MY CONNECTIONS TO PLAY
When I was a child we had the choice
to play either, inside our homes or we played outdoors. When we played outside
our play consisted of games like
tag, hopscotch, freeze, or four-square. We had a jungle gym, we spent lots of time climbing on it. We also spent tons of time playing with our hoola hoops and skip it. As kids we had to try and make a buck or two, so we often sold lemon aide or kool aid. When the weather was good it was automatically assumed that you were to play
outside. I often played with my friends who lived in our neighborhood. I was
different then most of the kids growing up in my neighborhood as my mom had a
full time job. So, during the summer months I went to a summer day camp. It was
a blast. Some of my best friends today are the girls I went to camp with.
If the weather wasn’t nice then we
were allowed to play indoors. When I was young, I played with my two older
siblings. My sister and I would play pretend with our tea set or our babies. We
had some great toys in the sixties and early seventies. Trolls, slinky, kreepy
krawlers and play dough. We also spent a great deal of time listening to
records on the record player. We too loved to build forts! The more blankets
the bigger the fort.
With my own children, I tried to
create an outside environment where
my own crew would be safe, and physically active.
My hope was that our backyard would be a hang out for the kids within the neighborhood. Within our home, I provided
my kids with play places where they could be creative, messy and enjoy just being
a kid. In both my roles as mother and teacher I have always hoped
children would have areas where they could
explore, learn and grow.
I have always been a fairly
physically active person. I just turned 50, and this past January joined Cross Fit. I love challenging myself and I am having fun enjoying my own special "play" time!
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| Pass the sugar ... Please!! |
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| Creepy Crawlers! |
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| We would dance and play music .... |
Hi Millie
ReplyDeleteLike you, my mother pushed me out the door for the day, unless the weather was bad. I was given free reign to explore the entire neighborhood but when the weather was bad ... forts were the activity of choice. Ours spanned at least fifteen sheets and covered a basement. Usually just when they were built, they needed to be cleaned up.
My belief is that technology, and parents allowing access to it as a means of care taking has taken away from the free-form play of days gone by.
Carolyn
Carolyn.
DeleteHi. I often think how technology sometimes impedes children's ability to utilize their minds creatively. It's so much easier to pick up phones, click on mouses, their entertainment is right there in front of them, it sometimes too easy.
I loved hearing about how your forts covered the basement! So easy to envision.
Millie
Technology has taken over many children and their desires to play! Although that slinky that you have shown can still keep children enthralled for hours when taken out :)
ReplyDeleteHi Millie,
ReplyDeleteWhen we look back at our childhood, we sure had fun. Living in the Middle East which is a desert, sand is all you find all around. I remember when I was young going outside and playing with the sand building castles with my brother and neighbors. But nowadays, we don’t see children doing that. Parents are reluctant sending them outside to play saying it is hot. It used to be hot in my days too, but at that time there was no other recreation. School work was not loaded as now; there were no interesting cartoons or TV programs as there are now a million channels to choose from. In fact it was only much later that interactive TV games came out. So there was much time for free play and exploration which I think the present day kids miss. Play creates a meaningful learning experience by allowing children to interact and explore with and within their environment.
Deepa,
ReplyDeleteYou made such a good point, I agree play does allow children to explore their environment almost create their own little world. I think this is one of my favorite parts of teaching. I become excited observing children's play. Its almost as if they have opened up a door in their mind and allowed us to peak inside of it!!!
Thank you for sharing your stories of what play was like for you in the Middle Eastern dessert. I loved hearing about the fun you had building sand castles!
Millie
Hi Millie,
ReplyDeleteThrough your post I remembered how culture and play are related too. You mentioned that you used to play with play dough, and that brought to my mind when my cousins and I used to buy tortilla dough to make our own tortillas. Not always but there were times when my mom or any aunt was in the kitchen watching us and the fire, and I remembered myself feeling that I was the lady my mom used to buy the home made tortillas to. When my mom sent me to this lady’s house to buy tortillas, I watched al her movements and asked tons of questions about the reason why she did what she was doing, maybe she did not like me being there with my interrogatory but I loved being there.
Good luck with your cross fit!
Lovely childhood you had, and you foster your kids to have an awesome childhood like you've had. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt's very thoughtful that you also mentioned the comparison between play time in the past and now, and the similarity is still the same..a heart-warm adult intervention is needed so that play time is not being useless.
Thank you for sharing your story.
- putri -