In October, the Strategic Play team packed their bags—and their bricks—and headed to South Africa for an unforgettable adventure.
Our first stop was Bela Bela, home of the ACRE29 Conference, where Jacqueline Lloyd Smith delivered a keynote presentation titled “Your Brain on Play.”
Did you know that neurobiologists have discovered our brains are hard-wired to play? The instinct to play originates in one of the most ancient parts of the human brain. This fascinating insight connects us to our earliest beginnings and helps explain how culture and creativity have evolved through play.
In fact, some neuroscientists now suggest that play itself may have fueled the rapid growth and development of the human brain over the last four million years. How amazing to explore these ideas at a creativity conference held so close to the Cradle of Humankind—a region recognized as one of the world's most important paleoanthropological sites.
Located just 31 miles from Johannesburg, the Cradle of Humankind is home to the largest concentration of early human fossils ever discovered. Of course, our team couldn't resist the opportunity to crawl through the underground caves and experience firsthand the limestone chambers that have yielded so many clues about our origins.
These discoveries affirm that Africa is indeed the birthplace of humanity—and now, scientists and scholars are uncovering how play has been central to our journey from ancient ancestors to modern humans.
At Strategic Play, we continue to explore how understanding the science of play can unlock creativity, strengthen collaboration, build resiliency, and help us reconnect with what it truly means to be human.