My connections to play!

These are 3 quotes I found that spoke to me regarding play as a child:

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” -  Fred Rogers

Some things can only be understood when you're in a tree house.  With a pile of warm chocolate chip cookies.  And a book.  ~Dr. SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com

Always jump in the puddles! Always skip alongside the flowers. The only fights worth fighting are the pillow and food varieties. ~Terri Guillemets

As I was thinking about play items I had that were essential to my childhood, I kept remembering the awesome items that were a staple to my childhood. I found more than I needed to post, but I wanted to share them anyway. Here they are! (When uploaded they do not take the form of an image, I've tried multiple ways to paste them....if scrolled over the top of box and click it, it does show the item. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. )

 

Technology and media is much more accessible these days to children even at an early age. Yes, when I was younger I had Nintendo and Game Boy, but that was only on occasion and mostly something to do on a rainy or snowy day. There were no IPads, IPods or laptops for kids that took up most of their time. My kind of play involved being outside getting dirty and using my imagination. There is a big push I see for sports and extracurricular activities which is wonderful, but takes much time away from that pretend play and free time that children need to develop. More time is spend using paint and drawing programs on the computer instead of using real life art materials to create a masterpiece. I know we live in a world today where technology is everywhere and is a necessity to learn, but I feel it is taking over the lives of children. Yes, they need to know how to use different forms of technology for school use and to retrieve information, although I don’t feel it needs to be so apparent in the life of a child. 

My parents always encouraged me to go outside and play instead of being inside. I was able to use household items to create whatever it was I was fabricating in my head. I had the push and incentive from my parents to be creative and I feel that is why I am the adult I am today. I feel things have become simpler for children today which doesn’t give the children that opportunity to use their creative side and their imagination to make their thoughts and visions come alive. In my opinion too much time is spent being inactive when children should be moving, creating and exploring.