Flow and rationality of a child's optimal play experience

Abstract

The article proposes an examination of the principles and benefits of children's play, taking into account the teachings of Eduard Claparède, but primarily focusing on the phenomenon of flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as an optimal experience of experiencing diversity, with reference to developmental theories and the needs of young individuals. Complementing this perspective are the contexts of liminality by Victor Turner, ritualism by Dimitris Xylatasa, and the categories of paideia and illinx by Roger Caloisa, as well as the concept of free flow by Tina Bruce. Support is provided by an interpretive paradigm that maps the intertwining of free and emotional actions that enhance the value of play in situations of optimal experience. The discussion-oriented nature of the text aims to stimulate researchers' interest in the emotional dimension of children, in terms of extreme diversity and its rationality, with a preventive concern for the future of young individuals and what is (not) harmful to them.

Keywords

• play
• childhood
• flow
• liminality
• paidia