs, not a chore.
As Darryl told the story, I could imagine the smile on the child’s face and how they were probably filled with so much joy. This thought makes my heart happy. Our kids grow up so fast. When they can enjoy these small moments in life so playfully, what can we learn from them? How can we find time for more playfulness instead of work-fulness? When we can see that we have the right to play and that it doesn’t have to be earned.
You better believe that I, and many others at the conference, chose to use the stairs :)
