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Jul 1115 min read

Rediscovering Joy Through Play

Updated: Sep 25



In honor of the UN's first International Day of Play, we discuss the importance of play at every stage of life. We explore recent innovations including kid-designed playgrounds and glow-in-the-dark night parks, as well as retail spaces reimagined from storefronts to playfronts. We touch on play's impact on brain health and creativity, and how new play spaces are being designed to appeal to multiple generations. Sharing personal stories, we ask: How can we prioritize fun in our busy lives? What does your play personality reveal about you? Join us as we uncover why play isn't just for children, but a crucial element for innovation, resilience, and happiness in our rapidly changing world.





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Episode Transcript:

Raakhee: Welcome to Signal Shift, by Horizon Shift Lab. We're your hosts, Lana Price, Raakhee Natha, and Sue Chi. Each episode, we explore the latest signals in technology, culture, and society, uncovering insights that will impact our daily lives in the future. Join us as we shift perspectives, explore possibilities, and delve into real changes in our world. Curious to learn more? Go to horizonshiftlab.com.


Hello and welcome to Signal Shift. Today's topic is one of my favorites. It's a way of being that is very easy to lose sight of as we grow older, yet its benefits and importance makes it vital not to lose sight of. Today's subject is play.


And just a few days back, we had the first ever International Day of Play. Designated by the United Nations, it marks the UN's efforts in their own words to “preserve, promote and prioritize playing so that all people, especially children, can reap the rewards and thrive to their full potential.” 


Play isn't just for kids. Play is actually critical for innovation, for relationship building, resilience, happiness and neuroplasticity, supporting brain health. It's something that's critical, yet it's under-prioritized for adults. It's a big part of our work at Horizon Shift Lab and a part of our approach to how we work as well. So let's play with some signals today.


Sue: This is Sue. I can go first. I love this topic. It reminds me of some of the playgrounds I've been walking across lately and some of the cities I've lived in and visited where playgrounds have often been your standard jungle gym and maybe a swing set. And there are not too many people around. And ultimately, it becomes kind of an idle space for a community.


So this week, I loved picking up two signals I want to share. One was an article in Bloomberg just a few months ago that highlighted a park in Philadelphia that is now being redesigned for multiple uses for play and for multiple generations. So now teens are coming, adults, kids, and the author reported ever since the park reopened, it has been packed. And so just as an example, some of the things that are now featured in this park: two acres of nature-based play, there are seven slides. All of them are different in height and speed. There's what they're calling “birdhouses.” They have climbing nets, logs, racks, like lots of different things to explore. And of course, the main feature is the largest mega swing in the country. It's 120 by 100 foot elliptical mega swing, 20 different types of swings, different ways to hang.


Anyway, when they went to observe, there were like homeschool moms there, there were football fans just hanging out around the swing, and even teenagers were coming to the park multiple times. As long as well as with grandparents and toddlers. So lots of different people. 

This park is pretty expensive. It's part of a larger citywide development plan to reimagine what parks look like for people. 


But also it doesn't have to be that expensive. So one other article I saw, which is a little bit older, was in Hong Kong in the South China Morning Post. And some teenagers had observed that the parks around their city are all exactly the same. They're kind of ugly and nobody goes except for really, really little kids. So they took a project and decided--what would a park look like if kids designed it. So they interviewed a whole bunch of kids, all different types of ages. They also talked to child development experts on how kids learn. And ultimately basically prototyped a park and a playground with a bunch of kids.


And what they came up with was so fun. You know, they had your typical slide, but it didn't look like a slide. It looked like a river. One kid who was very shy wound up creating a chair full of these rubber chickens. And when she asked, you know, when people were like, why did you create rubber chickens? She said, it's basically like a whoopee cushion. So if you sit on it creates a huge noise and it made her so happy because she was so quiet. She felt like with all the noise around, she could be noisy too.


So anyway, this was all an example of kind of the spark of creativity and imagination that all types of people can have when they go to a park like this. So for me, this was a signal of, you know, going from that kind of like highly regulated adult view, adult-centric playground of one where adults and designers are telling people how they should be using the park to now one that is more amorphous and encourages exploration and invitation to play with other people.


I also love Raakhee, your mention of like the latest neuroscience and child development and how people learn. And so I think it's this combination of the best of science, the best of the kind of human-centric design that's been happening that can now customize these experiences for communities. So, so that's what I found this week.


[5:39]


Raakhee:That's amazing, Sue. Wow, yeah, I think you painted such a vivid picture of this playground that I really want to go and try this swing out like ASAP. Yeah, so exciting. I love playgrounds, I think there's so much possibility in that realm. So I love that you touched on that. And yeah, Lana, what did you have this week?


Lana: Yeah, I had a lot of fun researching this. And so I guess a couple of stats that I learned from the United Nations, which I thought were a fun context, is that this is from children. So 71 percent of children say play is important because it makes them happy. And that a majority of children would like to play more than they actually do now. And 80 percent of children would like to play more with their parents or the people that care for them. And they say grownups don't always think playing is important. And they don't believe grownups take play seriously enough. And so I think that really connects, Sue, with what you were saying, which is kind of this human-centered approach and like coming from their perspective, like how important play is for them and how much they value it in their lives.


And so I have a young niece and nephew and we love to play with them. And last summer, we all took a trip to Arizona, and to Mesa, in June. And it was so hot outside that when we took the kids to the playground, well, first of all, kind of like what you were saying, Sue, nobody was there. We were the only ones who were foolish enough to try to go to the playground. And even though the kids were so excited, you open the car doors, they run out sprinting towards the playground. But it was so oppressively hot that their sunscreen was melting off their face. The slides were actually too hot for them to slide down. You can see them, even though they're trying to fight it and really go at their normal speed, it was like their energy was really wearing down and they're thirsty. So I mean, it didn't take very long for that little field trip to the playground for us to be like, OK, we need to pack it up. We need to go home.


The signal that I found is kind of related to that. And it's related to a theme that we have discussed before and an image that's on our website. But it is a new playground in the Dallas area that is a new glow-in-the-dark interactive night playground. And so it is just opened this year in the Farmer's Branch area. And it's called Joya, which translates as jewel in Spanish. 

It includes like a huge sphere that's like perfect for climbing, an obstacle course, a zipline, seats, so everything sort of glows in the dark. It's 7000-foot square playground and it is open until 10 p.m. 


Dallas is one of the areas that I think of our metropolises in the United States. I think, you know, one of the hottest. And so I think this is something that we're going to see more of, right? These playgrounds that are designed specifically to be open at night, because that's when we can actually be outside.


And I think there's a lot of implications for this, you know, impact on the bedtime, right? If you're going to the playground at 9, 10 o'clock at night, when would we sleep and other implications as well. But it was something that, you know, for the amount of planning and investment that it takes to do these things and something that they felt like there is enough demand for. So that was my signal.


[10:05]


Raakhee: That is so, so cool, so interesting and considering that we've spoken about, you know, the shift to more of a nocturnal lifestyle and seeing it happening like, oh my goodness, yes, in little ways, like that's a really powerful signal of those changes coming. But it sounds like a really cool park. It sounds, I think being a park at night, it sounds almost like one adults are going to enjoy even more. So that sounds really, really cool. Yeah, glow in the dark, very awesome.


Yeah, I think we all took sort of a similar sort of path. I'll link mine to a bit of a broader concept, but my signal was sort of around this concept of, the overall concept is around retail and play and linking those spaces. But my signal was really around something that Tyra Banks did this thing called, it's like a theme park, but called Model Land. And so the point of that theme park, unlike normal theme parks, it's not about the rides and all of that, it's about like young girls who, that's what play is for them, right? It's like dressing up, it's the makeup, it's the glam. But then learning how to walk around, playing in different rooms with different outfits and imagine mirrors and something really different like that, but for someone who likes that world, right?


And she did this event in Santa Monica a while back now, I think. And I don't know if she has designs on doing more of these or having a long-term sort of theme park setup, but it was very interesting because it was taking this concept of theme outside of a typical theme park, right? And linking it almost even to a topic that maybe is more adult. And so I was like, hey, that's a cool place for adults who are interested in that world, right? Like you could have Fashion World and go and try all these crazy outfits. And because there really isn't that right now. There's Disneyland and I would very happily go and dress up at Disneyland, but I don't know. People would be like, hey, that's okay. So I think a place where adults can go and play like that is very exciting.


But I think for me, what that signified was just this shift with we've spoken about this a lot, right, is that retail, there's just, and we've spoken about it with different signals, one convenience culture, more sort of having shoppers behind things when you brought to your car, put into your [boot], right? With online shopping, shopping and retail is really becoming not just digital first, but almost digital only. Like there's a big discussion around that like, it's so easy now and VR and AR only augments that, you know, it's even easier to just do that. So there's, we see that real death in like shopping malls and stores and what's, what's the point of them, are they going to last? Why would you go to them?


And I, I think the future for any stores that do remain. Hopefully, and I'm excited, should be play. And I imagine like walking into Williams Sonoma. I don't necessarily need to see all your products all lined up. I can see that online. But I always think about, there's always somebody in the center that used to be cooking, like historically, I don't think they do that anymore. But I want to go behind there and play with whatever's happening there. And imagine these little, little sort of set up so people can go in and you go and you actually play with the food and maybe you have a screen there and you have like the latest master chef winner who's teaching something and, you know, you play along, you get to dip in, play, move out.


So anyways, I think for me, what does remain of retail, I think has to involve play because otherwise there's no real incentive, shopping has become boring. And so the way to bring it alive again for adults who have the money, I think is going to be things like play. And yeah, I guess thinking about all, all of these, and I think, yeah, it's, it's all about adult play, right, being prioritized.


I had this, something I learned as well this week in doing the research is there is a National Institute of Play. They have something called like Play Personalities and you can do a very simple online quiz. You know, it's not a scientific model. It's still all like very theory-based interview data-based sort of model, but they do have these personalities and you can do a quiz and you can find out what your play personality is. Yeah, I'd be so curious for you both to try it and to know your play personalities, but play is linked so much to childhood and a memory from this.


So I think my question to both of you is: what, what is your favorite way to play? Like what is a strong play memory? What is one of your favorite ways to play as an adult?


[14:52]


Sue: I was actually thinking our sessions around signals are bringing back some type of play as well, because it's like forcing my imagination to think a couple steps ahead of all these different possibilities. Like that's a different way of play. And I think a lot of play that I enjoy is unstructured.


So it's a lot of just asking each other just insane questions about like what your favorite animal would be if you had to be an animal, like all these theoretical questions that just makes you think, just think differently during the day.


Lana: This is a really good question, Raakhee, because play falls, can fall in a similar category as rest, you know, where it just like feels hard to be intentional about including time for it when there are a lot of other competing priorities. And so, you know, I guess I have like a lot of hobbies, but even when I pursue my hobbies, sometimes I forget that it's play. Do you know what I mean? Like I'm doing my hobby. And so it is a tough question. I think I'm glad to have access to children, because I love witnessing the way that children approach play. And it's very inspiring. I think even like that story that you told, Sue, about the chicken seats, like, so imaginative, right? And just so delightful. And so I think it's a challenge to try to delight yourself every day. And so that's something that even though I like having a lot of different types of time, I think I'd have to switch my mindset to categorize the time as play. But what about you, Raakhee? I think that's such a good question. 


Raakhee: Yeah. And I think you hit the big challenge of this on the hit, right? And you put it so nicely. What did you say? It's a challenge to delight yourself every day, right? And it's so true. I think one of my strongest memories of just a natural way of playing was dancing. Growing up, I danced a lot like I did in the community and shows. And, you know, it was just, that was half of whatever else my life was. Whether it was school, it was school and dancing, whatever it was.


But I definitely gave it up as I got into university. And once I started working, it was like gone, you know, would happen ever so occasionally. And I never misted or thought about it because I also looked at it from the lens that I think you were describing, Lana, which is, well, what is it serving in my life? And I have other priorities. And, you know, where's this going to get me, right? So, you know, you're much more focused on ambition. And, you know, all those, yeah, all those things kind of muddy the reasons behind what we do. And so it was very easy to lose that.


And it's actually in the last couple of, maybe a year or two years, where I've had that realization of-- there are certain things that you do just to do for the power of what they feel like in that moment.


And they give you something bigger than you may have the words to describe. And I realized that dance, even the little amount that was in my life gave me that. And so I've been trying to step back into it. And so right now I'm just going to like a gym class that's, you know, I'm trying to have a little but just at least a sprinkle, just for fun, just to play. Which I think dance was one of those for me.


[18:43]


Sue: This brings up a really interesting reflection for me, which is the example I gave you about these questions. I think I'm trying to evoke a feeling I had as a kid when I played, which is one of like wonder and discovery of new things. It just made me think, Lana, to your point, what does actual like play look like to me now? Is it a different definition than the one I have in my head, which is, oh, I need to replicate how I felt when I was a kid? Yeah, those are two very different things.


Lana: Yeah, I think that's a really, that's kind of a profound observation. And I think this speaks to what Raakhee is talking about too, which is like, what is the underlying need that we're trying to fulfill, right? And so like how play helps us fulfill that need in ways that we can't get from other places. And so I think that's like, yeah, I don't have an answer to that. But I think that's a really cool way to look at it.


Raakhee: Yeah, Sue, I think, yeah, that that's it, right? That's so profound, but it's that's the question that we should be asking, like, what is, you know, what is that need to be fulfilled? I'm so curious, you know, I'm going to send you both the link, do this quiz, because, Sue, everything you're saying, I'm like, I think I know what Sue's play personality might be. But I want you to do the quiz and see, and I think, I think the intent of that is a little bit to help people discover exactly that, but what's the underlying need? Because it can look so different. And there were definitely one or two categories of like in that quiz of like play personality. So I was like, oh, I wouldn't have categorized it that way. Or when they described certain people being that I was like, oh, that's an interesting way to see. So I'd love, yeah, I'd love for both of you to play with that.


Yeah, I think one of you said this about it, but I think it was you, Sue, about how even coming together for signals and exploration and, you know, I mentioned it at the top is so much of Horizon Shift Lab is about imagining the future. Imagination needs play, the work hand in hand together.


And so I certainly know that the work we do when we're very fortunate gets to work a little bit in this realm, which is really, really cool. So, yeah, I'm grateful for that. And having that play.

Yeah. And anything else or any other sort of thoughts of integration or anything coming up today with this whole topic of play? 


Sue: I guess one observation for me was all of us observing some level of creativity that play brings for all of these areas. For me, you know, it's so important to the future of work. And so a lot of the focus has been on schools on how to develop creativity and problem solving, especially if AI is going to do a lot of the other work. But this is just bringing back to me, no, no, no, this is important at every single stage of life that you have this importance of play. And it's only going to be more important the further we go with technological change and advancement. So I think all those examples that we've brought up today are just going to be even more important to make sure we have more of those in the future.


Lana: 100%. I think that is really spot on. 


Raakhee: I think just iterating and reiterating the importance of play. And for adults, like we cannot lose sight of this, it is literally linked to brain health. So Lana, you said earlier, but it's being intentional. And it's hard. It is hard to be intentional about making time for play. But like we do for rest, I think it's really important that we also have to prioritize making time for play. Whether we have historically or not, I think it's time for adults to do that.


And I think it's, I think we've seen and heard a lot today, whether it's designing spaces really intentionally, whether it's understanding the psychological underpinning of our need around play, so many things here. But I think it's an exciting realm. And hopefully, just more and more exciting things coming up in the world of play and how adults can play in the future.


So yeah, I think with that, we'll close us out for today. But please let us know your thoughts on play. How are you playing in your life? What do you do to play? And any cool things are happening in your community or neighborhood where people can play, particularly adults. Thank you for being here today. And we will catch you again next time. And bye for now.


[23:24]

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