Childhood Connections to Play

Play today is so different from the play in which I remember.  I recall spending my entire evening, after homework, and weekend’s outdoors.  My friends and I would just sit and enjoy the peacefulness of the sun and often the stars.  Unfortunately, many of today’s children spend far less time outdoors than did previous generations.  There has been a 25 percent decline in the time children spend playing and a 50 percent decline in time spent in unstructured outdoor activities.  Play is the work of childhood. It's the laboratory in which we as children figure out how the world works, who we are, who we want to become, and what we can and cannot do.  Bruner (1982) and Nelson (2000) stated that play is an important part of growing up as it teaches children the way in which to use and reflect on their experiences to represent their ideas and to ask and answer the questions that fixate them.

"Knowledge arises neither from objects nor the child, but from interactions between the child and those objects."    -- Jean Piaget

“It is unfortunate when children spend most of their time indoors, they’ll not just be missing out on memories but also on everything else the outdoors has to offer them.” 

   -- Rae Pica

I remember as a child playing anything outdoors, from hopscotch, jacks, baseball (as well as cheering), jumping on the trampoline or just riding my bike around the neighborhood to visit friends.

  

When I think back to my childhood, I think of the carefree days and the longing for the weekends and summer to play endlessly with my friends.  We were involved in so many outdoor activities that involved children from our neighborhood as well as those from surrounding neighborhoods.  My family would travel every summer to new unexplored places, the most memorable being Hawaii, Texas, Washington, D.C. and the Dominican Republic.  This would be two weeks of heaven, with family and relatives, as we constantly engaged in collaborative, imaginary and parallel play.  We would climb trees, swim, or just share a snack with a newfound friend.  My parents urged me to make new friends and to be active throughout the day.  We were not allowed to just sit in the house and “do nothing”, even though the temperature was well over 100°.  I remember participating in the summer youths program from the age of nine to sixteen.  This program included a barrage of outdoor activities and hundreds of kids from nearby counties.  Kids today spend most of their days indoors involved in video games and watching television.  Recess has been eliminated from school days so kids tend to think that outdoor play is not significant, because of what we are showing them.  And because of this, the obesity rate for children is skyrocketing.

Play has played a large part in making me the person that I am today.  I remember teaching my dolls, which I know enjoy as my passion-teaching, to being actively involved in sports (coaching both a swim and dance team).  It is because of “play” that I do not mind experiencing life, watching, listening and asking questions as I go along.  I found this poem which is perfect in how I summarize what play has done for me.

Just Playing

~by Anita Wadley from Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul

When I'm building in the block room,
Please dont' say I'm "just playing."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
About balances and shapes.

When I'm getting all dressed up,
Setting the table, caring for the babies,
Don't get the idea I'm "just playing."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I may be a mother or a father someday.

When you see me up to my elbows in paint,
Or standing at an easel, or molding and shaping clay,
Please don't let me hear you say "she's just playing."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm expressing myself and being creative.
I may be an artist or an inventor someday.

When you see me sitting in a chair
"Reading" to an imaginary audience,
Please don't laugh and think I'm "just playing."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I may be a teacher someday.

When you see me combing the bushes for bugs,
Or packing my pockets with choice things I find,
Don't pass it off as "just playing."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I may be a scientist someday.

When you see me engrossed in a puzzle,
Or some "plaything" at my school, (daycare)
Please don't feel the time is wasted in "play"
For you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning to solve problems and concentrate.
I may in business someday.

When you see me cooking or tasting foods,
Please don't think that because I enjoy it, it is just "play."
I'm learning to follow directions and see differences.
I may be a chef someday.

When you see me learning to skip, hop, run and move my body,
Please don't say I'm "just playing."
For you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning how my body works.
I may be a doctor, nurse or athlete someday.

When you ask me what I've done at school (daycare) today,
And I say, "I played."
Please don't misunderstand me.
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning to enjoy and be successful in work.
I'm preparing for tomorrow.
Today, I'm a child and my work is play.

Your Active Child: How to Boost Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Development through Age-Appropriate Activity (McGraw-Hill, 2003).