My Connection to Play

“Play is important because it is the way in which children are able to use and reflect on their experiences, to represent their ideas and to ask and answer the questions that preoccupy them”.  Sandra Schmidt

“Play helps children weave together all the elements of life as they experience it”.  Joan Almon

I don’t have pictures, but I have vivid memories of playing with a cash register and money made out of newspaper when my two brothers and I would play store for hours in our home.  I also remember playing house and having baby dolls and a blanket which I used to put the dolls to sleep with.  I remember playing outdoors until it got dark or it was time for dinner.  The children in the neighborhood would play hot peas and butter and we would play punch ball.  I remember how major these two games were; every kid in the neighborhood would play and we had so much fun.  I also remember that the park in our neighborhood did not have a basketball hoop so the boys would use the monkey bars as a hoop and play basketball for hours.

The adults that were in my life when I was younger bought toys that supported my play experiences.  The toys back then were not computerized, but could be used to develop a child’s imagination. My parents would also give us empty containers, newspaper and pennies to use for our time playing store. My mother would always encourage my brothers and me to go play.  She may have done so to get us out of her hair, but she always said “go play”.  Another example of support was the adults did not involve themselves in our play.  It was a time of exploration, decision making on our part and learning.  My brothers and I would work through our differences during our play time without adult interference.

Outside of the children in my class the only other children I have the real opportunity to see interact are my step-grandchildren.  When they come to my house they have their own room.  I have some games and legos that they might play with, but they don’t really play with these things.  I have observed them playing for hours on their handheld computer game devices.  Occasionally the youngest will ask for paper and draw, but they don’t participate in imaginary play or dramatic play like my brothers and I did.  These children spend a great deal of time also watching TV.  When I was a child we had specific times of the day we were allowed to watch TV and the shows we watched were monitored.  Play today, from what I have observed is very different.  My step-grandchildren are not allowed to play outdoors unless my husband is outside with them.   So they don’t have the time of exploration I had when I was young.  What I see as the problem for children today is the threat of bodily harm if they are allowed to play outdoors unsupervised and the invention of computer games.  My hopes for children of today is to have what I had when I was a child and that is to have hours of unsupervised play.

The role of play in my childhood helped me become creative, independent, physically agile and cooperative with my playmates.  I think the hours of unsupervised time of play that I experienced as a child help me to be less stressed by the demands that school/academics played in my life.  I think having the opportunity to play helped me become a better student in school as a child and an adult, because I was able to be a child when I was a child.