The Importance of Play During A Pandemic

Play is important - even essential. During this pandemic we have learned so much about social distancing. We have separated ourselves from those who love; our friends and loved ones miss us. But in 2021 I remind you to play!

I could bore you with research about how playing is important for our social, emotional and physical well being. I could remind you that when we play with our children our cortisol levels decrease, our heart rate increases, and it increases our ability to self regulate. All because we are playing!

I write grants for a living, for a Children's Museum in my home town. I went away to college and received a journalism degree from Indiana University. Before the pandemic I would always find nature. Who says a pandemic has to keep us away from being outside, playing with our children, helping them and ourselves cope with the horrid disease of COVID-19.

I use to work at a nursing home where I provided the company with bed management and planned special events. It was a hard time for us. We, as a company lost 1.6 million dollars, and were reminded of it daily. The company was not aware of the severity of COVID-19 in the early days. They were not on the floors, they were not in the trenches. They were having us keep up with their corporate numbers, but they did not know the importance of keeping our residents happy. We were faced with the sadness of our residents becoming infected with this terrible disease. We were in the midst of a crisis and didn't understand the severity.

Nobody truly knew the impact that COVID would make on our lives. In March of 2020 we did not know that nurses would become sick, our residents would be lonely and together as a community we would face the hardest time period that we had faced in what some argue a century.

We checked temperatures at the door, we carried letters with us declaring our proof of essential worker status. We were scared, angry, confused and were in need of support. We found it in each other. We discovered the strength in numbers, even if we stood 6 feet apart.

Our activities directors were busy planning bingo from a distance. They created small group activities and even activities where residents would sit in their doorway. The vivid memories of seeing an 80 year old woman sitting in her wheelchair waiting to color with her friends, but couldn't leave her room. One day, two of my favorite residents tied a string to each other measuring 6 feet and walked around the common area laughing and joking about social distance. These were the early days, when the impact didn't quite set in yet. What a testimony of friendship these two made that day, laughing with a prop of a single string. Showing us that no matter how old you are, you can't quite separate us from coping with loneliness by putting us in an age group where play isn't important. Their playful nature kept me going. It kept all of us going. Our first positive COVID-19 resident left us in tears. Four months of hard work, sleepless nights, double shifts and masks could not keep it at bay. We were faced with nurses dressing up in gowns, wearing masks and taking showers in between taking care of residents. This was teamwork. This was humanity. This was our testimony of faith in a world we feared.

Play was important then and it's essential now. We must continue to connect with others in creative ways. We must think outside of the box. Our residents were writing letters again, Face-timing friends and family from their rooms, helping us stay positive by reminding us what it was like in World War II, and monumental times in their lives where they had to believe it would get better. We talked more, even from a distance.

So I hope this inspires you, to keep playing. Keep reaching out to others. Remain present even though you feel far away from where you'd like to be. Reach out to others. Call your neighbor. Play in the yard. Break out the coloring books, sketch books and canvas. Write a letter, sing together, be in nature, embrace those you can while you can. Play has never been more important. Let 2021 be a year of play, even if only from your backyard.