Making Space for Play: Reclaiming Our Most Human Superpower

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Ryan Reid

May 6, 2025

Bream Health Inc.

Walk into any kindergarten and you’ll see it: curiosity crackling in the air, cardboard castles rising, markers squeaking across paper. Somewhere between spelling tests and spreadsheets, many of us misplace that spark—yet the impulse to play never disappears. It simply waits for an invitation.
Why Play Belongs on the Grown-Up Calendar

Why Play Belongs on the Grown-Up Calendar

Neuroscientists now place play alongside sleep, exercise, and nutrition as essential to a thriving brain. Laughter-laced, imaginative activity triggers dopamine (the motivation neurotransmitter) and fuels neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire and learn. Regular bouts of playful exploration are linked to:
  • Sharper problem-solving – freewheeling games boost divergent thinking, the skill that helps us generate multiple solutions.

  • Stress buffering – playful states dial down cortisol, lowering blood pressure and easing muscle tension.

  • Social glue – cooperative play lights up the brain’s empathy circuits, strengthening bonds and trust.

Put simply: play keeps us flexible—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

History’s Artists Knew It All Along

Modern art movements from Cubism to Surrealism were, at their core, grand playgrounds. Picasso sketched like a child to see shapes anew; Paul Klee let lines “take him for a walk”; Alexander Calder bent wire into circus acrobats that actually performed. These creators believed the adult mind grows rigid by routine—and that playful experimentation is the antidote.
Their legacy reminds us that play is older than culture and forever its engine.

How to Re-invite Play into Daily Life

  1. Micro-Doodles at Meetings
    Keep a sticky-note pad handy; turn stray squiggles into tiny characters while you listen.

  2. Five-Minute Object Swap
    Grab two household items (a whisk and a paintbrush?) and brainstorm ten alternate uses. No judging.

  3. Movement Remix
    Put on a favorite song, but limit yourself to one square foot of floor space. How many ways can your shoulders dance?

  4. Story Cubes with Friends
    Cut pictures from old magazines, toss them in a bowl, and build a spontaneous tale together.

  5. “What If” Walks
    On your next stroll, ask outrageous questions: What if that lamppost sprouted leaves? Say the answers out loud.

Each practice is short, equipment-light, and designed to shuttle you into the absorbing “play space” where time melts and ideas bloom.

Try a Guided Play Session with Bream

If you’re ready for a deeper dive, our on-demand Cubism Revolution class explores play and painting to create from your imagination and unique perspective.
Give yourself permission to tinker, to laugh at the mess, and to greet your imagination like an old friend. Make space for play, and watch new color seep into every corner of your life.