Essential play items when I was young:
1.Friends
2.Dolls
3. A bat and Ball (very versatile items)
Childhood connections
When I was growing up, play was
a natural part of life for children and adults alike, it was in our daily
routine. During summer vacation, adults would sit outside under a tree and
watch us as we play games such as cricket, marbles, hopscotch, jacks, market,
just to name a few. They would cheer us on and often times join in, while
others kept scores or played dominoes while they commentate. Play was a
community affair, and an important part of our culture, it was how we practiced
to become adults
Play was sometimes even more
important than our meals and that was normal. I remember times when we were
engaged in a game of dandy shandy or baseball (rounders) and no one thought of
food. So it was with any kind of play, we lived to play as it was the most
important activity to us as kids. When we were doing our chores, we involved
play and then it did not seem like work at all. For example, when we were
cleaning the floor, which was pure wood, we would sing songs and make extra
sounds with the cleaning brush as we danced, it was beautiful and motivating.
Play today seems very
different, the activities are not the same and the benefits are very limited.
When we played as children, we were boisterous, noisy and sweaty, we used up a
lot of energy. We learned skills that built our creative ability and sharpened
our thinking, we were very confident because we made choices and enjoyed the
outcomes. Almon (2002) says about play that, “It allows them to digest life and
make it their own. It is an outlet for the fullness of their creativity, and it
is an absolutely critical part of their childhood”. We were not familiar with
the word stress. We did not sit for long periods of time except during church
or school lessons so obesity was a foreign word to us. We played hard and slept
hard and was ready to go again the next day. We made great friendships and lost
some to a game or two, we made up with some and moved on with others,
remembering the great times we spent together.
My three year old nephew (now
10) stayed in my care for a year, I taught him and gave him recess time. He was
so excited about recess that he said he wanted to attend my school so he can
have recess because it was fun. The activities that young children are engaged
in is either sitting with a hand held electronic game. Their fingers, mostly
their thumbs, do all the activities or the computer mouse does the clicking
while they sit and eat. The children do not spend free time outdoors
socializing and learning with each other. If they are outside playing, its
instructor directed and formally scheduled. It is not a spontaneous choice
decided by children who just want to have some fun.
Our attitudes and abilities
that we display as adults can be traced back to the days when we were young
children. The games and the roles we liked when we played, are mirrored in the
way we function as adults. As children, we played with others and developed our
social skills and creativity, flexibility and patience. We lead, cared, shared,
bargained, some stole, fought, followed and made decisions as we role played
the adults around us. However we learned to think, decide and function as
children, is typically the way we operate as adults in our lives today.We
probably still “play” in the same manner today, unless we experienced something
different and by whatever means, changed for the better.
Reference
Almon, K. (2002). The vital
role of play in early childhood education. Gateways, 43.
Retrieved from http://www.waldorfresearchinstitute.org/pdf/BAPlayAlmon.pdf
