Play-Room or Good Life can not Succeed Without Game or Scope to Play

by Susanne Ganns

Our financial scope is limited … we did not use the scope … there was not much scope left in between … my professional appointments  leave me little scope … negotiating scope … not in someone’s discretion … and much more meets us nowadays on a daily basis.

What is lost in this choice of words?

During my visit to the nature school in India I was shown in a playful way that without play good life cannot succeed.

It was a special treat and a giant pleasure to watch these children play.
Here I could still hear laughter, jubilation, giggles, the delight was everywhere noticeable and even touched me as an “old grandmother” in the heart.

Here I found nothing of what is seen in so many German playgrounds. Parents who are always on the go to supervise and protect their children with “Caution!”, “Watch out, or else you’ll break something”, “Stop!”, “No, you must not.”, “Look, this is how we can bake a cake from sand” or “Look, Dad demonstrates it to you”, and so on and so forth and besides all, many of the stress-challenged parents look intensively at their smartphones. There is hardly any (play) room left!

How many times have I heard of the poor children in India.

Poor ‒ no by no means – these children are very rich. The beam in her eyes holds up to every wealth. With the simplest of means they play completely ecstatic and enthusiastic.

A grid box serves as a tiger cage, in which 5 to 10 children hatch in and act to be tigers. There are others outside, and they make the tigers rebellious inside, until the gate opens, the tigers run out, and they pursue the other children, snorting and roaring. Squeaking and screaming, the others run away. They then all come together, snorting and laughing and start the whole play again from the beginning. The others are now the tigers and land in the cage.

In a fascinating way, life as it is in India is being played. Tigers are a part of life there. Body feeling, self-confidence, self-responsibility, courage and fear are playfully experienced.

In another place, a boy lets his whole creativity run smoothly by tirelessly giving a hoop the right impetus to pursue it. He tests, researches and experiences with infinite endurance what it takes to make the hoop move optimally, as far as possible. A sand hill from the construction site helps in the process. This agile playmate was a round thing for the boy.

In doing so, he was able to live out his urge to move, to gather his sensory experiences, to train his motor skills and to experience his freedom of movement. This is fun, his eyes and his entire charisma tell.

A rope, a tree and ready is the life swing. Get swing with balance. The equilibrium organ is thereby stimulated and improves the equilibrium. Weightless from the past to the future, always back and forth. Children practice themselves in the feeling of flying. And if you fall down, you are experimenting how you can swing sitting on the rope. And if it also hurts or frustrates because it does not succeed, it is part of it to strengthen self-awareness and to develop self-assurance.

In order to protect the small and still somewhat tender trees, a visitor spontaneously donated money for a larger swing. This has already been implemented in a typically Indian and simple way.

The children find it ingenious and the tree now serves as a gentle relaxation oasis.
How closely intertwined are the trees and the human being. Tree and man are friends.

Be loving with nature, with plenty of room to breathe – play-room.

So I was able to learn for life only by watching, what play-room children awaken within me with their play-dream.

The young people exemplify unrestrainedness, freedom of movement, self-determination, independence, creativity and imagination. And point to the fact that the statement “does not work” is just a lack of imagination.

This is perhaps a big key for us “adults” to reach the goal “be like the children” easier.