Childhood Connections to Play

Blog Assignment:  Childhood Connections to Play

Mom took me to the beach today.  I love the beach.  The wet sand feels so good under my feet and squished between my toes.  I like running and playing around our umbrella and then going close to the water and letting the waves wash over me.  It feels so cool! 

I found my pail, shovel and sand molds and I began to dig in the sand.  I think I will dig to China.  I heard daddy say something about that the other day when he was talking to his friend. 

I sat for quite a while digging.  I found snakes and other creatures in the sand as the opening got bigger.  They were really rocks, sticks, strings and other things that people dropped and got buried under the sand, but I pretend that they are treasure.  I also find animals and insects that live in the sand.  I put them in my bucket and carry them to mom, asking her to tell me what they are.  We count legs and how they move.  We decide to take pictures and decide to try to find out what they are on the internet when we get home.  I go back to digging and after a while the hole is quite large. 

Mom comes over and joins me.  She asks me if she can help.  I am happy she joins me.  We are not paying attention to the time and before we know it the waves are reaching us as we sit in the sand digging.  Mom and I have been talking about where the shells come from, what kind of creatures live in the water, and how the sand feels when it is dry.  We have been talking --sharing and questioning each other—all afternoon.  It has been a warm wonderful day.  Suddenly, we realize that the water is closer to us than we thought. 

Wait, maybe we will build a castle with a moat!

The following are two quotes that might be associated with my childhood:

 “The activities that are the easiest, cheapest, and most fun to do – such as singing, playing games, reading, storytelling, and just talking and listening – are also the best for child development.” ~ Jerome Singer (professor, Yale University)

“When children pretend, they’re using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero, a crying baby, a mean dragon or a scary lion—whatever he or she wants to be.” ~ Mr. Rogers

The following pictures are pictures of essential play items for my younger self:

                                                   

My sister and I played together almost every day as we were growing up.    My parents would join us playing board games, take us bowling, and play things like badminton with us during spring and summer.  I particularly remember summers because we often went to South Carolina to visit our grandparents and played in the country with our cousins.  We would spend the entire day outside playing games, exploring the field past the backyard, and going through the neighborhood playing with other kids.  My parents supplied us with plenty of toys, but we had plenty of opportunity to use our imaginations with our dolls, doll houses and when we played with friends.  We would pretend to be in the roller derby when we roller skated or different family members when we played with the doll house.  

Play today differs from when I was growing up in that today children are more sedentary, play computer games much more, and participate in more structured activities.  Computers did not impact our lives to the degree they do today.  We seemed to use our imaginations more and we were involved in much more physical activity than many children today.  I remember going outside early in the day, coming in for lunch and then returning outside to play until dark.  You don’t see that a great deal today.

            I am glad to see that more computer games are incorporating physical activity.  They at least afford children the opportunity to get up and move while they are engaged with technology.  My hope, though, is that educators will first realize how important play is to student learning.  And, secondly, be able to successfully find a way address academic standards and incorporate play. 

One of the issues teachers currently face is the pressure to achieve student mastery of standards by the end of each school year.  The result is very structured lessons designed to meet the time frames set in the pacing guide.  Our schedule does not encourage spontaneity.  I would like to see that change.  I believe that adopting an instructional approach that allows for content integration may provide more opportunities for students to engage in related play activities.  Play in early childhood settings needs to be an integral part of each day.  Outside of school, I would like to see parents guide their children to put down the computer games more and increase their physical activity and imaginary play.

Balancing work and play, is important to maintaining good health for adults.  As we grow up and our responsibilities increase we often find ourselves with less time to play.   The older and busier we become our priorities change and we can also minimize our need to engage in activities that interest or excite us because they take time away from things we feel we have to do.  As adults, we must be aware of our need to play, just as we need to be aware that play is children’s work and it is something they need to participate in to develop properly and have strong foundations for learning and the development of healthy relationships.  Everyone needs to engage in play that is appropriate to establish and maintain healthy living and learning environments.