creativiteach

While we’re considering play, let’s talk about fun. DeepFUN.

Game designer Bernie DeKoven’s DeepFUN website is all about games. Here’s the way he describes it.

This site is about games – not just any games – just the games you play for fun. In the process of growing up, most people lose touch with the sources of their personal power. Fun is one of those sources – especially when it is deep: whole-hearted, whole-minded, whole-bodied.

Because, when the fun gets deep enough, it can heal the world.

The site has some interesting resources, but my favorite part is the collection of games. This is not a list of Red Light Green Light, Red Rover, or jump rope options—though those can be fun, too. This is a list of games that make you say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” And “When can we start?” Human card games? Giant pickup sticks? Snake in the grass? Mass Multiplayer Crowdsourced Paddycake? All those and many more are there for your fun. You’ll have no urge to throw golf clubs, no opposition to threaten you. The games are for groups big and small, with rules that can be adapted and innovations encouraged.

If that’s not enough, you can consider Seven Ways to Make Almost Anything More Fun. If that isn’t enough to help the children in your life come up with new game variations, I’m not sure what will be.

DeepFUN is, well, a lot of fun. DeKoven believes that the playful path is the wiser happier one and I have to agree. Could there be a better time to try?

If you find a favorite game—or invent one that’s even better—we’d love to hear about it.