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As an educator, I’m curious about how childhood play and learning experiences shape individuals at the top of their creative fields. Recently I asked Garth Fagan, Tony Award winning choreographer of the Lion King, just that question.
“As a child,” Fagan began, “I loved anything that got me moving.”
One of his favorite haunts, an Olympic-size pool at Bournemouth Gardens in his Jamaican homeland, served as an irresistible place for games of chase and dare. Fagan recalled how he and his friends […]

Continue Reading about Garth Fagan: Play and the Innovative Dancer Published on:
February 10, 2012

In 2009, Mattel introduced two new Barbie dolls, Edward and Bella, to their Pink Label collection. I’m sure most recognize this famous duo as Bella Swan and her sparkly vampire beau, Edward Cullen, from the Twilight saga. Mattel released the dolls in conjunction with the November 2009 premiere of the movie New Moon, and has since turned characters Jacob, Alice, Victoria, and Jane into dolls as well. It seems Mattel couldn’t help but notice that Twilight has a veritable army […]

Continue Reading about Teddy Meets Twilight: Popular Culture’s Influence on Toys Published on:
February 7, 2012

From Man Ray and Elizabeth Lee Miller to Picasso and Marie-Therese Walter, the story of an artist and his muse proves just as striking as the artwork itself. Today, video games both inspire art and serve as a muse. Three different video game projects recently caught my fancy.
A few years ago, I went to see The Artist is Present at the Museum of Modern Art. Marina Abramović sat in a chair for nearly three months, and as part of her […]

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February 3, 2012

If you have ever owned a puppy, you know how they like to chew and chew and then chew some more. Puppies are chewing machines. They chew to celebrate when they’re happy. They chew to calm themselves when they’re anxious. They chew to soothe their erupting teeth and ease the ache in their growing jaws. They chew because it’s fun. For a puppy, chewing is play. The playing puppy doesn’t always make us happy. A puppy will chew the soles […]

Continue Reading about When Chewing is Play: The Dood and His Toys Published on:
February 3, 2012

In case you missed the media blitz, on November 10, the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong announced its 2011 inductees: the dollhouse, Hot Wheels, and the blanket. If you read my early November blog, you know that I thought the puppet, one of the 12 finalists for this year’s induction, was a shoo-in—just goes to show you that even insiders cannot always guess well!
I concede that each of this year’s inductees certainly belongs in the Toy Hall […]

Continue Reading about The Dollhouse: A 2011 National Toy Hall of Fame Inductee Published on:
January 31, 2012

Here’s a story about the important lessons I learned about a peculiar form of play from Tommy, a mischievous high school pal of mine.
Practical Joke, Fake Spilled Beverage
 

Practical jokes and harmless pranks are blithe and funny, especially to the perpetrators and the onlookers. Such jokes and pranks fool, hoodwink, and ensnare their victims and play best when the object of the joke seems slightly deserving of the attention. Practical jokes and harmless pranks must make the victim himself laugh […]

Continue Reading about Practical Jokes as Play: The Spritz, the Sneak, and the Penguin Published on:
January 27, 2012

It’s 6:30 a.m. on a January morning in 1977 when the alarm clock rings to wake my sister and me for school. I crawl out of bed, look out the window, and notice that it snowed overnight. I can barely see the cars on the street with the thick layer of flakes covering them. I quickly run downstairs, turn on the radio, and listen intently. To my delight, I hear the magic words, “School is closed today.” With confirmation from […]

Continue Reading about Sledding 101 Published on:
January 24, 2012

What do play, The DaVinci Code, multiplying rabbits, double-entry bookkeeping, and Roman numerals have to do with discovering the secrets of the universe or at least have to do with finding an easier way to do arithmetic?
 In the whopper of an opening scene in Dan Brown’s alternate history page-turner The DaVinci Code, a creepy robed figure corners a terrified curator in the Louvre’s famed Grande Gallerie, a room that displays the Mona Lisa and other acclaimed works. After a short […]

Continue Reading about Thank you Fibonacci for Playing with Numbers Published on:
January 19, 2012

As a kid, I had the good fortune of a basement playroom brimming with toys, from a massive pink Barbie Dream House to bins full of Lego bricks and even an air hockey table. Though I enjoyed all these toys, I gravitated to a box full of blank, hardcover books more than anything else in the basement. I could spend hours filling the books’ pages with stories and pictures, such as “The Cheese Family,” stories about a family of traveling […]

Continue Reading about More than Just a Toy Published on:
January 17, 2012