Gear up for 21st century learning with Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II and Mizzen!

Designed to create awareness and discussion about how technology and innovation impact the workplace and workforce, this playlist with activities for grades K-12 explores skills and competencies required to success in 21st century careers.

This is a series on play and being playful, considered cornerstones of creativity and idea generation.

In the first activity, "Play Stations," students are provided with the opportunity to play and reconnect with their own innate creativity.

In the second activity, "Wacky Inventions," students work in groups to use existing products and objects to come up with (and then act out) the wackiest inventions they can think of.

Why is play important? There is significant evidence that many ideas for new products and services were developed through playing around with ideas, materials and products. Play itself gives us a fresh perspective which is often critical in solving problems and being innovative.

Play also helps us better understand the world around us because we can explore things in a fun way - we can make and build, create new worlds and personas, play new games and break the rules without fear of consequences. Play helps entrepreneurs innovate because it's risk-free—there's no judgment or failure when you're playing.

Using play and being playful as a tool for developing creativity can improve one's ability to generate ideas and solve problems. Often, to be able to come up with lots of ideas people need to be given permission to play around and be free from judgment!