My Connections to Play

Two Quotes about Play

"Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning." --Fred Rogers

"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." --Fred Rogers

Both quotes from Fred Rogers represented what play was for me growing up. I remember playing with my kitchen set and making/baking things the way I saw my mom do it. It showed what I learning. The 2nd quote from Fred Rogers shows that children can think beyond reality, and have the ability to imagine the impossible. I believe I did this several times during play with friends and my brothers. We could be anything we wanted to be!

Play Items

Some of the most common play items that were apparent of my childhood were Barbies and K'nex!

 

People Supporting my Play

I feel my parents and my brothers were key people in supporting my play during my childhood. My parents didn't let us watch a lot of TV so we were forced to play. Growing up with 3 brothers, I was constantly roped in to play sports, such as hockey, baseball, and basketball. In return for playing sports with them, they had to play house or dress-up with me. 

Similarity/Differences of Play Over Time

I think play today has a lot of similarities compared to when I was kid. Kids still imagine they can be whatever they wanted to be, imagine cooking in their kitchens, and playing sports. However, the biggest difference I noticed over time is the amount of play that actually happens. I feel children today watch a lot more TV then when I was a child, and thus they are experiencing less time to play, thus not developing imagination or creativity skills that are some important during early childhood. When children do play, they will act out what they have seen on TV, not really using their imaginations. 

Final Thoughts 

I feel play has been an important part of my childhood. Because of the amount of time I spent playing sports as a young child, lead to playing sports in high school, and continuing playing from time to time as an adult. I remembered playing school a lot as a child, which is part of the reason I am a teacher now. Play also taught me have fun with life. As adults we sometimes forget to have fun, or just sit down and play with each other. I remember a few years ago, I found all the Barbies I used to play with, and started going through them and playing with them (changing their clothes, doing their hair etc.). I realized that even though I was past the Barbie playing stage, I still enjoyed the time to play with time. Without play in my life, I don't think I would be where I am at currently in life without it.