My Connections to Play

These quotes are very powerful in my opinion concerning play. Both encompass what play was like for me as a child and how I feel about play in the Early Childhood field.






Play for me as a child was typically outside, with my older brothers or with neighborhood friends. We played in the creek outside of my Papa's house, at the local park on the merry-go-round and countless games of football in the backyard. I spent time under trees reading books. Books were and are my choice of "play". I could be anyone, anywhere and would spend HOURS under a tree on a blanket reading Anne Frank, The Boxcar Children, The Babysitter's Club, Beverly Clearly, anything and everything I could get my hands on. I remember playing school on the steps at our apartment, We played dodge ball with the horse apples that we found on the ground in the yard, jumped in leaf piles, made forts in the living room and rolled down hills. Play was with our whole bodies. We made up the rules as we went and the games would last for days at a time. My brothers, my neighbors and classmates, as well as my parents all had a role to play in the "play" I participated in as a child. They encouraged me to be myself, experiment and imagine all the things I thought I would be or could be. I am forever grateful for their support in my play then and now!

I think that play is very different now than it was when I was a child.  I watch children not really know how to play outside. As a child, we spent so many hours outside just playing with whatever and whoever there was to play with. It is interesting to me that children do not know how to play. When they are outside, they play things based off of the TV shows they watch, the movies they have seen or the recent video games they have played. To simply make a game as they go seems rare. I believe that play in it's purest form opens the door to problem solving, creative thinking, and dreaming as well as impulse control and self-regulation. Play is so very vital to all of us. Children and adults! Play opens all sorts of doors for us. I hope that as early childhood educators we can advocate for play in a way that shows it's importance and refuels a passion for play in children of all ages!