My Connection to Play
*Quotes about play:
“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything, than when we are at play.” -Charles Schaefer
“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
“A child loves his play, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.” -Benjamin Spock
*Essential play items for my younger self:
*Reflection on play:
Play was something that was very important to me growing up. I remember spending hours upon hours outside just exploring and having fun. My parents encouraged us to play with things we could find, and not rely on material things. I would take my mom’s pots outside and make “soup” out of mud, grass, and sticks, and my friends and I would climb trees, ride bikes, or build forts in the woods by my house. You very rarely found me inside in front of the TV on a nice day.
I thank my parents everyday for raising me the way they did. They placed an emphasis on being creative and exploring. I see too many kids these days who really don’t know how to play, and it’s sad. When given a task to be creative and create whatever they want, I hear “I don’t know how,” “is this ok,” or “I’m bored.” They aren’t given enough opportunity, or encouraged enough, to just play with what they have or what they can find.
I encourage my students to be creative on a daily basis, and my hopes is that when they go home they can use the tools I give them and maybe choose to go outside and make “soup” instead of sitting in front of the TV playing video games all night.
Hello Melanie:
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your childhood experiences of creative play. What a blessing to have parents who encouraged creative play and imagination. A wonderful way to promote critical thinking. As you mentioned, there are some children who feel lost when they are given a "time" to play without the electronic gadgets they are so used to spend time with. Less social play has resulted in less empathetic children.
As an educator, I did experience similar situations in my classroom as you did. In 2007, I came up with the idea of creating a treasure box in my class called, " our home props" children brought any recyclable items, not used items, clothing, fabric, plastic, whatever they wanted and placed it in the treasure box. As a group, we created projects and used the props brought from home. All if us enjoyed the fun process and invited the parents to come in and see what we have created with the items that at one point others wanted to trash. I learned this approach through 2 various programs, project based and Reggio Emilia education approach.
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteWonderful post and it sounds like you liked playing outside too. I use to spend hours playing under the trees making mud pies with my sisters. It is sad to see how much time children spend inside, especially with cartoons on every channel and video games that can go anywhere. I was sitting in a restaurant with my children today and saw a 3 year old little girl on her mom's IPhone. She was so engaged in the phone that she wasn't eating and didn't recognize someone taking the food off of her plate. Play and especially playing outside is so important and now days it isn't even safe to play outside even in parks. Sometimes daycare is the only time and place that children get to play outside. Great post, Melissa
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I feel the same as you about children not knowing how to play like we did as children. Modern technology has really spoiled this generation of children.
Chere'e