The World-Famous Human Play Definition Generator

Lead Author: Dan Castro

Additional authors: Catherine Montgomery

Timetable: Wednesday Session 2: 14:45-15:30,

Description:

Roll up! Roll up! Come one, come all to see the astounding Play Definition Generator™! Finally, a way of creating a single universal definition of play that definitely, unquestionably, totally makes perfect, undeniable, unarguable, theoretically and grammatically robust sense, yup, uh-huh, sure. Through original research, digital toys and some general silliness, this session asks what’s more important – defining play, or doing it? – and provides space for participants to playfully, joyfully, decide what play means for themselves.

Play academia is not so much a wood as a dense, almost impenetrable forest. Every book, every blog, every workshop, every conference, every individual seems to have their own understanding of what play is. Is it any wonder, then, that we sometimes fall into the trap of using games, or play, in our work, teaching and research, without more deliberately considering their implications – or their value? In doing so, perhaps we’re missing the wood for the trees. That’s why, as part of our research on the Wellcome-funded project “Medicine Without Doctors: Reimagining Care and Voice through Play”, we invented the Playful Definition Generator – a digital ‘toy’ that lets you generate your own definition, based on real academic literature, peer-reviewed theory…and a little nonsense. By playfully poking fun at play research itself, we gained a better understanding of what we mean when we talk about play.

This ‘hands-on, minds-on’ workshop is about returning to first principles – reimagining play, through playing with its very definitions. Through individual reflection, group discussion and a little bit of audience participation, participants will reconnect with their personal understandings of play, forge absurd new definitions, and ultimately remind themselves why we’re all here in the first place.

After an introduction to the themes and the digital Playful Definition Generator (PDG), this workshop playfully pokes fun at play research, embodying the tension between play and its definitions, before bringing them together:

Part 1: Play?
Participants learn a little about the thinking and theory behind the PDG, and its application.

Part 2: Play…
Participants literally take the theories apart, cutting, sticking, copying and stealing to build their own personal theories of play

Part 3: Play!
Finally, participants invite chance into the mix, as we randomise verbs, nouns and philosophies to become a Human Play Definition Generator, creating The Single Most (in)Accurate Universal Definition Of Play Ever Made™.

References, web links and other resources:

https://playdefinitiongenerator.neocities.org/

https://www.plork.fun

https://www.medicinewithoutdoctors.org/