International Day Of Play: Turning Giggles Into Courage, One Monster At A Time
Picture by Patricia Prudente @apsprudente
“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” ~ Joseph Chilton Pearce
I had five strikes against me: Strike 1 - I am a substitute teacher for the New York City Department of Education. We all know what Substitute translates to in kidspeak: “Anarchy!” Strike 2 - 6th graders, 11 years old, prepubescent, Generation Alpha. Gen X meets Gen Alpha. They’re smart, sassy, and have unlimited energy. I brought dates in for my morning snack. “Anyone here like dates?” I asked to stir a little small talk. One of my little girl students, family from Pakistan said: “Mr. Chris, instead of eating dates, you should get a date!” O-U-C-H.
Strike 3 - I was the 6th sub for the school year. Strike 4 – the subject was social studies, which I love. How do you make social studies interesting and electric for 7-9 hours a week for each class of 30 students. Strike 5 – It’s springtime and all the accompanying restlessness, fighting, and dating.
Today is June 11, recognized as the International Day of Play, a day to celebrate a right that belongs to every child…and every grown-up too: play.
History Time:
In March of 2024, the United Nations recognized what observable science documents, what parents and educators know – every little living creature needs play. It is powerful and is critically important to growth and development. They made June 11 the International Day of Play to remind everyone—parents, educators, even ourselves—that play, and imagination are not extras, but essentials.
I used the game Hot Seat as a way to incorporate movement and fun. You have to make sure you set the boundaries. 1. Set the boundaries. 2. Only three passes 3. TP – Too Personal. Students can use that card to draw their boundaries. 4. Give the students time to create questions and require that they incorporate history questions from material covered that week. 5. Interject historical questions ever so often with the kid’s questions because they always strayed from subject:
Who’s your op?
·Which superpower? Invisibility or Flying?
·Do you like girls?
·Do you like boys?
·Did you date_____?
Monsters and Magic in Talk About the Monster
Today is a call to protect the simple joy of running around, dancing, building, acting, pretending, laughing, and yes, sometimes being afraid.
Excerpt from Talk About the Monster - Illustration by Michael Hogan. Click on picture to get your copy of the book.
In Talk About the Monster, I created a monster and a little girl, both of whom live in the shadows of fear. But the hero wasn’t the one who fought it. The hero was the one who talked it out, who gave words to that swirling unknown. That’s play, too. It’s theater of the heart. It’s not even saying, “I feel scared,” and sliding into a costume of bravery. It’s just getting our children into the practice of describing everything they see, say, feel, think, even in a neutral space or a time with no intensity, so that when the sticky times occur, the child has the practice of exercising that mental and emotional muscle. Through this exercise, we give voice to what’s often left unspoken.
A Story from Today
One sunny afternoon, with permission, I took the kids outside to kick the ball and run around while answering history questions about the Law of Hammurabi. To see them run around screaming under a blue sky, clouds, and sun made my week.
Play reconnects us to wonder.
Play reminds us that not knowing is simply part of the adventure.
And play? It’s where the monster shrinks and your power to imagine grows.
Your Invitation (Yes, You)
In honor of today, here’s a simple challenge:
Find one small moment to play, even if it’s just in your mind. Jump rope, draw a world, tell a silly story… or whisper to a monster inside you.
Talk about it. Say what you feel, out loud or in your head.
Celebrate every giggle, every step, even the ones that tremble.
That’s it. No spotlight. No pressure. Just a choice to remember how essential play is—to children, to us, and to the monsters we name and tame.
A Final Thought
If Talk About the Monster brought one whisper of courage to a child - or reminded an adult to play -then today it belongs in that parade of playfulness too. So go on. Really - find a way to play today and talk about the monster while you're at it because every child's right to play is every grown-up’s invitation to grow.