My Connections to Play

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.”

 Kay Redfield Jamison

                           "Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.” ~ Abraham Maslow

As an adult I still enjoy using play. It helps me tap into my creativity.

“Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.” Friedrich Froebel (founder of the concept of kindergarten)

Connection With My Inner Child

Growing up I enjoyed pretending to be a teacher and reading. My  great grandmother promoted my love for pretending to teach. At about the age of 6  she purchased an adult  desk and chalkboard with chalk. I would line my teddybears and dolls in a row, teach them and give them homework.

20 years later I became that teacher sitting at the adult size desk ,but this time with actual children and a  whiteboard. Whatever I could image my great grandmother supported. On wet days  she would let us take the  pie pans outside and make greens and mudpies. We would use grass for the greens, honeysuckle for whatever we  could  think of, and rocks for the meat. In the area that I grew up in there were very limited parks. We really didn't need parks. Our neighbor would let us roll up and down her hill or we would play on our swing set.

Play in the 80's compared to Play Now

A video game! What was that. Disney channel, Disney XD-huh.

I did not have a video game to consume most of my time,nor did I have access to all of these cable networks. When I did watch television it was to watch Bozo the Clown or Reading Rainbow.

Children today would rather sit and soak up radiation rather than being outside soaking up the sun. 

Children during the 80's spent more time outside than children in the age of technology will in their lifetime. Recess is no longer a requirement in the school systems. Things are completely different now.