ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY!

Good morning fellow friends. A wise man once said that “all work and no play makes jack a dull boy” which means that without time off from work, a person becomes both bored and boring. The wise man stated just now is known as James Howell and today I would like to share some of my opinions based on the proverb.

As you all know, we lead a fast-paced life. We work and study for long hours, and we are exhausted by all the commuting and traffic jams that we have to put up with every day. By the time we reach home, we seem to have only enough energy to turn on the television, our PC’s or log onto the internet. None of these activities really help us to build up the mental physical energy that is needed to face another long, stressful day at college, school or at work. Playing games, however, can help us relax and at the same time challenges our minds and allows for interaction between players, something which our hectic lives rarely allows us to do.

Playing certain games can help to enhance skills that we need at work or in our studies. In experiments with rats, it has been found that rats stimulated by toys are better able to find their way through a maze than those that live without these toys. Apparently the toys help the rats to learn. Strategy game such as chess and bridge bring out the deep thinkers with the ability to solve problem s through unusual solutions. Players are forced to make decisions, see patterns in the play and change their plans according to circumstances. Such skills are useful in a variety of subjects such as reading or carrying out experiments in a science laboratory.

Other game such as scrabble brings different type of benefit. Many of us are enthusiastic fans of computer games, with good reason. But they cannot compare with the companionship that board games provide. What could be more enjoyable than the jokes and witty remarks that our friends or family came up with in the course of a game. Board games are for everyone and several generations can play together, thus bridging the gap that usually prevents true communication. The face-to-face interaction board games afford us is truly valuable. 

Besides, other games also make classroom activities more interesting. Grammar lessons in English can be based on crossword puzzles. Students can revise past participles by reading the clue “moved quickly up and down, or from side to side”. The answer of course is “shaken”.  Bingo is another game which we can be adapted for use in the classroom. We can learn words, how they spelled and pronounced the words. We can make the game more interesting by adding competitive element and dividing the class into different teams. Indeed, learning need longer be ‘all work no play’.

To sum it up, the mental and intellectual challenge inherent in most board games is the main reason for their continuing popularity. They help us to learn in an interesting way and encourage social interaction. Before I end, let me assure you that we do need to study and learn, for the search for the knowledge will never end. But the search itself need not necessarily be dry and devoid of enjoyment in our work. After all “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.