#PlayProject Jan 2016 – Week One Update

So far, during January’s #PlayProject I’ve been exploring simple, quiet ideas I can incorporate into my days.

I mean, could it get more simple and quiet than word searches?

In just minutes, I'm ten years old again. #playproject #day3

A photo posted by Ann Kroeker (@annkroeker) on Jan 3, 2016 at 10:55am PST

Coloring books?

Trying to color on day 5 of the #playproject, but not finding it super fun. I might have outgrown it.

A photo posted by Ann Kroeker (@annkroeker) on Jan 5, 2016 at 9:49am PST

And doodling?

This simple Day 7 #playproject doodle pleases me more than printed coloring books.

A photo posted by Ann Kroeker (@annkroeker) on Jan 7, 2016 at 6:54am PST

I hope my boring attempts (so far! I intend to up my game in the weeks ahead) remind you that fun doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive, or involved.

It can be, though, if you’re inspired!

Whether you curl up in front of the fire to read a book, or head outside to build a snow fort or run in the rain, life improves with a little play in every day.

Check out what Michelle’s documenting in her Instagram stream:

Some magnetic poetry…

Day 1 #PlayProject Today I am at my office doing some necessary admin work to wrap up 2015-but taking a break to play with my poetry magnets! You'll see these again throughout the month, I'm sure. #poetry #magneticpoetry @annkroeker

A photo posted by Michelle Ortega (@michellebelleslp) on Jan 1, 2016 at 11:45am PST

A poem tapped out on a Remington Portable Model 5, then illustrated by hand…

Day 2 #PlayProject I used my Remington Portable Model 5 to pound this poem out, then doodled around the words with colored pencils. The force of the key strikes and the scratch of a pencil across paper reminds me of the difficult and beautiful creative process, wherever we are and whatever we are creating, inside and out. The story behind this poem will come to you, another day. But for now, I offer #jeffersonmarketgarden : "park is closed until the tulips are in bloom" but the {rose (never to be passed over) vines weave (sweet ghosts fragrance) toward me through (a winterspring day) the fence so i stay} #nycpoetry #flowerpoem #flowerpoetry #rosepoems #wildroses

A photo posted by Michelle Ortega (@michellebelleslp) on Jan 2, 2016 at 11:58am PST

A few minutes with a charming children’s book about e. e. cummings…

Day 3 #PlayProject After a long hard day, I would most definitely plop down and go to sleep- but tonight, I know I have to PLAY. This page is from Matthew Burgess' children's book, "enormousSMALLNESS: a story of e.e. cummings. It's a delightfully illustrated book for the young and old and in between, and inspired an artist's date for me… #patchinplace #eecummings #matthewburgess

A photo posted by Michelle Ortega (@michellebelleslp) on Jan 3, 2016 at 5:34pm PST

An origami box…

Day 5 #PlayProject I made this origami Star Box from a starter kit I purchased last year. It's a little crinkly underneath but you can't see it in the photo. Like @annkroeker 's feelings on coloring, I'm not sold on it. #sorrynotsorry #playsomethingdifferent

A photo posted by Michelle Ortega (@michellebelleslp) on Jan 5, 2016 at 7:13pm PST

And, a balloon launch!

Day 6 #PlayProject It seems these balloons had a failure to launch, but maybe the barren tree just didn't want to let them go. Maybe there is no dance there, but a bubble guppy hanging out in some sea grass. What do you see? #perspective #imaginaryfriends #tellastory

A photo posted by Michelle Ortega (@michellebelleslp) on Jan 6, 2016 at 8:43pm PST

Meanwhile, Marilyn Yocum is playing in the kitchen, slicing and dicing, letting her creativity flow freely:

Having fun slicing, dicing, working without a recipe. #PlayProject 30 days of play w/ @annkroeker pic.twitter.com/aQ4MbmEltw

— Marilyn Yocum (@MarilynYocum) January 4, 2016

Play can be delicious. Callie Feyen knew that when she baked #PlayProject bread using her grandmother’s recipe…

Day One of participating in @annkroeker 's #playproject. I baked French bread using a recipe in my Grandma Ayanoglou's bread book. #yum

A photo posted by Callie Feyen (@calliefeyen) on Jan 1, 2016 at 10:54am PST

and created some art to inspire…

@annkroeker here's what I did for Day 2 of #playproject Explanation forthcoming (as discussed on FB during our lovely #playchat, but I it wasn't an accident that the print from my friend @ashleegadd is next to my other sign. (Also, I took the statement from @designmom's book.)

A photo posted by Callie Feyen (@calliefeyen) on Jan 2, 2016 at 12:02pm PST

 

Lisa Taylor Phillips played with her button collection:

@lisatphillips My love of old buttons. Embellish sweaters & scarves. Day 2 plan by @annkroeker #PlayProject #2016 pic.twitter.com/572f5ykOLA

— lisa taylor phillips (@lisatphillips) January 2, 2016

Christina Hubbard heard about my doodling and shared her dreams of the beach…

A little late to the #playproject, but #creativity remains undaunted! On right: my doodles + beach (which appeared subconsciously. Florida is in my near future). This hand-drawn card on the left from a @fair_trade_friday artisan inspired me. P.S. does anyone know where I can get more of them? (artist: Fidan from Azerbaijan). Thanks for the challenge, @annkroeker + card @abigailinkc #waketomake #playwithart #makers #beautifullife #creativechallenge #thisisfun

A photo posted by Christina Hubbard (@creativefreecourage) on Jan 7, 2016 at 11:08am PST

We’re just getting started on this month of fun.

And by “we” I mean you, me, our friends, your writing group, the neighbors. The #PlayProject is for anyone: writers, creatives, and curious people of all kinds.

Are you hesitating?

Dr. Stuart Brown observes, “We strive to always be productive, and if an activity doesn’t teach us a skill, make us money, or get on the boss’s good side, then we feel we should not be doing it. Sometimes the sheer demands of daily living seem to rob us of the ability to play,” and yet “play is what lifts people out of the mundane” (6-7, 6).

He continues, “Once people understand what play does for them, they can learn to bring a sense of excitement and adventure back to their lives, make work an extension of their play lives, and engage fully with the world” (11).

Won’t you join us? Let play lift you out of the mundane. Bring that sense of excitement and adventure to your life. Engage more fully with the world.

You can start small, like I have, with a coloring book, a doodle, a break from the weight of work and everyday challenges. Or go big straight out of the gate! Jump in at any time with your own playful ideas.

If you make your own efforts public, link up on social media or send me a link (you may have to adjust privacy settings). I’d love to see and celebrate! Did I miss you this week? Drop a link to your project in the comments below, so we can pay you a visit!

For now, play on.

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Related:

• The Play Project: A Month of Fun for Anyone (especially writers and other creatives) (includes free worksheets to inspire your creativity)
• #29: The Energizing Work of the Playful Writer (podcast)
• Top 6 Curiosity Discoveries – December 2015, Planning for Play
• Take Your Play History
• #31: Plan a Playful Year (podcast)
• English Teaching Resources: Incidentally, That Play-Doh Could Prevent a Homicide (Tweetspeak Poetry)
• English Teaching Resources: Incidentally, That Lego Could Earn You Six Figures (Tweetspeak Poetry)

Source: Brown, Stuart L., and Christopher C. Vaughan. Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. New York: Avery, 2009. Print.