Open play takes undefined time. This is not always easy to protect and prioritize in busy modern schedules. But like dreaming, play is a digestion process. It’s a time to organize the chaos of the world, experiment with it, and play it out. Being an adult playmate in a child’s play process can be a subtle engagement of tuning in. Even engaging in “parallel play” by focusing on your own quiet activity next to your child’s quiet activity can be very fruitful because it lets you model your deep focus and also lets you be an enlightened witness to a child’s inclinations.
Play together through projects engaging nature. Team up with your family on a mission of stewarding nature. Plant together. Find Earth-love projects to participate in. Compost together. Adopt a tree in your neighborhood. Name it, talk about it, visit it, write about it, draw it, observe its changes, and give it a gift once in a while (a bird feeder or water, for example). Clean up around it.
Can we release our modern grip on technology to play? In modern life, machines are all around us. Taking regular intentional “unplugged” time can be an important reminder of basic values and resources. In order to instill a value in children that encourages them to eventually, through free will, value non-tech time, we must be willing to model it ourselves. Deep play does require periods of time when one is not on call, not plugged in, and not available for interruption.
Resources for Family Play Practices
Compassionate Communication offers many resources: https://seedofpeace.org/nvc-introductory-articles/parenting/nonviolent-communication-with-small-children
Yoga practices with children: http://childrenlovingyoga.blogspot.com
Compassion Games – Survival of the Kindest: https://www.compassiongames.org/play
