Last month, you might have read that investing in Lego could provide better returns than investing in gold, our latest blog. It concluded that the real returns might come from playing with Lego (with children or grandchildren), rather than leaving it “mint in box”.
This month, a BBC report has found that while playtime is vital to children’s development, it could be equally beneficial later in life too.
Keep reading for three ways in which rediscovering “play” as an adult could have a positive effect on your mental and physical health.
1. Play keeps your brain active
While your brain isn’t a muscle, it is easy to think of it as one. This is because it can be trained and maintained through exercise, just as your muscles can. Stimulating your brain through play can help to improve your brain function and avoid cognitive decline as you get older.
Playing board games like chess and bridge, or mobile phone games like Wordle or Candy Crush uses your memory, forces you to problem-solve, and can slow the decline in thinking skills that occurs as we all get older.
Even playing games that require less memory or skill, like bingo, can have a similar effect. Psychologist Drew Altschul of the University of Edinburgh, speaking to the BBC, says that “People who played more games at age 70 had a less steep decline overall in their thinking skills. We also looked at reading and writing or playing music, but they didn’t have the same effect, it was only the games.”
In the same way that children learn through play to form new connections, playing as an adult can keep your brain active. In turn, this stimulates creativity, which can help you adapt and solve problems unique to adulthood and old age, such as helping to deal with loss through the sociability of a new hobby and making new friends.
2. Play is good for your mental and physical health
Play can help to reduce stress and anxiety through the release of endorphins. According to Harvard Medical School, endorphins “are the body’s natural painkillers” and can “both relieve pain and create a general feeling of wellbeing.”
Endorphins are released when we laugh, but also through physical exercise. Low-impact activities like yoga, Pilates, or walking football could improve your flexibility, concentration levels, and help to realign your sleep patterns if you’re struggling to get enough, or the right quality, sleep.
Play that keeps you physically active has the added benefit that, unlike bingo, or playing video games, it can be performed in the fresh air.
The NHS began issuing nature prescriptions in Shetland in 2017 as part of a partnership between RSPB Scotland and NHS Shetland. The scheme recognised the role that nature can play in making us healthier and happier. The scheme was successfully rolled out to all 10 GP practices across Shetland in 2018.
In 2021, NHS England’s Chief Executive launched the NHS Long Term Plan, which included provision for green social prescribing in England too.
But it isn’t just physical outdoor play that can benefit your health. Any game that causes emotions like excitement and anticipation can help to “train” your brain, releasing endorphins through moments of joy.
3. Play can help you form relationships and develop social skills
Playing as a child is important for many reasons. It can help children to hone their motor skills, build an understanding of the world around them, and develop social skills through concepts of competition, teamwork, and sharing.
Socialising through play as an adult can have a similar function. Sharing the emotional highs and lows of playing games can build relationships and connections through the trust placed in a teammate or the empathy felt for a losing competitor.
Making friends as an adult can be difficult, especially in retirement and outside of the shared interest and goals of a work environment, but play can make the forming of bonds much easier.
It’s easy to incorporate play into your day-to-day life
Children can suffer from bouts of shyness but they can also be incredibly uninhibited. Recreating this in adulthood isn’t always easy, or even necessary.
There are plenty of ways to enjoy socialising through play, whether through organised events like bingo, quizzes, karaoke nights, or simply through playing with grandchildren or pets.
Surrounding yourself with naturally playful people can help to bring out your own playful side. Joining gyms or sports clubs with like-minded people can encourage you to engage in a new fun activity, and classes for different experience levels will ensure you progress at your own pace.
Opening yourself up to new creative opportunities, like an art class, can help you have fun and meet new people in a controlled environment. And remember, playing isn’t just for fun – it’s also a great way to keep your body and mind active whatever your age.
