My Connections to Play

Quotes about the importance of Play - 

"Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity." - Kay Redfield Jamison, Contemporary American Professor of Psychiatry.

"Play is the work of a child." - Maria Montessori

"Play is the highest form of research." - Albert Einstein

I feel as though these quotes summarize what play means for me because play is a necessity, it is the work of a child and children explore and research as they play. I feel like I am very blessed to have been given so many opportunities to play like this as a child.

There were many things I played with as a child, but I believe I loved stuffed animals (beanie babies, puppies, pet shop), my skip it, and my jump rope the most. I loved to be outside skipping or jumping and most evenings after school that is where you could find me. 

My parents completely supported play for me and my sisters when we were younger. We were always outside, running, jumping, climbing, riding, exploring.... We had a swingset and tree house, we had bikes, jump ropes, hula hoops, a flower garden, a trampoline, and just about all the room you could need at our house near the downtown area of our city. My parents came out with us, watched us, asked us questions, played along, and when they weren't exactly with us they were still making sure we had all we needed to play. They took us to parks, did family things together, and got us educational toys, as well as "just for fun" toys to play with. They did allow us to play video games on the nintendo and eventually the playstation, but it was limited. 

I think one of the biggest and only differences between play today and play when I was a child, is the amount of imagination that I was left with back then. Now, a lot of children are watching things on tv, computers, etc and listening to things in music/songs that I was not aware of or it wasn't readily available to me. I believe play when I was a child was very much geared toward child-centered play. Yes I imitated things I saw or heard sometimes, but I also made up a lot and engaged in a lot of free play. With all of the media that is available to children these days, I believe a lot of the creativity that they could have, is taken away. The key is to limit exposure to unnecessary media, and allow children to think for themselves. My hope for young children of the future, is that the are allowed opportunities to be themselves and think for themselves, rather than see or be told what to do, and also that they are limited in their exposure to the media and things that limit their innate creativity. 

I believe that play is something that is a necessity in a child's life as well as an adult. If we don't have play as a child, it inhibits our healthy development and growth. I believe the same thing goes for adults. If as an adult, you do not balance your life with work and play, or priorities and play, you will grow tired and weary, and a less healthy individual. For some people their work is their play, and for some not so much. The key is to balance your time spent on your work or your must dos and make time for yourself - to have fun and to relax or learn and do something you love or enjoy.