Balance December 2017 - 34

P L AY T O W I N

Archimedes had his eureka moment
splashing about in the bath and Newton
when lounging under a tree.

PURPOSELESS PURSUITS
In an ideal world, says Stuart, the workplay differential would cease to exist. 'I
would encourage people to approach life
as an integrative process, incorporating
play seamlessly into their daily activities
- and that includes work,' he says. This is
entirely possible, play takes many different
forms - as individual as all our tastes and
predilections - with endless opportunities
to indulge. You may not have crazy golf at
work, but you will have colleagues to share
a joke with, or a notepad to doodle on.
The great thing about play is it can be any
activity, says Stuart, as long as it 'offers a
sense of engagement and pleasure, takes
you out of yourself and away from a sense
of time and place, is voluntary and is
apparently purposeless, so the experience
is more important than the outcome.'
Having said that, many people obviously
want more than scribbling doodles
because they're actively trying to recreate
other activities from their childhoods
- including playing with toys.
According to market research company
The NPD Group, the £300million UK
'kidult' toy market is growing three times
faster than the sector overall, with one in
every 11 toys now being bought by an adult
for him or herself - up 65% since 2012.
Beyond that, our hunger for uninhibited
frivolity is driving a burgeoning
'adultescent' industry, with an increasing
number of venues and attractions
promising to help us satiate and quieten
the clamour of our inner child.

NO ONE WAY TO PLAY
From cafés offering papier maché monstermaking classes to regression sessions at
nightclubs - where ravers literally drop
the acid in favour of bouncing around on

FIND
YOUR
BALANCE
HOLIDAYS ARE
COMING
- IT'S TIME
TO HAVE FUN
1. FUN HUNTER
THATMuse (it stands for
Treasure Hunt At The
Museum) offers precisely that
at the V&A and the British
Museum. Charge around the
galleries against the clock to
find artefacts. Accept
challenges to boost your
score. It's an absolute hoot.
thatmuse.com

2. JUMP TO IT
Wouldn't life be great if each
time we fell, we bounced
back up again? Well you can
at Oxygen Freejumping. Leap,
twist, turn, tumble, land...
and repeat on more than 150
connected trampolines.
oxygenfreejumping.co.uk

3. BALL PITS
AND TECHNO
The best way to rave is on...
a space hopper. Regression
sessions combine the fun of
your childhood parties - ball
pits, face painting, magicians
- with classic house, garage and
hip hop. It's almost everything
you could want on a dance
floor. egressionsessions.com

4. IT'S HIP TO
HAVE HOBBIES
Yes, yes, we know you love a
box set, but there really are
other things to do with your
time. At Drink, Shop, Do, you
can learn how to dance jazz,
make paper cut-outs, design
your own tattoos and more.
drinkshopdo.com

5. GAME ON
Give your local's dusty chess
set with half the pieces a
miss and head down to
Draughts. The café has a
library of more than 600
board games and employs a
game guru to help you
choose. There are craft
beers and food, too.
draughtslondon.com

34

space hoppers - opportunities for adults to
play abound, not only in this country, but
right throughout Europe, the US and Asia.
Wacky World, the UK's biggest inflatable
activity centre, has been touring the
country since February, with its adult-only
sessions selling out in city after city; Ballie
Ballerson, where adults rollick around
in a giant ball pit while a DJ mixes the
tracks, will soon be opening a million-ball
venue - and is urging people to get on its

BA LA N CE December 2017

FIND A WAY TO
BRING JOY AND
PLAY INTO YOUR
LIFE - JUST LIKE
IT USED TO BE
waiting list now - and adults-only 'The
Beast', allegedly the largest bouncy castle
in the world, had people jumping for joy
throughout the summer.

PLAYING THE MARKET
Meanwhile colouring books for adults
continue to top the bestseller lists:
Johanna Basford's Secret Garden sold
three million copies in China within
three months of going on sale and over
in the US, Camp Grounded and Camp
No Counselors run adult summer camps
for adults who spend their days drawing,
building Lego and going on scavenger
hunts. At night, they're tucked up in
dormitory bunk beds.
And then there's Preschool Mastermind,
which takes people back to their four-yearold selves and all the associated activities,
including finger painting and, says the
website, 'much-forgotten ABCs'.
Not all of this will work for you of
course, to help you identify what type
of play would most benefit you, think
back to your childhood. Did you enjoy
running around and climbing? Then try
a trampoline park or ball pit. Or were you
happiest when reading and colouring?
Join an arts and crafts workshop.
The most important thing is that you
find a way to bring joy and play into
your life, just like it used to be. Do it.
Do it today. You can get away with it
legitimately, it's what the doctor ordered. B


http://www.thatmuse.com http://oxygenfreejumping.co.uk http://www.egressionsessions.com http://www.drinkshopdo.com http://www.draughtslondon.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Balance December 2017

Balance December 2017 - 1
Balance December 2017 - 2
Balance December 2017 - 3
Balance December 2017 - 4
Balance December 2017 - 5
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