FAVORITE QUOTES ABOUT PLAY
ESSENTIAL PLAY ITEMS
BUILDING BLOCKS
When I was younger, it was understood that children would go outside and play. I grew up as the youngest of five brothers and one sister who is nine years my senior.My mom worked the night shift so we would play outside most of the day. In school, we would go outside to play, and the equipment consisted of balls, jump rope, sliding boards and swings. Teachers allowed us the freedom to play and use our imagination while doing so.
Children today miss out on the simplicity of play. Parents buy expensive toys and jungle gyms for children to assist them with their play. The will never know the accomplishment and joy of climbing a tree and riding the limb like a hobby horse or using items within the environment to substitute for a softball or bat.As a child, I was allowed to get dirty and play in mud while making mud pies.Today, our children have so much to play with; they do not enjoy the art of play. My hope is that children be allowed to have the freedom to express themselves and find their way through the art of play.
Growing up was all about playing with my siblings and myself. We would choose teams and play in the super bowl. We were poor, so we did not have a lot of toys. We would use our imagination and used things within our environment to supplement our play. As a child, we would have softball tournaments with the neighborhood kids. My sister was so much older than I, therefore; I had to play with my brothers and I would play Batman and robin, superman, and rat patrol. As an adult, I like to play board games, and sometimes I play hopscotch with my grandson.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the financial status as a child with us. I understand that due to the lack of toys, we sometimes are able to use our imagination when engaging in play. I believe that imagination is what play is all about. Reflecting on the example you provided about climbing trees, I remember as a child when we would do stuff such as climbing trees, my imagination would take me to being an explorer in the forest. I enjoyed doing this because I was able to observe the living things and see how they lived. I would also compare how one thing was different from the other.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that occurred to me as I was reading your blog post was that when I think about my childhood the first things that I remember are the people that I played with and where we played. The things we played with, specifically the store bought toys, are not what come to mind. I have clearer memories of the real, natural and improvised materials that we used in our play. I know I had store bought toys when I was a child, and with the exception of a few special favorites, it was the experiences and social interactions that were most important.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your memories and thoughts on play. I enjoyed reading it.
Thanks for sharing your childhood play experiences! I'm glad you brought up the point of play in school when you were a child. It's not just parents who affect how, when, and where children play, but also teachers and other school staff. You mentioned that your teachers allowed you freedom to play - I think that's wonderful, and that unfortunately in many schools today, there are so many rules for kids to follow that they are not always able to be as creative as they'd like to be while playing in the classroom or on the playground. One thing we as early childhood professionals can do is to let children have the freedom to imagine and create new worlds, just as we did when we were young.
ReplyDeleteSylvia,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. Your childhood was very similar to mine. I did not have a lot growing up either, having five siblings being raised by a single mother, but I felt as though we had everything. My play also involved playing with my brothers climbing trees and exploring outside.I firmly believe that children who do not grow up using their imagination in the art of play are less happy adults.
Sylvia,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. Your childhood was very similar to mine. I did not have a lot growing up either, having five siblings being raised by a single mother, but I felt as though we had everything. My play also involved playing with my brothers climbing trees and exploring outside.I firmly believe that children who do not grow up using their imagination in the art of play are less happy adults.
Hi Sylvia,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you said that children now have too many toys and they don't have the luxury now of going outside and getting dirty! When I think of my childhood, the most memorable times was when I was outside playing with friends, either in the woods climbing trees, or running around playing hide and seek and chase and not playing inside with toys.