Quotes that summarize play for me in childhood
"Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity."
Kay Redfield Jamison
Fred Rogers
"Children have always learned and created places for themselves through play".
Donna R. Barnes
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During my childhood, I grew up playing hand ball with my older sister and brother. We would play this game until the sun went down. Also, I enjoy jumping rope and playing jackstones with my cousins, too. Playing outside with my family and cousins was fun because it taught me to share, take turns, and it taught me how to get along with other children. In addition, playing outside with my family helped me to develop a special family bond that is very much alive today. In today's society, play is very different because children do not spend time outside playing. Most children depend on video games, computers, and IPods to entertain them for a long periods of time. This leaves no time to go outside and use their imagination to create play. On the other hand, I spent most of my time outside playing hand ball, jackstones, hopscotch and jump rope. My parents could not afford to buy me a computer or video games. I am grateful and thankful that my parents took time to let me go outside and play. As an educator, it is my job to teach parents how important it is for children to go outside and play. This will help children to be creative, physically fit, and it helps children to grow and develop as a person. Play is a vital part of growing up. In my adulthood, play has helped me to function effectively in the world. Socially, I am cooperate and get along with my peers, and I follow rules and respect most people I meet. Without having the opportunity or time to play during my childhood, I would not know how to socialize with my peers. |
Talae,
ReplyDeleteThanks for post!
It is imperative that we as educators educate parents about the value of play especially outdoor play. As you have mentioned, play helped you to become socially developed and this is what we want for our children. Playing video games and the like do not provide such opportunities. Our children are robbed of so many opportunities to play that I don’t think could be make up for in the future. A child’s world is designed for play and we should allow them to play at free will for their development and learning. It is unfortunate that there are barriers preventing outdoor play to an extent, but if we really want our children to be involved in play we would make the effort to provide those opportunities. We need to advocate for our children to play more; not inside but outside. Let’s educate our parents and get them involved in providing such opportunities which will worth it in the long run.
Talae,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing and I got the impression that you were very close to your family which was enhanced by play. My parents could neither afford to purchase high tech electronics and video games for me as a child, we had to find other mean of entertaining ourselves. I often tell my sons that they just dont know how blessed they are because they have so much more than I did while growing up. However,I dont feel I was deprieved.
Talae,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your quotes but I am particularly impressed by the one which states that play gives children time to practice what they are learning. That is so true because unlike school work, we would engage in the same game repeatedly until we acquired mastery. Jackstones was one such game because it incorporated so many skills even deciding from which direction you will attempt to pick up the stones was something each player had to negotiate. We were involved in multitasking even without know it and we did it with ease. Today, many of our children cannot multitask the way we did because they have not been exposed to the type of play which we were exposed to and so as educators we must continue to advocate on their behalf, we cannot be daunted by the hurdles which we may encounter.