Our haiga challenge for this issue was the theme of 'play'. Play is so basic to our nature that we know it when we see it, though in the English language, the word is loaded with many different meanings:

. . a quality of mind in engaging with one's worldview. . . a range of voluntary, intrinsically motivated activities that are normally associated with pleasure and enjoyment. . . may consist of amusing, pretend or imaginary interpersonal and intrapersonal interactions or interplay. . .

(excerpted from Wikipedia)

The instructions for our challenge left artists free to work out their own responses to the theme, though we did search the World Kigo Database and other online sources for season words to jump start everyone's creativity: Boy's Day, the Doll Festival, April Fool's Day, May Day, blowing soap bubbles and coloring/hiding Easter eggs for Spring; vacation, going barefoot, swimming in a pool or at the beach for Summer, and for our friends in the Southern hemisphere, skiing, ice skating, sleigh riding, snowmen and snowball fights for Winter. Many thanks to everyone who participated. We hope you'll enjoy the haiga.

Ida Mahulja	Pris Campbell	Martina Heinisch	Linda Papanicolaou
Judi Hall	Billie Dee	Emily Romano	Judi Hall
Billie Dee	Linda Papanicolaou	Carol Raisfeld	Pris Campbell
Linda Pilarski	Ed Baker	Geoff Sanderson	Emily Romano
Susan Constable and Don Baird	Larry Kammer	Jacek Margolak	Dorota Pyra