My Connections to play

Two of my favorite quotes about play are:

“Play is the work of the child.” – Maria Montessori

“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” – O. Fred Donaldson

Necessary play items for me as a young child were: my bicycle, barbies, and the outdoors!

  my childhood street 

my bike looked something like this lol!! (via goggle images)

  Good ole Barbie and Ken! (via google images)

When I was a “kid”, people supported play by not allowing us to sit and watch TV! TV was for a limited time before bed or for Saturday morning cartoons!! We were encouraged to go out and ride our bikes, go to the park, play with the neighbors, play dolls, house, Barbie’s, tag, hide and seek, kick ball, and red rover red rover.  Lots of times an adult would play with you, but most of the time you had your siblings, cousins, or neighborhood kids coming over.  The toys we had were more open ended – Babies, dolls, and bicycles weren’t just for one thing, but we were more imaginative with them – as Bicycles turned upside down became pretend lemonade or ice cream stands, Barbie and other dolls were for school, house, and pretend families.  If you didn’t have a doll house, you found a shoe box and made one… My parents were also always outside too.  Doing yard work, watching us play, sitting in lawn chairs etc.  "including purposeful, physical work in the daily routine of the home is a great help in inspiring children’s play. It is important for parents or caregivers to spend time each day working with their hands at comprehensible tasks, in the presence of their child, whether it is raking leaves, baking, or hammering a nail” (Almon, 2012, p31).  Television really was a family time reserved for the evening.   It seems now, that television is an all day anytime event to keep children entertained and quiet – even DVD players in the car!

Play today is unimaginative.  Children don’t seem to know how to play with a new toy unless you show them as they don’t freely explore.  If it doesn’t move or make noise they are generally uninterested.  My hope for young children is that we give them the freedom to explore before stepping in.  That we give them room to be an individual and don’t correct them on the purpose of a toy as long as they are using it in a non-harmful way.  My hope is that children are comfortable playing outside and that they look forward to it and the sun, rain, bugs, heat, and cold.  One of my favorite times of the school day is outdoor time – not because of the break – but because of the freedom of the outdoors and the fresh air!

Thinking back, the role of play was to give my parents a break – but to also explore.  When we were inside, we whined, we fought with each other, and we were bored. When we were able to be outside, moving, and with friends – we were learning and we were happy! When not with adult guidance or adults telling us how to play, I learned how to jump from a swing (exploring gravity/physics), I learned boundaries on when to be home and how to behave while away from my parents, I learned respect for myself and for the people I was with and the objects we were using.  

 Almon, K. (2002). The vital role of play in early childhood education. Gateways, 43. Retrieved from http://www.waldorfresearchinstitute.org/pdf/BAPlayAlmon.pdf



Ness. (2013, Feb. 21). 10 Quotes about the importance of Play. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from 
 http://www.oneperfectdayblog.net/2013/02/21/quotes-about-the-importance-of-play/