Crafting is a lot like testing — it’s all about experimentation, creative thinking, and learning by doing.
Picture the scene: It’s 8pm on Sunday night and I’ve just frogged 4 hours of work on the crochet tank top I’m making. I laugh to keep from crying while looking at the growing pile of kinked cotton yarn next to me and snap a pic for posterity. I jump on Facebook to share the mix of comedy and misery the photo represents and am met with a chorus of people sharing my pain. I had attempted to alter the pattern I was working on because I was worried it was going to be too small, only to discover the pattern, as written, would have been just fine.
Frogging 4 hours of work is like manually rerunning an entire regression suite because your test environment didn’t have the new code deployed.
But like testing, crocheting is not just about the moments of frustration. It’s also about learning from past experiences. The morning after my crochet mishap, I looked at the sloppily rewound yarn ball and thought of the chaos of pulling apart hours of work. It made me think of all the things I learned from experimenting with the pattern, the joy this experimentation brings me, and how as adults, we rarely make time or space for play in our lives.
Crocheting a top may not help me debug a broken test, but the playful (sometimes frustrating) hobby still has a positive impact on my professional development — and I think it’s time more people embrace learning through play.
Play facilitates learning
Research has shown that children, especially young children, learn through various forms of play. Creative, imaginative play teaches social skills and empathy. Team play, such as sports, helps children learn to be part of a collective — encouraging them to take turns, collaborate with others, and win or lose respectfully.
Researchers are increasingly calling for play to become more central in learning for older children as well. The research team behind the book A Pedagogy of Play found "experiences that are playful — that are joyful, meaningful, actively engaging, iterative, and socially interactive” both improve learning experiences and produce a love of learning. According to the research team, playful learning happens when children are given the opportunity to:
- Explore the unknown
- Lead their own learning
- Find joy in their learning
There are fundamental differences between the way adults and children learn. This is why we have two methods of practice in education. Pedagogy focuses on children and late teens and andragogy focuses on adults. Despite these distinct methods of practice, there are overlaps and shared techniques that are universal to how humans learn.
Both adults and children learn better when learning feels engaging and interactive. I think we can all relate to the ineffectiveness of a long, boring lecture that involves an instructor talking for hours on end. Conversely, most people will have an easier time retaining information through experiential learning that is hands-on and collaborative.
Play is important for adults, too
For many of us, play was left in childhood. Activities that we might have considered fun in our younger years have become chores or something we must monetize, making them much less enjoyable. Adults are made to feel that play is just for kids when playing is actually critical for the health of our brains and improves our overall well being.
In adults, play has been positively associated with:
- Improved creativity
- Improved feelings of hopefulness
- Improved critical thinking
- Stress reduction
- Increased feelings of social connectedness
Play can be anything from board games to softball and everything in between. My favorite ways to play are crochet and Lego. Both challenge me to solve problems and visualize what something will look like when it’s completed. In the case of crochet, each project I’m going to make takes preparation and research. After I decide I want to make something, I need to find a pattern. Once I have a pattern that meets all of my requirements, I need to find yarn with the proper weight and material for the project. And when all the preparation is complete, I must follow the pattern, which requires attention to detail and problem-solving skills.
Research, problem solving, and attention to detail are all skills that I use daily, but using them in various ways gives my brain a different kind of workout than when I use these skills for my job. Since I’ve made learning through play a part of my daily life, I’ve noticed an improvement in my creative thinking abilities. I make more interesting connections between disparate ideas and concepts than I did before I started crocheting on a regular basis.
Discover your play personality
Hopefully, you’re now considering ways to make play a part of your life again. If you aren’t sure what would be fun for you and don’t know where to start, don’t worry — I’ve got you covered!
Dr. Stuart Brown from the National Institute for Play has identified “play personalities” and even has a helpful quiz to identify yours. Brown identified eight unique play personalities and if you’re anything like me, you might belong to multiple categories.
- The Collector: You like to collect and build things, such as Lego, Pokemon cards, or sneakers.
- The Competitor: You enjoy playing games and you (probably) like to win. You most likely enjoy competitive athletics or non-cooperative games.
- The Creator or Artist: You love making things, or making things work. You may enjoy fixing vintage cars, knitting, crocheting, or painting.
- The Director: Planning and creating experiences like dinner parties or events is fun for you. You likely find joy in seeing others having a good time at an event you’ve planned.
- The Explorer: You play through discovering new things and places. You likely enjoy traveling, trying new things, and researching new areas of interest.
- The Joker: Being in the spotlight and center of attention brings you happiness. You may enjoy improv classes, toastmasters, or participating in community theater.
- The Kinesthete: You enjoy moving your body as a means of play. You likely enjoy activities like yoga, salsa lessons, or swimming.
- The Storyteller: Your imagination is active and always creating something new. You may enjoy writing short stories, going to the theater, or listening to podcasts.
How testers can embrace learning through play
I’ve already shared that playful learning happens when children are encouraged to explore the unknown, lead their own learning, and find joy in their learning. There’s another cohort that also thrives when encouraged to do these things: testers.
Tester’s need to be creative, free thinkers who are unencumbered by the “standard” and willing to experiment. In other words, testers need to be willing to play!
Explore the unknown
As testers we have an entire technique dedicated to exploration. Exploratory testing is a critical skill for testers and it's rooted in creative thinking. In my talk, Testing Treasure Maps, I share that exploratory testing is a means of storytelling about our applications. When using this technique it’s not about finding bugs, it’s about learning more about the application through the experience of using it and exploring all of its nooks and crannies.
Lead and find joy in their learning
Often testers are left to their own devices when it comes to their professional development and learning the applications they test. This means testers have to be self-directed and self-led. It also means that testers have freedom to learn about techniques, methods, and approaches that excite them. Just imagine how much more enjoyable work would be if you could align your work to your learning and play styles.
Play to learn, not to earn
While building up your knowledge and improving your creativity will certainly help you in your career — be careful not to let play become work.
Everyone deserves joy and opportunities to play. However, for many the lure of the “side hustle” eventually robs them of the joy found in play. It’s critical to ensure play or crafting do not become an obligation or a chore. Once the enjoyment in the activity is gone, it can be hard to get it back and the benefits of play will be lost. The long term physical and mental health benefits of play — such as reduced likelihood of developing dementia and stress reduction — are invaluable.
Everyone, both adults and children alike should find ways to make play a part of their personal and professional self care.
