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Holistic Play



In playing, unlike in formal education or most work, all of the
senses and abilities, both physical and mental, are used at
once in a coordinated effort. A child running on a field and
carrying a ball while others give chase, may be formulating
mental strategies for flight while experiencing the purely
sensual exhilaration of motion.
 
A child sorting a shell collection fondles the shells, begins to
discriminate, understand and memorise form. Eye-hand
coordination, tactility,discernment, categorisation and value
judgments may all come into play.
 
Play brings together into a new trial relationship the complex
abilities and aspirations of human beings, and affords a
testing ground for individual abilities that may have been
previously unsuspected.
 
Abilities and actions gain meaning from their integration into
a single activity. As a 'combined activity,' play increases
meaning in life.

 

© 1993- 1995 Alexander Manu ©1995 Danish Design Centre "ToolToys - Tools with an Element of Play "
The author grants permission to make a digital or hard copy of part or all of this work for personal use provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit. The copyright notice and the title of the publication must appear on all printed copies.