Play, Brains, & Emotions

“Children today are under much greater stresses than were children a generation or two ago, in part because the world is a more dangerous and complicated place to grow up in, and in part because their need to be protected, nurtured, and guided has been neglected.” – David Elkind

6,000 children were kicked out of preschool last year – PRESCHOOL! They are hitting and biting each other at a higher rate than ever before. I think a large part of the reason is threat and stress. Their brains are not prepared for growing academic expectations of the new preschool, and the brains instruct their owners to bite out of anger and frustration.

One of the things we know about the brain is how it reacts to threat. When threatened, the sympathetic nervous system kicks into gear, releasing cortisol and sending the individual into a state of fight or flight. Blood is taken away from the BRAIN and internal organs and is given to the extremities, so the individual is prepared to fight or run away quickly and NOT ABLE TO LEARN (Browder, 1984; Jensen, 1998). So, the first thing to do is eliminate threat (the negatives). Possible sources of threat and stress are nagging, scolding, loss of privileges, parent phone calls, sarcasm, high stakes tests, threat of harsh punishment, poor peer relationships, crowded environments, embarrassment, humiliation, inadequate resources, and language/cultural barriers. Eliminating threat makes it possible to learn and creates a condition where brain enrichment and playful learning will work. Then and only then can we work on the positive potential and power of play!

Educators can also teach children about stress and about how to de-stress themselves through time-management, breathing techniques, useful down time, relationships skills, and peer support. We must apply the research that shows that active playful learning with periods of rest, game play, dramatic play, exercise, discussion, positive rituals, celebrations, physical activity, stretching, dance, walking and creative writing are effective ways to reduce threat.

After eliminating threat, we can intentionally elicit more positive emotions. Emotions drive attention and create meaning out of dry facts and information. The brain is like the clay of the potter - shaped and formed. We know that through playful and enriching experiences, the brain will develop a thicker cortex, more dendritic branching, more growth spines, larger cell bodies, more support cells, more blood supply, more neural networks and more intricate connections between neurons.

While the brain is able to set goals, it takes emotion to build the motivation to accomplish those goals. The emotional “binding” or emotional “seasoning” affects of emotions such as happiness surprise or excitement enhances synaptic connections and provides an additional hook for remembering material. “The close emotional attunement derived from play is critical to healthy brain development” (Gunnar, 1996).

Recently my family took a trip to Hawaii. Before our trip I read travel brochures, watched DVD’s, watched travel channel shows, talked to people who had been there, and even read the novel Hawaii by James Michener. I learned a lot from my research. If we had cancelled our trip, I still would have retained some of that knowledge. But then we went there. We played in the sand, swam in the water, touched the plant life, explored tropical spaces, and experienced the emotions that came out of our playful experience in Hawaii. The amount that I learned through the experience far exceeds what I learned from the books, videos, and people who told me about it.

The emotional state of the children is directly related to student learning, so we must facilitate the positive emotions and emotional development. Humans often abuse substances to get to an immediate emotional state which may be more productively attained through playful experiences, successes, friendships, celebrations, community service projects, clubs, dancing, sports, and building positive relationships with peers and adults. We must create programs that provide the environments, relationships and experiences that promote the nurturing of a positive emotional state – playful learning does that. Learning should be intrinsically rewarding - it should be fun.