play and playfulness

Like sleep, play is a vital human need.  Not just for children.  Research shows that play can improve overall physical, mental, emotional and social health for adults.  Read to learn about the value of play, types of playful adults and an example of a Calgary group of seniors who engage in play for the benefits of others and themselves. 

"We don't stop playing because we grow old.
We grow old because we stop playing."

George Bernard Shaw

What are the Benefits of Play?

According to Dr. Stuart Brown, head of the National Institute for Play - 

"What all play has in common, is that it is voluntary and self-directed, offers a sense of engagement and pleasure, takes you out of a sense of time and place, and the experience of doing it is more important than the outcome."

We are quite aware of the value of play for children; it is an efficient way for the brain to acquire and retain information. While childhood play is essential for brain development, play during the adult years is helpful for stress reduction, social connection and well-being. When we play we are improving our brains and our lives.

Play can take many forms: games and hobbies, physical activities such as dancing and recreational sports, and playing a musical instrument to name but a few.

The benefits of play for seniors include:

• Physical - improves cardiovascular health; helps manage chronic conditions such as arthritis; and boosts the immune system.
• Cognitive - Playing games such as puzzles, chess, or cards involves cognitive activities such as problem-solving, memory, and strategic thinking. Learning new games fosters neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to adapt and to form new neural connections.
• Emotional and mental well-being - because play provides fun it can stimulate endorphins thus acting as a natural antidepressant. The pleasurable engagement can reduce stress and anxiety and elevate mood.
• Social connection - Loneliness and isolation are risks for some seniors; one of the valuable aspects of play is that it fosters social interaction. The friendships and bonds that are formed can improve life satisfaction and create a sense of belonging.
• Lifelong learning and creativity - Activities such as learning to play an instrument, engaging in arts and crafts, or picking up a new hobby like digital photography encourages self-expression and personal growth.

What is Playfulness?

Playfulness in an adult is somewhat difficult to define and describe. One study defined it as:

Adult playfulness is a personality trait that enables people to frame or reframe everyday situations in such a way that they experience them as entertaining, intellectually stimulating, or personally interesting.   Frontiers in Psychology August 2018

Playful adults, those who describe themselves as being spontaneous or energetic and open to 'clowning around', report less stress and better coping skills.

How adults engage in play is unique to each individual. Humans are wired to play but some may be more playful than others. Expression of playfulness may be influenced by negative judgement from others, such as being thought of as a waste of time or a lack of seriousness or responsibility. Resisting this negative view of play can take some personal effort or support from others.

A personal anecdote from Maureen Osis

In 1981, I was part of a group of seven women hired to deliver a nursing refresher program. The goal was to address the shortage of nurses by recruiting those who needed to renew their license to practice again. The situation had many inherent stressors.

We were new to each other and needed to establish a team culture quickly. Fortunately, we had some playful adults in the group, and we developed an environment in which we got the work done, while having fun.

We worked in a college with an 'open concept’, so our meetings were held in an area without walls. Others could easily hear our laughter. Some reported that they thought our group was not serious enough while others envied that they were not part of it. We ignored the negative judgements and successfully offered the program for two years. We knew that the students benefitted by regaining a licence to practice again. We also benefitted by participating with each other in a way that was so satisfying that we remained friends for more than 40 years after the program ended.

Types of Playful Adults

A study published in Personality and Individual Difference (April, 2017) identified four types of playful adults:

• those who outwardly enjoy fooling around with friends, colleagues, relatives and acquaintances;
• those who are generally lighthearted and not preoccupied with the future consequences of their behaviour;
• those who play with thoughts and ideas; and
• those who are whimsical, exhibiting interest in strange and unusual things and are amused by small, everyday observations.

Senior Drama Group - A Story of Playfulness

In May 2024, a Calgary senior drama group called Acting Our Age performed for Calgary Association of Lifelong Learners. The group provided the following description:

"Acting Our Age" is a senior drama group committed to bringing joy and laughter to our audiences. As we age, we often have to deal with changes to our physical bodies that affect our mental and emotional well-being. So, a fun and effective way to strengthen our mental and emotional well-being is simply to laugh. Laughing at something funny is such a simple act, but it offers a wide variety of benefits – from relieving stress and muscle tension to improving cardio-respiratory functioning.

To quote Charlie Chaplin, "A day without laughter is a day wasted".

We sincerely hope that our performance will bring you a bit of that necessary daily dose of "laughter medicine".

Acting Our Age Drama Group

I contacted two members of the group Zena Drabinsky and Lana Patterson for more information.

Zena Drabinsky described the origins of the group.

I am a founding member of Confederation Theatre Society. Eight years ago, I received a call from a University of Calgary Social Work student, doing a practicum at the Montgomery Seniors Centre. The student explained that she had recently attended one of our Confederation performances, loved it, and wondered if we would ever consider doing a seniors-themed show at her seniors' centre.

I then contacted my colleague Paul Brown, a well-known local author, who agreed that this would be not only a fun assignment, but also something useful and positive for our group. We presented this proposal to the Confederation Board, who supported our endeavour, and we began our work!

Paul wrote a few comedic sketches, we enlisted a few of our theatre-acting friends, and the Montgomery audience loved the performance!

We quickly became popular among seniors' groups, and seniors' residences and began performing many shows, mostly comedic ones, but we also received requests for our serious sketches. We performed them for not only general audiences, but also social-work conventions locally and in nearby towns and centres.

I asked Lana Patterson about the Mission of Acting Our Age.

Lana wrote:

Our mission is somewhat two-fold. First, we have a desire to bring live theatre, especially comedy, to our senior audiences, especially those in senior residences who for various reasons may not be able to get out to see a theatre performance anymore and also to senior community groups for which going to the theatre might be quite unaffordable. And secondly, when called upon, we provide serious educational programming through performance that deals with elder abuse in its various forms, dementia and scams aimed at seniors. But our main focus has been comedy.

We bring to light, in a comedic sense, some of the less serious things we encounter as we age, like forgetfulness and dealing with new technology. Things that we all have in common and can laugh about together.

Why do you think that laughter is so important?

Lana replied: 

As we age we come to realize that sometimes there is not a whole lot to laugh about anymore. We develop health problems, deal with loneliness as we lose our spouses and friends, and sometimes financial issues plague us. And I think we all know that it has been proven medically and psychologically, that laughter is truly a good medicine. It boosts our mental health and overall well-being, reduces pain and relieves stress while boosting our immune system. So, anything we can do to bring laughter to our audiences brings us joy and satisfaction. There is nothing better than hearing ripples of laughter and seeing the smiling faces of our audience members.

I asked Zena how they know that they achieve their 'mission' or 'purpose".

Zena wrote:

Regarding our mission or purpose, we believe we fulfill it because we leave our senior audiences laughing, with many audience members approaching us afterward, telling us how much they enjoyed our fun-filled show.

We see such joy on seniors’ faces, hear their chatter after our shows, and listen to individual stories some tell us while we are packing up our equipment. We hear heartwarming stories of how much our entertainment has meant to them. We enjoy chatting with audience members before and after the shows, and since we are all around their age, conversation is easy!

I asked Lana to share some examples of positive feedback:

We receive many delightful comments from audience members after our shows, which we truly appreciate.

There are three that come to mind quickly.

1) “I want you to know that I never laugh. But today you made me laugh! And it felt good. Thank you.”

2) After a performance on a very grey, rainy day, an audience member shouted out to us, “You brought sunshine to us on a rainy day. Thank you!”

3) “This was so much fun. I don’t know when I’ve laughed this much. I will remember this day for the rest of my life.”

How do you and the other performers benefit from being part of Acting Our Age?

Zena

We, the actors, are also the crew for each show. We set up, act, and then tear down afterwards. Having retired from various professional backgrounds (including dentist, engineers, teachers, missionary, model) we now work on what we have always loved - acting! We support each other, and thankfully, there are no ‘Primo Dons or Prima Donnas' among us!

Lana

For me there are many benefits to being a part of Acting our Age.

1) It satisfies my desire to perform. I’ve had the acting bug since performing in my Jr. and Sr. High School plays. In working with youth for most of my adult life, I always included drama in my programming. I developed a drama program at a northern school that didn’t have one and enjoyed seeing my students grow in confidence through the performance arts. But I have always been behind the scenes, directing and teaching. So, when I moved to Calgary 12 years ago, I thought I would try being on stage instead of behind the scenes, and I love it. It’s so much fun stepping into a role and becoming a completely different person. Kind of makes me feel like a kid again playing pretend.

2) It keeps my mind active and stimulated. There are scripts to be memorized, scripts to be written, simple sets to be created, costuming and props to think about, and sound systems to learn about and set up.

3) It provides me with social connections. I enjoy the camaraderie and playfulness of our group. There is always a lot of laughter, teasing and friendly banter happening when we rehearse. You wouldn’t know we were a bunch of seniors at times! I truly enjoy the fun we have at our weekly rehearsals and our two annual social gatherings. We also support one another when one of us auditions and gets a part in a community theatre production by attending their play. I enjoy working with the contact people at our venues. After doing shows at the same place several times I am pleased when I can develop friendships with some of those people.

4) It keeps me physically active with weekly rehearsals and 3 or 4 performances a month. Getting out and travelling all around the city, hauling and setting up all our tech gear and stage sets, rushing around changing costumes between sketches, then tearing it all down again and hauling it back home can be tiring, but it’s a 'good tired' accompanied by a feeling of accomplishment.

Acting Our Age Drama Group 2024

Back row: Royce Townsend aka "Slim Chance" (musician and MC), Paul Brown (director),
Peter Warne, David Young.

Front row: Sandy Lucas, Lana Borrell (Patterson), Zena Drabinsky, Terry Ager.

Conclusion

If we don't play, there can be very serious consequences.

"What you begin to see when there's major play deprivation in an otherwise competent adult is that they're not much fun to be around. You begin to see that the perseverance and joy in work is lessened and that life is much more laborious."
Dr. Stuart Brown

In summary, play offers numerous physical, cognitive, emotional, and social benefits that contribute to healthy aging. Through play, seniors can maintain physical fitness, keep their minds sharp, boost emotional and mental well-being, foster social connections, and continue to learn and grow.

So, remember to be serious about including play in your day-to-day, but that play itself isn’t meant to be serious!

Want to add 'play' to your life?  To be more 'playful'?

Seek community groups that offer fun. For example, joining an organization like Calgary Association of Lifelong Learners  provides many opportunities to engage in playful pursuits.

You can participate in:

• activities & brain games
• • walk with others and discover interesting things about Calgary
  • play Mah Jong, bridge, cribbage, or wordfreaks
• arts & culture
• • attend the opera, CPO rehearsals or the cinema
  • play the Uke or the Guitar
  • improve your digital photography skills

Another way to be playful - join an acting group.

Acting Our Age welcomes any aspiring actor to join a rehearsal to see if this would be of interest to you. Contact:  analanapat@gmail.com

resources

Frontiers in Psychology, 13, August 2018 The positive relationship of playfulness with indicators of health, activity, and physical fitness.

Play doesn't end with childhood: Why adults need recess too. NPR Ed.

The Benefits of Play and Why it's Important for Older Adults
Park N Play Design

The Playful Advantage: How Playfulness Enhances Coping with Stress

AUTHOR

Maureen Osis

Maureen retired from her career -- first as a Gerontological Nurse and then a Marriage/Family Therapist in private practice working with mid-life and older adults. Maureen has published numerous articles and books, related to both of her professions. She is a member of CALL because she is passionate about learning. She is a volunteer with CALL, doing social media and the primary author of the blog, because she likes to face new challenges.

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GUEST AUTHORS

Zena Drabinsky

I am a native Calgarian, and have been involved in Calgary theatre productions since I was a child. I was an Instructor at Mount Royal College/University for most of my working career. Over the years, I have been in several professional theatre productions, such as the full run of Tony and Tina’s Wedding (27 years!).

I am delighted to be able to continue my love of acting with our Acting Our Age group!

Lana Patterson

Aside from raising 3 children, I retired after working at a diverse list of jobs ranging from being a camp counselor, to working in a knitting mill, a tooth brush factory, waitressing at a country club, to youth worker (22 years), missionary (16 years), workshop teacher to teen single moms, community newsletter writer/editor, special needs tutor and drama and art teacher. Currently I am a busy volunteer with Acting our Age, a senior drama group, as treasurer, booking agent, playwright and actor.

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