What if we told you that play is a basic human need?
STUART BROWN: It's as basic as sleep and nutrition. It just doesn't necessarily produce the same result as hunger or fatigue, but the need to play is there in all of us.
HUANG: That's Dr. Stuart Brown, a longtime play researcher and psychiatrist by training. And he says that play can help us adapt to challenges circumstances, to practice skills that we need to survive. But as adults, we often stop playing and sometimes we even forget how to do it. So Marielle Segarra, the host of NPR's Life Kit, is going to help us remember. You probably have an idea of what play is, but here's a definition just in case.
Post don't you start writing that book or that blog post? Why don't you make a video on TikTok?
SEGARRA: Now, you may feel like you barely have time in the day to sit down, let alone play. But you can always find moments to be playful. Dr. Brown told me that on the morning of our interview, he walked out of his house to get his copy of The New York Times.
HARRY: Which is part of my 90-year-old ritual now. And there on the step in front of me was a little Oregon junco. And that little Oregon junco was looking up at me and jumping up and down and jumping up and down. And I thought, that little bird is really glad to be alive. OK, so am I. I'm an old guy, but I'm still glad to be alive.
SEGARRA: So go pet that cute puppy on the street - with permission - or pick up a pinecone at the park and ask your friend to name it. Or my favorite - watch people flirting on your subway car. Do what feels like play, and see where it takes you. For NPR News, I'm Marielle Segarra.
HUANG: And for more Life Kit, check out npr.org/lifekit.
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What if we told you that play is a basic human need? 
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