Playful Enterprises

Abstract

This chapter first will discuss the concept of play as children's work historically then expand upon current geographic debates on the liminality of play and work spaces among young people and finally through empirical evidence illustrate how and why young people conceptualize play and work through a study on teenage Girl Scouts leading playful activities for younger Girl Scouts. Early twentieth-century psychologist, Susan Sutherland Isaacs, defined play as "child's work" in that play has the potential to create exploratory and practical situations for children, usually with limited guided assistance of adults. Isaacs' model of play has been appropriated by significant pedagogical institutions and is often replicated in youth organizations as a way for children to develop strength and skills that will be useful throughout adolescence and into adulthood. Isaacs may have questioned the utilization of adult-directed play and adult-assessed goals of play, characterized by youth organizations, and may have argued for more child-centered play. As youth organization members grow older and may no longer identify as children, they may take on the role of adults in playful spaces, creating a liminal space between play and work as well as between childhood and adulthood. The liminal spaces of work and play become sites for both anxiety and empowerment for young people as they continually shape their own identities and a sense of self. As such, young people potentially disrupt the spatial binaries between child-centered and adult-directed play.