My Connections to Play

 

Quotes about play:

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
Plato

Life must be lived as play.
Plato

In our play we reveal what kind of people we are.

Ovid
Roman poet
43 BC–17 or 18 AD

Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.

Diane Ackerman
Contemporary American author

 The true object of all human life is play.

G. K. Chesterton
British author
1874–1936

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.

Fred Rogers
American television personality
1928–2003

A child loves his play, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.

Benjamin Spock
American pediatrician
1903–1998

Play fosters belonging and encourages cooperation.

Stuart Brown, MD
Contemporary American psychiatrist

Play has been man’s most useful preoccupation.

Frank Caplan

Contemporary American author

1911–1988

 Items that were essential to my play as a young child

                          

 

                                                    

                                                        

Others' roles in my play as a young child

When I was growing up, play was not an option but was mandatory. One of my aunts would take control of the televisions so our only choice was to go outside and play. There were 6 of us grandchildren at the time (now there is seven of us). We would ride bikes, make up crazy games, or play ball. We would also play video games in the back room. We had so much much fun growing up. 

My mother and grandfather encouraged us to play, which is the opposite of one of my aunts, she gave of absolutely NO choices. They would come out and either play with us or watch us. It was so much fun. 

Play then and now

There is definitely a difference between the play that occurred when I was young and the play that occurs now.  A lot of the kids these days do not seem to know how to play. They are more into watching television or playing video games.  They do not seem to have an imagination either. We knew how to turn scraps of wood and old clothes baskets into usual items. A lot of the children I work with see items for whatever they are and not what they could be. I get down on the floor and try to encourage them to play but, honestly, how do you teach children how to play when they are being watched and entertained by electronics?