4 minute read
Welcome to the 60 plus PlayGround
There is so much wisdom in the words of George Bernard Shaw who said: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
Play in seniorhood is taking time to step away from the mundane responsibilities of life and be social in an unstructured way, whilst giving yourself permission to play with the joyful abandon of childhood.
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Play can be as simple as goofing around with friends, sharing jokes with a co-worker, dressing up on Halloween with your grandkids, attending a masquerade ball, or going for a bike ride with your spouse, with no destination in mind…The possibilities are endless. And so are the benefits. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood we lose that sense of play. Our hectic lives, family, work, and financial commitments make us lose that zest for life.
By the time we reach seniorhood we start to face health issues, we lose our partners and the many connections we once had and find ourselves alone and lost.
Play helps us build a community around us, strengthens our bonds and revives our purpose in life and most importantly life becomes fun.
The 60 Plus PlayGround is a Facebook page created to re-introduce the sense of play, wonderment, and adventure. We invite senior influencers to share their travel experiences, fashion sense, humour, poetry, talent, skills, art and craft, and much more, all on one platform. It is a page where seniors and groups can showcase what they are doing to engage a wider audience.
Gerontologist and co-founder of the PlayGround, Tanya Dave, says “The practice of play has far-ranging benefits on the body, mind, and soul. It fuels our imagination and creativity, relieves stress, and strengthens our problemsolving abilities, and emotional well-being”. Moreover, 60 plus influencers are joining the platform to share their areas of interest.
Meet Vicki Doolan is a vivacious personality with endless energy and a born actress at heart. You know this to be true, by her entertaining Facebook videos. Through her business, Ageless Grace, she creates fun programs based around play to strengthen the mind. She also conducts free workshops on Better Sleep, Better Brains, Balance and Fall Prevention, Nutrition, Reducing Toxins, and creates healthy Juices and Smoothies, and more.
Helen Bradshaw is another favourite personality on the PlayGround. Helen shares her wealth of knowledge on the benefits and power of art in healing. Through her business Growth Through Art, she offers 1:1 Art Therapy sessions, workshops and Soul Art Adventure retreats.
Helen weaves together Art Therapies, creative expression, movement, self-development, and mindfulness to help people face personal challenges. She inspires them to re-discover, reconnect and love their unique authentic self. The best part is you don’t need to have any art experience, just an adventurous heart and open mind.
Ken Jones is the James Bond of the PlayGround. His English accent is quite charming, in a Bondish sort of way. He runs his own design studio Ken & Creative where he works with both local, national and international clients. Ken is using his talents to help businesses relook at the way they engage their senior audience.
In his spare time, he keeps the PlayGround audience updated on ways to keep fit. Ken trains with the Outrigger Caloundra men’s team, loves cycling, has competed in triathlons, and even managed to win the corporate team event at the Noosa Half Marathon.
Jodie McDonell loves anything and everything to do with real estate. She set up the 60 Plus Lifestyle Agent to open the door to lifestyle choices and educates the PlayGround with her wealth of knowledge on how to downsize, what to look for in a property, and the pitfalls to consider.
Jodie is a master at landing a great deal for her buyers and sellers. If you are looking for a street-smart, savvy lady to find you the right place, or should I say PlayGround, then Jodie is the lady to follow. Other influencers on the PlayGround we can’t get enough of are Irene Isaacson and her award-winning conservationist husband, Tony Isaacson. This husbandand-wife duo has a passion for global travel, especially wildlife adventures. They have travelled all seven continents and love to share their travel adventures and wildlife experiences through videos, photography, and internet-based travel articles.
These include swimming with sharks and working with bats - not for the faint-hearted! Their digital stories and videos have more than 5 million views, which they hope will increase public awareness of the world around us whilst promoting the conservation of its environment.
Finally, we have the delightful Tricia Welsh, a freelance career journalist who specializes in food and travel. She has written for magazines such as Conde Nast traveller, Australian Vogue magazines, Gourmet Traveller, and the Robb Report, and will now showcase her adventures on the PlayGround.
Tricia has caught piranhas in the Peruvian Amazon, cupped coffee in Costa Rica, eaten beetles and crickets in Cambodia, sailed the icy waters of Antarctica, swum with sea-lions in the Galapagos, and dined right royally in Michelin-star restaurants along the way!
She has travelled to all seven continents too, visiting more than 100 countries, reviewed countless luxury hotels, and spent nearly a year at sea cruising her way around the world. And as a committed Francophile, she is still trying to master the language by taking off to France as often as possible!
So, follow us on Facebook to learn more and the fun.
www.facebook.com/60plusPlayGround
Or maybe you could be one of our influencers? Then go to or website to contact us for more information.
