My Connections to Play

ITS OK TO BE A KID AT HEART!!  EVEN IN ADULTHOOD

As a child, my sisters and I would play with whatever materials that were in our surroundings.  In single parent families,  it is somewhat hard to get children every toy that they plead for and for some reason we did not care if we had toys or not!  We used our imaginations for everything!  Two quotes that pretty much compresses my childhood explains how play molds a child for success as well as the importance of using creativity and your imagination. 

"Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play."

Henri Matisse
French painter
1869–1954

"When children pretend, they’re using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero."
Fred Rogers
American children’s television host
1928–2003

Those three items that I have chosen, all symbolize responsibility.  I enjoyed dressing my barbie up and combing her hair to make her pretty.  I enjoyed the swing set because it was adventurous.  A child can do multiple things on it.  That is what makes it special.  A child could never get bored.  The cash register allowed us to create our pretend grocery store and exchange money and goods amongst each other.  My parents allowed my sisters and I to play as much as we wanted, because most of the time they did not want us lingering inside the house all the time.  They even would come out and play along with us just to make us feel special.  They would play games, swing with us, teach us how to swing bats, and bounce basketballs.  All of this sculptured fundamentals in us as children.

During my younger years, playing outside was an absolute must.  O gosh if it was a rainy day, my siblings and I would have a yucky day.  My mother loved the fact that we always wanted to be in the outside atmosphere, where we used our imaginations for everything!  In society today, I feel that children linger more on the inside now that crime rates are higher and because parents buy all the high tech devices.  (PSP's,  Nintendo Ds, Play Station, Wii, X Box, Kinect, Ipods; you name it)  Most children would rather stay inside with the video games rather that burn energy on the outside.  I sometimes wonder if this apprehends the child from being creative or imaginative.

In the aspect of play, we must realize that play allows children to interact with the world around them.  They learn how to work in groups and negotiate conflicts eventually.  They also can learn decision making skills and see what areas interest them most.  Even as an adult, I am a kid at heart.  I love humor and I love to be in comfortable atmosphere.  A little play allows adults to do that.  Do you agree?