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Introduction
Psycholudics is 'the study of the mind and psyche at play,'
aiming to describe the process of play as it happens.
So, to begin with: what is play? It might be said
that play is about building social relationships, but it can also be carried out
through individual, solitary meditations. We might define play as about
developing physical skills but it is also a passive, reflective, mental
activity. In fact for everything we use to describe it, there is an opposite
description. So what is it that play is?
We believe that we are driven to play
as part of our basic human development. This play drive is as much part
of us as the urge to breathe. From the earliest days as children, the play drive
is what helps us learn the key skills essential for our survival. We cannot see
this play drive, though we can see the effects it produces.
Below we discuss the
process of playing – the full play cycle as we describe it as the basis for a
psycholudic understanding of the play process.
The need to play first begins in a kind of internal contemplation,
a reverie, we call i) the play drive or metalude. From this state,
the child produces an action, which may be very obvious or very subtle. This
action we call the play cue.
The
ii) the play cue comes from the thoughts of the child,
their internal world, into the physical world in the expectation of getting a
response. A play cue may be a facial expression, body language, vocalised sound
or physical action that communicates the child or young person’s wish to invite
others to play. For instance, in very young children, the play cue may be to
drop an object from the hand for someone else to pick up and pass back. Still
later it may be a spoken request.
Figure 2 - The Play Cycle
The answer to a play cue, we call iv) a play return. From
the external containing world, a response or return is taken in and incorporated
by the child. The child will reply to this response in a number of ways. They
may react to it and continue the play. They may react and change the play. Or
they may ignore it altogether. The return can come from another person, though
as many people know, children can play alone and get a lot of stimulation from
their own play. In that situation, we say that the return comes from the
environment, though it should be understood that it is the child's play drive
that is completing the play cycle, not the environment that is playing with the
child!
Put simply, the child may see something interesting in the
environment and think, that looks fun and start playing with it. This playing
intention is held by the creation of iii) a play frame. The frame is a material
or non-material boundary that keeps the play intact. The child may then change
the frame by including others, moving objects or adapting it in some other way
to create a varied response that maintains the play flow (Figure 3). Once
entered into, this play flow can absorb the child or children for minutes to
days at a time. When the play meaning of the frame is extinguished, when the
flow is terminated, we say that the play is annihilated. These elements
constitute the full play cycle as we perceive it.
Figure 3 - Play Flow
The play cycle consists of the full flow of play from the
child's first play cue, the perceived return from the outside world, the child’s
response to the return, and the further development of play to the point where
the play is complete.
Seeing play as a drive that creates cues and responds to
the environment has implications for our work practice with children at play.
The drive within the child is what starts the play cycle. We recognise this
when
we say that play is about choice for the child. Children denied choice, will be
inhibited in their play, the cycle will be incomplete. The play drive will try
to compensate with cues that are more urgent or aberrant, perhaps causing
conflict with the environment around the child (these urgent cues we call
dysplay).
 
We know that play is done for its own sake and not
for some external reward. The play drive is seeking to play with the world
around the child and those things and people in it. When it gets a meaningful
response, when the frame and the content are spent, it is complete and can begin
all over again. Play is therefore incremental and developmental; anyone who
tries to lead or force it will be denying the play drive purpose and
adulterating the child play.
We believe that the play drive, its
expression and enjoyment, are closely linked to an ecological well-being and are
the basis for our therapeutic way of working with children.
This is an
edited extract from: Gordon Sturrock and Perry Else (1998)
The playground as therapeutic space: playwork as healing
- also known as
‘The Colorado Paper’.
Click
here to access a PDF 'read-only' copy of the
paper. Printed papers are available from:
http://www.commonthreads.org.uk/
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Ludemos