SIMAGES 2015.2 - Webinar Recording: Pursuing Playfulness with Bernie DeKoven

Pursuing Playfulness

with Bernie De Koven

Shaman of Play

We all seek to use games and other learning activities to engage with the learners. Understanding and taking a playful approach will encourage participants to make the game (or learning) their own. Bernie will talk about the nature of playfulness based on many years of experience in pursuit of play. You will come away with a new sense of what it means to be playful and its potential for enhancing your games and for your life.

In this session you will learn

• A new sense of what it means to be playful.
• The value of playfulness in increasing engagement
• How playfulness contributes to facilitation.
• Approaches to incorporating playfulness in your designs
• How playfulness is relevant to your personal and professional growth.How playfulness can help you capitalize on the physical presence of players.

RecordingNote: The recording does not show the text chat from the session, it is availablein the transcript below.TranscriptPursuing Playfulness Chat Text by TopicDiscussion of the Parablechris : cooperation vs competitionbruce honig : Shifting perspectivesKae Novak : Soup - Survior StyleJennifer Napier : different perspectivesbruce honig : allowing for the unexpectedSM-G900V : working together not alonebecky : changing the rules of the gameDani Abrams : Creative group explorationbruce honig : focusing on the goalLinda Slack : sharing can make it more funMartin Dyrman Hansen : play can be competition. but competition stops when it is no longer fairSM-G900V : getting stuff done by working together and getting input from everyoneEmil : serious things shown in a funny wayKae Novak : they finessed the game.Heather Hafner : collaboration brings life to everyonebecky : emil good insight about the content and playful presentationDiscussion of "There must be a good reason" Tom is not here because...SScott Nicholson : Dave's not here, man.bruce honig : Working on taxesMartin Dyrman Hansen : his dog ate his essayGreg Koeser : Tom was abducted by Aliens (maybe coordinated by Dave?)Kari Bothwell : OversleptDani Abrams : There was an ice storm last night.Kae Novak : ZombiesEmil : Snowwwwwwbruce honig : Doesn’t know where is hereMartin Dyrman Hansen : Zombies, yesKari Bothwell : He doesn't careGreg Koeser : Tom's alter superhero was needed at the timeLinda Slack : the weatherbernarddekoven : there’s no here therebruce honig : Doesn’t know where is thereMartin Dyrman Hansen : Time zone confusionDaniel : took the scenic routeMelissa Peterson: Sick childbruce honig : Just confusion…like meKari Bothwell : he won the lotteryMelissa Peterson : Sick childJanet.Stivers : his kids has a snow delaybruce honig : He is everywhereMartin Dyrman Hansen : his unborn daughter was bornDiscussion of Playful Design and FacilitationMartin Dyrman Hansen : Great progression in that game.Martin Dyrman Hansen : make it easy to startLinda Slack : what's the teaching moment -purpose/objective?SScott Nicholson : Allow the particiants to guide the experience.Janet.Stivers : make it as risk free as possible - no wrong responsesKari Bothwell : Positive attitude! Show everyone you're having a great time!becky : the design needs to have a plan for participants to contribute and change the experienceMelissa Peterson : Let the players determine some of the designDani Abrams : An in-depth debriefbecky : model the behaviorKae Novak : I like giving some sort of role but leaving it really openJanet.Stivers : be willing to model sillinessKari Bothwell : provide purpose for the exercisebruce honig : Go to there area of competency yet make it challenging….becky : good point about a starting point like a roleLorri Hopping : “Yes and” (open doors, don’t close them)Martin Dyrman Hansen : add one thing at a timebecky : when you are in the design process stay playful with the design teamKari Bothwell : Provide clear directionbruce honig : As others said modelLinda Slack : allow them to make mistakes and laugh at themselvesMartin Dyrman Hansen : max 3 sentences before starting the gamebruce honig : Be attune to what is happening in real lifeJanet.Stivers : provide lots of warm fuzzies - eye contact, smiles, anything to keep folks encouraged and engagedbruce honig : smileMelissa Peterson : Get people out of their seatsFrom bruce honig : allow for choiceFrom Martin Dyrman Hansen : set an example of the behaviour you wish to createFrom chris : smiling in text chat :-)From bruce honig : expect the unexpectedFrom Daniel : enjoy the activity yourselfFrom Martin Dyrman Hansen : be willing to make mistakes yourselfFrom Lorri Hopping : be sensitive to personality typesFrom Kari Bothwell : be willing to laugh at yourselfFrom bruce honig : that reminds me of… honor diverse responsesFrom becky : great idea to have endorsed quittingFrom Kari Bothwell : Love it!From Emil : I’ve just broken my finger ;)From Janet.Stivers : one more time!From chris : sillinessFrom SScott Nicholson : Now that I will quote!  :)From chris : just a reference back to frog. here is the linkFrom chris : http://deepfun.com/frogQ and A chatLorri Hopping : interested to hear differences in playful design for small groups and large groups (like 300)Greg Koeser : What was the quote that Scott wants to remember?Martin Dyrman Hansen : what is most important in creating room for playfulness in public spaces?Lorri Hopping : ah, great… choice (and love the quitting practice idea), thank youSScott Nicholson : Greg: "As the great Bernie Dekoven says when asked why physical games are better than virtual games... how do you prefer to make love?"Bryan: your thoughts on Viola Spolin’s theater games?Emil : Do you have any experiences with using playfulness with high management teams?Bryan : Thoughts on Neva Boyd and if any influence on you.Bryan : What pulled you into play in your life?Mom? Dad? Environment?Lorri Hopping : really helpful talk and websiteMartin Dyrman Hansen : Games do also create the safety cross hierarchy.  in my experience I can start with very safe games and then increase risk and energy when the boss is presentKari Bothwell : What do you say to those (usually in upper management) who think play and games are a waste of time?Kae Novak : Will you be sending out a link to this recording so it can be shared?Melissa Peterson : We will be sending out the recording for sure.Kae Novak : THANK YOU!Blessings Chatbernarddekoven : may we all find ways to be more playful in our workGreg Koeser : May we all find success in sharing fun around usKae Novak : may we never have to work at being playfulMartin Dyrman Hansen : may we help others be more playfulBryan : May we have more fun and play when interacting with adults 80 and older.Lorri Hopping : may the playful spirit be a contagionchris : may you always find playmates in your work and your lifechris : may your work disappear into playJanet.Stivers : may we bring playfulness to dull tasks, to transform them (I'm thinking of program accreditation stuff(Kari Bothwell : May your playfulness and joy infect others around youSamantha Knight : these are greatBryan : May we bring play into every serious business conversationchris : and the dull tasks become the basis of a new gameMartin Dyrman Hansen : may conversations be more playfulJanet.Stivers : may a sense of playfulness help us to be more spontaneous, and therefore more present and responsive to othersBryan : May all ages start and end their day on a playful noteGreg Koeser : May we be led by "The Frog" to experience the worldGreg Koeser : May we all go to the NASAGA conference and share blessings to each other there!!!Bryan : May more Bernie’s be born from this conversation!Closingchris : clap clapKari Bothwell : Clap clap clap!Bryan : Thank you to infinity Bernie and Melissa!Martin Dyrman Hansen : waving hands. thanksEmil : thank you Bernie!bernarddekoven : it was a delightbecky : clap clapbecky : yayJanet.Stivers : Yes, thanks Bernie, and NASAGA for offering this opportunityShahnaz Kamberi : *claps*bernarddekoven : thank you all for your honest, thoughtful contributionschris : http://www.nasaga.org/profiles/blogs/read-simages-february-2015Kae Novak : Thank you Bernie! and if we can't do this F2F, this was a more than respectful substitute.

About Bernie

In 1971, Bernard De Koven completed work on a collection of over 1000 children’s games, organized according to different forms and complexities of social interaction. Called the Interplay Games Curriculum, and published by the School District of Philadelphia, it led to his founding of The Games Preserve, a retreat center for the exploration of games and play for adults in Eastern Pennsylvania. The Games Preserve served many organizations and individuals, and functioned as the East Coast branch of The New Games Foundation. In 1978, De Koven published The Well-Played Game, which was re-released by MIT Press in 2013. Since his most recent book, A Playful Path, was published the following year, more than 62,000 copies have been downloaded. During his long career, he has designed games of all kinds: board and table games, computer games, social games for small and large groups, city-wide game celebrations, theater games, games for couples, families, children and elders. But his greatest impact has been his development of a theory of fun and playfulness and how it can affect every aspect of personal and interpersonal, community and institutional health. His game, Junkyard Games, is one of the most popular games to have been published by HRDQ -http://www.hrdqstore.com/junkyard-games-problem-solving-activities.html . It received its debut at a NASAGA conference. Bernie is also recipient of the Ifill-Raynolds award.

De Koven continues to make his work publicly available through workshops and his two websites: http://aplayfulpath.com and http://deepfun.com