Playfulness as an educational tool

Johan Huizinga (who wrote Homo Ludens, or "Man the Player," in 1938)  suggested that "play is primary to and necessary (though not sufficient) condition of the generation of culture".

Playfulness can be a great educational tool to help children enjoy (and easily retain) learnings. Teachers can adapt many games for teaching most of the  subjects.  What could be some examples? Let us do a quick think:

• http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Flags-of-All-Nations
  
• http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Pass-the-Parcel: At each turn, the student can be asked to do an activity: explain a concept, recite a poem, etc.
• http://www.group-games.com/ice-breakers/homemade-pictionary-game.html
• http://www.group-games.com/stationary-games/hot-seat.html (there can be a five-minute hot seat every day, conducted in a fun manner so that students want to be really at the hot seat)
• Dumb Charade (use relevant subject instead of movies)
• A quick round of Rapid Fire Quiz (First to raise hand gets to answer) 

Handing out gifts for the winners can do wonders. Children love gifts! Even if it is an eraser or a pencil or simply a "star" drawn on the hand.

What would be the impact if more and more teachers play similar games to teach as many subjects as possible in this manner?

Actually, playfulness has a deeper impact. As Hector Rodriguez shares in The Playful and the Serious: An approximation to Huizinga's Homo Ludens:

The purpose of playful learning is not to improve the "effectiveness" of teaching but to encourage a profound rethinking of the essential nature of its methods and subject matter.

A report "Playfulness-based Design in Educational Games: A perspective on an Evolutionary Contest Game" cites: 

When players are interested in something, it keeps them engaged, and when their attention is on one thing, they are described as playful (Eysenck & Keane, 2000).Webster and Martocchio (1992) define playfulness as the device that attracts players’attention and involves them during their play.

Huizinga said:

Let my playing be my learning, and my learning be my playing.

Amen!