My Connections to Play

 

Select two quotes that you feel summarize what play represented for you in childhood.

*" A person's a person, no matter how small." - Dr.Seuss
  " Nothing you do for a child, is ever wasted." - Garrison Keillor

Include two to three pictures of essential play items for your younger self.

Describe how people supported play when you were younger and/or the role of play in your childhood.

* Play was supported in a few different areas throughout my childhood. The first and foremos was at school, I can vaguely remember after doing our circle time activities; such as abs, calendar, weather, and helpers chart, we were giving time to play in the classroom. I can also recall recess as the time of the day that all children looked forwad to, because we had 45minutes outside to run around with our friends from other classrooms.

Next, play was allowed at home at the early age. I can remember after beginning kindergarten and first grade, etc. nothing was even considered until the homework was done and checked. My mom never really had a problem with getting my brother and I to go outside and play; because it was something that all th neighborhood kids did once homework was done, and school clothes were changed. We would all meet up on the block; play kickball, tag, footbll (with the boys), racing up and down the block, or if it was a gorgeous day, we would bring our bikes out. Then came dinner time, the streets were; clear, calm, and quiet. We were always told don't rush and eat your food just to go back outside, we have alwayssat down and ate as a family and we will continue to eat s a family. Luckily when the last bite was taken from my parents plate, my brother and I zoomed to clean our spaces and run back outside; which at this point we only had about two hours left before the street lights came on. Those were a sign that if they came on and your still outside; you're in trouble, we had to be physically on our porch with our last foot dragging in the house by time it clicked on to be safe.

One more aspect of play during my childhood, was being involved in sports. From the early age of four or five, I started playing soccer, onto t-ball, which I stayed with for a few years moving up to minors. I left the baseball scene for a few years and joined cheerleading for our local basketball association. I then joined the band in middle school, and later the marching band in highschool; where we traveled to all the games and even participated in competitions on the weekends near and far. I then went back to the bat and ball game during highschool; although now I was in softball, and continued playing softball for our local recreation association as well.

Write a brief entry on how you feel play today is similar or different from the play in which you engaged as a child and what your hope for young is now with regard to play.

* Play today is so very much different now than when I was growing up. Years ago, we wanted to basically live outside; climb trees, play in the mud, get dirty, play with the boys, etc. Now adays, it's almost as if you have to force children to go outside and play, because they have so many other things preoccupying their minds; such as, tv, electronics (video games, ipods, ipads, computers etc.) , cell phones. Another difference from when I was growning up and now, is that the children are lazy and the parents allow the children to sit around. The United States has this problem of Childhood Obesity and one of the reasons is becaue the children are not given and or bing made to go outside, exercise and to do things that children their ages should be doing like running up and down the block, riding bikes, playin tag, throwiong a football, etc.

 

My hope is for the parents and children to see how important being active, and having the opportunity to play is. We are in the time where everything is about technology, which is fine; but we have to know that those things have a time and place, and should not be used as babysitters or to replace active outside time. I would really like to see a turn for the better with children going outside and getting that real-life experience.