Saturday, September 29, 2012
My Connections to Play
A quote from a great man, a man I always knew and admire growing up.
"Children make you want to start life over"...Muhammad Ali
I often do we reflect on our prechool life through our classes.
"The prime purpose of being four is to enjoy being four-of secondary importance is to prepare for being five"... Jim Trelease, The Read_Alod Handbook, 1985
I saved the best for last what an awesome quote, one I will continue to live by with the children's lives I touch.
"Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity"...Kay Redfield Jamisom
In the picture below it is a representation of me because I grew up in day care and preschool settings while my mother and father worked. I knew of child-center curriculum before we changed to the fancy term. As we all know time changes things, what we see now in centers we created in my time. Creative play we often look at it as a thing of the past, no it is still alive and growing.
Barbie, Barbie I remember as if it were yesterday I thought I was the best little girl around. I had everything Barbie could offer cars, bikes, a million dolls, barbie houses and the list goes on. Barbie showed me fashion when I was little I thought every doll Barbie put out was the best and I wanted to be just like her.
Play is a world of imagination and learning. I learned a tremendous amount about life growing up through play. We were always encouraged through my childhood to explore the outdoors and create our play enviornment. Now society has placed play structures and gross motor equipment for children and it does not allow them time to be creative through play with nature. My grandmother use to always say "you can always find something to do outide."
As we continue to teach our children through play my hope is we create environments for them to learn while having fun. I hope we encourage more nature in play for children allowing them to explore the outdoors while bringing the classroom outside.
Play is essential it teaches social interaction for children with their peers. The role play offers is opportunities of a life time for children. Play helps children in longivity and encourages them to explore in their minds.
This was a great topic for this week's blog. I am looking forward to reading the blogs published from my peers and I hope they enjoy my post.
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I really enjoyed your post and you said it all. Play is a necessity and not a luxury. So sad that many parents see it as a waste of time. Many of today’s kids are not as blessed as we are in terms of fun that comes from free play outside. I was immersed in it such that thought some of them still bring joy to my soul today. I sincerely miss my childhood, the village square, stream and "oga" game. Together we will help these lovely ones around us.
ReplyDeleteI loved your walk down memory lane! I agree that times have changed drastically! I, too, was outside for the greater majority of my childhood, but when my children were born even though I made sure to get them outside daily to play, it was supervised until they were well in to elementary school. I wanted to protect them and by doing so, I probably hindered the adventures that they may have had. My husband built them a huge two story tree-house with a zip-line on one side and a slide next to it as means of exit, they had a trampoline, bikes, basketball net, Power Wheels, and much more. They still did use their imaginations but probably not as much as I did because I never had any of that. I was left to my own devices and did just fine though! As a parent, you never know if you are doing the right thing, and as an educator the only way to ensure that you are, is to read, read, and read! Your childhood sounds very nice!
ReplyDeleteKeena I love your quotes. As I began to read the one about the purpose of being four it brought back memories. I remember my friends and I standing around talking about turning five. It was a big deal. What a wonderful post. Thanks for sharing.
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