The childhood and adult play histories of three high creative young adults

Abstract

Scientific investigations into the phenomenon of play within the creative individual are scarce and reveal minimal knowledge especially related to young adults. A brief review of major play and creativity theories served to magnify the significance of play as a topic worth inquiry across the lifespan. The primary intent of this qualitative study was to explore the role of play in the past and present lives of three high creative young adults. Through the use of in depth interviews, this study specifically examined the childhood play experiences of high creative young adults, the various forms of play and its manifestations in young adulthood, and the personal meaning and diverse uses of play in the everyday lives of young adults. The overall findings indicated that the three high creative young adults had very high expectations of themselves, seemed to operate on intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation, engaged in large amounts of imaginative play, had families that liked to joke and tease with one another, particularly enjoyed unstructured play activities such as building with Legos and drawing, and had many interests and displayed an authentic zest for life. A sample of sketches was collected from the three participants as supplemental data. The results of this study suggest that the creative and self-healing properties of play do not diminish in childhood, but continue to be an integral component of healthy human development across the lifespan.