I Tried Something Ridiculous That 5-Year-Olds Love — And It Instantly Took 20 Years Off My Mood
Psst. Your Inner Child Is Calling.
Laura Alvarez | Unsplash Yesterday was kind of a trip. Mom scared the daylights out of me while I was waking up, resulting in me calling a false alarm to the local police department. Then, my buddy bailed on me again.
Aside from working, I had one last thing on my schedule: seeing my friends. So, that’s what I did. And we ate burgers. Gossiped. Had fun joke time. After a while, we decided to take a walk outside in the neighborhood with my friend’s kid.
Long story short, we ended up at a local playground where we all started climbing on the jungle gym. My friend Jordan* played tag with his daughter. I got stuck on a slide after doing a bunch of climbs.
Christa* and I both started joking about our spouses, while we were on the jungle gym. Our husbands were busy chasing each other around the playground as we watched on.
It was the most unique feeling in the world.
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At that moment, we were no longer in our 20s and 30s. We were kids again, and our worries just kind of vanished for the time being.
When was the last time you actually went out and climbed on a jungle gym?
I’m not talking about hitting the barbells in the gym. I’m talking about going out to a park, climbing on the gym, getting your butt on a slide, and having cellphone-free fun?
For most of us, that stopped when we got older than 18. And I was (kind of) in that camp for the most part. And you know what? It showed. I felt it in my bones — this weird reminder that I’m no longer a child, that I can’t revisit my imagination, and that I have to “grow up.”
It’s such a subtle change in your mindset, isn’t it? We never really talk about it, but I think it’s such a universal experience. We all have that moment where we just shrug and say, “Okay, I guess I’m the adult now. I gotta be more serious.” After a certain age, you can’t be seen playing “kids’ games” without kids present. It’s seen as weird, awkward, or even (at times rightfully) creepy. So, we just collectively stop playing the games that were once our staples.
Collectively, we don’t really think about how we walked away from playtime and playgrounds. It just is what it is, right? It’s that quiet loss no one talks about because we aren’t supposed to say we miss it because that’s weird.
I mean, what is there to say? It’s supposed to be “kids’ stuff.” We absolutely do have to grow up… It’s true. Being an adult is both a privilege and a responsibility. Believe it or not, I enjoy being an adult. Moreover, I literally cannot live like a child, at least not 24/7.
I can’t be wearing Osh Kosh clothing. I can’t go without owning a business and dealing with taxes. I can’t ignore the needs of my family or exist without a care related to how food gets put on the table. You have to grow up. If you don’t, life will leave you behind.
…But that doesn’t mean we can’t “visit” our childhoods.
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like most people really forget that being an adult means that we can also choose to just play around if we want to.
And you know what? Going to a playground with a bunch of friends is fun, and it’s stupid that we pretend it’s not.
While there are a lot of playgrounds that actually do have laws against adults using them, the truth is that it’s still fairly easy to find playgrounds that are all ages. And you know what? Adults pay taxes for those parks, so why not use them?
Going to a playground was one of the most stress-relieving experiences I had in recent years.
We all talk about how important it is to stay young at heart from time to time, but have you actually decided to “kid up” in recent years? I’m willing to bet that you haven’t.
Going to that playground felt strange at first. I mean, we’re a bunch of people in our late 20s and 30s (plus one actual kid), and it was like 8 PM. It probably looked weird. But once we actually overcame that fear of “What will others say?” it became a magical experience. It was as if everyone’s inner child just breathed a sigh of relief at once.
Running up and down the jungle gym had a unique way of liberating our minds. We cut loose in a way that we didn’t with just beer or cannabis. We were able to laugh louder, move around, and actually feel alive.
I forgot how much fun it can be to go down a slide. Or how much fun it can be to climb up a ladder or chase a friend around a park. Or how surprisingly calming it can be to just pretend you’re a kid again.
We all had a lot more fun than we expected — and you know what? Going to the playground with friends might be something I do more often in the future. It left me feeling better than the way I do after a drink, and it didn’t cost a dime!
Could playground therapy be the next big thing?
After noticing how much better I felt post-park, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more to the whole playground thing than meets the eye.
Surprisingly, there is such a thing as play therapy for adults.
From what I could glean, play therapy is mostly geared toward helping adults with coping mechanisms, self-discovery, and communication. It also seems to be mostly about using dolls or similar types of toys to “play it out.” It’s still a form of therapy primarily used with kids, which makes sense. Studies show that playground time is linked to better motor skills, cognitive development, and self-esteem in children. It’s a tried-and-true formula for success.
Alina Rosanova / Shutterstock
Hitting a playground also makes a lot of therapeutic sense for adults. It gives you all the benefits of a good workout, but also just gets you out of your regular headspace. For someone facing a lot of crap in their regular life, that makes for an incredible (temporary) escape.
Going back to the idea of playground therapy, I decided to search the net to see whether or not it was gaining traction. After our foray into the world of playtime, I couldn’t help but wonder how this didn’t pop off earlier. What’s the deal? Are people gonna start hitting the parks? I had to find out.
A couple of years ago, I remembered hearing about a woman who was working on bringing playtime to adults. Sadly, I couldn’t remember enough to make a specific search. I didn’t really see anything about adults going to playgrounds or the like in my (admittedly cursory) search on therapy. However, that doesn’t mean it’s nonexistent. I was able to find adult fitness playgrounds for sale, and there also happen to be quite a few adult-oriented playground-like areas in NYC.
I also found a couple of trampoline parks offering adults-only nights as special events, so it seems that others see the value in playgrounds, too. As for now? It still remains as underground and fringe as ever. Man. I hope that changes soon.
Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer whose work has been featured in Yahoo, BRIDES, Your Daily Dish, Newtheory Magazine, and others.
