My Connections to Play

Connections to Play

The quotes I feel that summarize what play represented for me in my childhood are:

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.

Kay Redfield Jamison
Contemporary American professor of psychiatry

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.

Fred Rogers
American television personality
1928–2003

A child loves his play, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.

Benjamin Spock
American pediatrician
1903–1998

                                            

When I was growing up play was a very important and my parents always supported the activities I wanted to play.  My sister and I would always play school we would use an ironing board as our desk and encyclopedias as our text books.  The way my mother would support that activity was by buying us various notebooks, pencils, and pens.  She decorated our spare room as a classroom with maps and alphabets and other various learning products.  Looking at it now we were learning and playing at the same time and did not even realize it. 

Outside play during the summer months also played a huge part in the growing up process.  We spent hours outside playing house, bike riding, jump rope, wall ball, hop scotch, and various active activities, with the other children in my neighborhood.  We would bring out dolls and play in mud make mud pies, play with leaves and sticks anything from nature that was make believe dinner.  We did a lot running and jumping which kept us very active for hours at a time.  The difference between then and now is that children do not play outside or have that much physical activity unless they are in supervised sports or activity.  They do not get a chance to use their imagination and come up with game ideas.  Many of the games we played growing up did not make since to adults but they kept our attention and were fun. Many of these games were free to play and did not cost our parents a dime because we used all of our outside resources.  I think if more young children played outside it would help with the childhood obesity instead of sitting in the house and playing video games. 

Playing as a child was great it is wonderful to sit back as an adult and remember all the good times I had as a child.  I hope to one day be able to share these feelings with my children.  I hope that I will be able show them what it was like as kid growing up and all the fun I had.