Play is wonderful.

It may not rhyme with efficiency or productivity. In modern life, productivity has become a moral imperative, right?

Time must be justified. Even rest is expected to “pay off.” In that context, play can seem pointless. Yet when play disappears, mental rigidity increases. Research consistently links play-like states to cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation, and social connection.

Perhaps play isn’t just about enjoyment. Perhaps it builds a fundamental capacity for psychological resilience, learning, and connection.

Most adults don’t consciously stop playing. They quietly replace it with efficiency. And we shouldn’t be so busy that we forget how to play.

I’ve long noticed a tension between play and productivity. This post is my attempt to explore that conflict.

What Research Tells Us About Play

A substantial body of research highlights the developmental and psychological value of play. One well-studied form is risky play—play that involves uncertainty, challenge, and manageable fear.

We know that risky play can function as anxiety prevention. Children actively seek challenges and optimal levels of fear and excitement when given the opportunity (Sandseter & Kennair, 2011). In other words, learning is not imposed—it is sought naturally.

Risky play is particularly effective in building psychological resilience. Children repeatedly assess:

“Can I do this?”

“What happens if I slip?”

“Should I go higher—or stop?”

Through this process, risky play becomes linked to planning and decision-making, inhibitory control, and flexible problem-solving skills.

During the COVID-19 period, children who had experienced more risky play managed uncertainty better than those who had not, as measured by mental health outcomes (Sau Man Ng & Sui Ling Ng, 2022).

A major review found that risky outdoor play is associated with (Brussoni et al., 2015):

• No increase in serious injury rates (yes—really)

• Improved motor skills

• Better risk-assessment abilities

• Greater awareness of personal physical limits

Longitudinal studies further show that over the past 40 years, children’s independent mobility—often a proxy for risky play—has steadily declined. In the same period, childhood anxiety and psychosomatic complaints have increased.

While these findings are correlational, the pattern is strikingly consistent across Western countries (Gray, P., 2011).

Play as a Way of Being

In a newly published book on play called Playful, author and professor Cas Holman argues that play is not a break from life—it is a way of being in life. She describes play as voluntary, open-ended, low-stakes, and absorbing.

When we play, attention moves outward. Self-monitoring softens. For a moment, we are less occupied with performance, appearance, or outcome. That shift may be one of play’s most important psychological effects.

I dream of a world where we remember to play for our mental health and connection to one another.

Let’s just play with that idea.

Playful Christmas wishes,

Simon