Cindy Chenh

Art 133
Unit Paper 4
3/16/2017
Unit Paper 4

Many people believe play is a childish action in which children perform for amusement.

However, play has a significant meaning for everyone. Pink (2006) states, Play is becoming an

important part of work, business, and personal well-being, its importance manifesting itself in

three ways: games, humor, and joyfulness (p. 188). Games not only bring in profits, but they

also attract or motivate people into action. Humor gives us the ability to place situations in

context, to glimpse the big picture, and to combine differing perspectives into new alignments

(Pink, 2006, p. 198). Joyfulness is correlated to humor and laughter. Laughing has a positive

effect on our health, for example, it helps decrease our stress hormones. George Szekely explains

several ways in which we can express play. He finds play to be important because it positively

influences children: Childrens joyful playing is a means of investigating the world, and a way

to begin shaping creative responses to it (Szekely, 2011, p. 76).

An approach I would adapt into a classroom of elementary school students is the method

similar to the one in which Pink mentions about a laughter club. I would have someone start

giggling for no reason and keep giggling until the whole class bursts into laughter. By doing so, I

believe children will be able to relieve themselves of whatever stress they may have and will be

able to enjoy life with a positive perspective.

References
Pink, D. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: The
Berkeley Group.
Szekely, G. (2011). Testing the world through play and art. In D.B. Jaquith & M.E. Hathaway
(Eds.). The learner directed classroom: Developing creative thinking skills through art
(pp. 64-76). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.