Breaking News ADULTS STILL PLAY WITH TOYS.

As we age, we tend to outgrow playing toys, right? Dolls, action figures and soft toys (as well as imaginary friends) are a phase we pass through on our journey from childhood to adulthood. 

Surprisingly, it turns out that no, toys aren’t just for kids. 

Katriina Heljakka and J. Tuomas Harviainen, in their paper From Displays and Diorama to Doll Dramas, Adult World Building and World Playing with Toys, published in the American Journal of Play, argue that toys foster play and stimulate the imaginations of players of all ages. 

When we generally think of toy play, a type of object play as it’s known in psychological terms, we tend to picture children talking to themselves or others using dolls, action figures and other physical objects that provide the structure for their richly detailed and imaginative storytelling. 

As adults, most of us would agree that we certainly do still play, but just not in the same way. There are many collectors amongst us, media (books, movies, theater and television) is quite popular, let’s not forget about sports and games, and yes, there are those nostalgic “outliers” who acquire toys reminiscent of childhood.

Most of the limited research out there about adults and traditional types of toys dismiss play as a collecting activity (think of that friend who has 30 Star Wars action figures still in the original box), fandom (Comic Con comes to mind), or is put in the category of hobbies like building model airplanes. All of these interactions with toys are goal driven “serious” practices that have a specific purpose.

But what about the creative storytelling that children do with their toys. The big question is, do adults still engage in open-ended object play? Do they use toys as the foundation for creating narratives about the environment and those around them? Heljakka and Harvianen say yes - “Contrary to common belief, adults still DO engage in both manipulative and imaginative play with contemporary character toys… in multifaceted ways”. Psychologists have termed this multidimensional interaction with character toys “world play”. I like to think of it as when toys are a tool that sparks imaginative storytelling combining elements of fantasy and reality to develop a new social environment or world. 

Adults actually love toy world play, and here’s how. 

Enter the rise of technology and social media. Adults have created a new form of toy play in the form of toy photography. Check out accounts like Instagram, Flicker and other social sharing platforms and search for hashtags like #toyphotography, #dolls, #dollphotography, #dollgram, #diorama, #barbie etc. You’ll see tons of posts created by people ages 25-40, aka “mature players”, many of which feature action figures and dolls like Blythe and Barbie. When I did this myself, I was quite surprised by the sheer number of people past the age of ten getting into this type of play. This really is a thing.

So what is this toy photography phenomenon all about? It turns out to be an extension of the imaginative storytelling play we do as children, just using more sophisticated tools and a larger “play group”, aka internet based audience. So yes, many of us don’t actually outgrow playing with toys. Instead we add more complexity and share in more socially acceptable ways. 

There are some interesting differences between adult and child players, however. Adult toy players go through distinct stages of play. 

First comes collecting the toy itself and then adult players move into display. Dolls are arranged in carefully crafted specific visual scenarios that often take large amounts of time, space and other supporting materials. This can be anything from a more traditional type of hand crafted “diorama”, or scenes from the larger world such as public buildings, popular travel destinations, filming locations or natural environments. Flat Stanley and traveling gnomes made famous by their portraits in diverse locations are a great example of this.

Finally, the stage has now been set for the more serious adult players, to create and share their storytelling in public and social contexts. Unlike children who play in the intimacy of their own living spaces, adult players often take their narratives online. Words accompany photo play visual storytelling and enhance the playful tale. There are actually blogs solely dedicated to this.

Another difference between children and adults is that older players enjoy writing their own original and artistic narratives. Adults aren’t as heavily influenced by the pre-written “back stories” of mass produced toys created by the manufactures and this is a huge outlet for subversive creativity. These prescribed narratives (intended for children) are designed as invitations to play that heavily influence toy personalities and story lines of imaginative forms of play. Adults just aren’t drawn to this and often play the rebel, finding enjoyment instead in subverting, altering or changing these. 

Speaking of changes, I found it quite interesting in my own research that many adults enjoy making drastic physical alterations to dolls and toys. I saw several examples of dolls that had been painted, molded or otherwise physically changed. 

I also came across tons of Pinterest boards with ideas on toy accessories, changing physical spaces or ideas for scene props. I can’t think of a better example than Elf on the Shelf. Clearly, lots of time and energy in adult toy play is spent on manipulating toys themselves as well as objects in a photo scene that are extensions of play. 

As you can see, adult world play with toys is a diverse and complex form of imaginative play that combines storytelling with fictional and actual worlds, the toys themselves, physical play spaces, technology and human networks. 

This is a new area of research that I am avidly following. I love the idea that studies into adult toy play can provide social permission for an activity that at one time brought us so much joy, and now is typically seen as childish, immature and something we “should” have outgrown. There is so much information supporting the link between creativity, productivity, problem-solving, happiness and success. Why not stretch your creative muscles with toys? 

Be part of the conversation. Do you still enjoy playing with toys? Follow my own experiment with adult toy play this holiday season on Instagram @generation.joyful