My Connection To Play
“Play is so integral to childhood that a child who does not have the opportunities to play is cut off from a major portion of childhood.” -Musselwhite
“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” -Joseph Chilton Pearce
Playing on the see-saw
Playing in the sand
Playing with dolls
Talking on the telephone with a friend
Playing jumping rope
Playing with friends priceless!!
During my childhood I really enjoyed playing. It was a important part of my life. I look forward waking up getting dress so I can have fun playing. Especially during the summer month because we had more time to spend outside playing. I love climbing tree and playing softball for the summer months. My entire family took part of playing softball and this was our time together. My mother always made sure we did a lot of outdoor activities, by during this we were getting to use a lot of our gross muscle skills. I do not remember to many of my friend having a lot of medical condition such as(diabetics, and obesity). I believe this was because we did a lot of outdoor activities that result in more physical things. I enjoyed my childhood play because when I was growing up we create most of our games by using our imagination.
In today's society our young children are not using enough of their imagination to even reinforce play. We must kind in my that our young children learn by imagining and doing. When our child engages in pretend (or dramatic) play, he is actively experimenting with the social and emotional roles of life. Through cooperative play, he/she learns how to take turns, share responsibility, and creatively problem-solve. When your child pretends to be different characters, he has the experience of "walking in someone else's shoes," which helps teach the important moral development skill of empathy. It is normal for young children to see the world from their own egocentric point of view, but through maturation and cooperative play, our child will begin to understand the feelings of others. Our children also builds self-esteem when he discovers he can be anything just by pretending/playing!
While it may seems as if our children's play is worthless, however there's a lot of work — problem solving, skill building, overcoming physical and mental challenges — going on behind the scenes. Pretending, or imaginative play, is one of the cornerstones of our young child's world.
Hi Yalanda,
ReplyDeleteIt was eight children in our family and I can not remember any of us being sick a lot or any major medical problems that could not be taken care of at home. We loved being outside every chance we had. We even played outside a short time in the winter months with out getting sick. I believe by being exposed to the outdoors helped us connect with the environment in a healthy way. Although we can not overlook that some children have real allergies to pollen, grass, and other things that may cause them to spend limited time outside. But if you ever paid much attention some children with allergies love to run, and play. Which in time may help some children grow out of having allergies if they are not to severe.
Hi Yalanda,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about play during your childhood. It sounds like you spent a lot of time playing outside. I grew up the same way. You mentioned that you did not have any friends with medical conditions such as obesity or diabetes. I found that so interesting because I did not have any friends with those conditions either. I remember that there were only a handful of kids in my grade who were considered overweight. I also believe it is because we spent so much time playing outdoors and inside using our gross motor skills. There are many kids today that have these conditions. It is not uncommon at all to see overweight children or hear of a child who has diabetes. To me, it seems obvious that there is a correlation between the child's activity level and these conditions.