Play Matters

By Miguel Sicart

Chapter 3: Toys 

Page 35: 

"We discovered toys, and in that relation we slowly became who we are". 

"When we grow up, toys change, but we never out grow them, because toys are the purest things for play". 

Page 40: 

"When we turn an object into a toy, we make it an instrument for with playing or a playful attitude. When we are playing anything can become a toy". 

"Playfulness makes the world a toy". 

"Toys are instruments for play and playfulness". 

Page 41: 

"Mechanical and procedural toys are fascinating because they don't require us; they seem to be playing on their own. We play with them to see how they behave, how they react. Sim City is a magnificent spectacle, a toy that can operate on its own while tempting us to tinker with its parameters to both see and understand what happens and all the while, creating a feeling of otherness, a playful microcosm that we, as the observers and tinkerers, want not to inhabit but to observe". 

Page 42: 

"Historically the toy has slowly evolved from a communal object for play to an individual source of pleasure". 

Page 45: 

"Making a toy requires understanding a play situation and creating an object for it, a process that can be performed by a professional designer but also by a child". 

Page 45/46: 

"Toys play a fundamental role in our sentimental life. they embody time past, of childhood, and also of times we played with others". 

Page 46: 

"The materiality of toys is important to understand how the object is experienced and what type of relations they establish with the context of play. Materiality is an important element for understanding affection and emotion". 

"The physicality of toys need sot be accounted for in order to understand the experience of play". 

"The manifestation dimensions of a toy focus on its physical materiality: the material its made up of, its technical platform, how it feels when we grasp it, how it becomes part of our memory". 

Page 47: 

"Toys seduce us anchoring us in time and space, they trigger emotional responses, play a role in memory and culture, and help us devise situations so that play can take place".