My Connections to Play
The two quotes I feel that summarize what play represented for me in my childhood are:
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind""
Author: Dr. Seuss
""In the eyes of a child...there is joy, there is laughter... there is hope, there is trust, a chance to shape the future...""
Author: Air Supply
Sources for quotes: http://www.scrapbook.com/
Pictures:
I remember growing up we always had family night every Friday. As a family my parents would always bring in takeout food (usually pizza) then after dinner we would play board games the rest of the evening. Our favorite family games were Memory, Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. My parents loved it when we were creative. I was into arts and crafts back then. My parent encouraged me by buying me books to draw in and crayons to color with. My parents loved it when I played school because I was reinforcing what I was learning in school by explaining it to my stuffed animals. We never watched a lot of television because my parents thought that too much television was not good for us.
I feel that play today is very different than when I was a kid. I remember when I was a child I would play with Barbie and play board games such as Candy Land. I would also ride my bike and roller skate. I would also be creative by drawing, writing stories and I would also play school with my stuffed animals. Nowadays, I feel that our youth spends a lot of time playing video games and being the Internet instead of being outdoors and hanging out with friends. I feel that children spend too many hours sitting in front of the television set instead of getting exercise. If children would get outside and do some kind of physical activity this may eliminate some of the obesity problems. It is my hope that parents will encourage kids to play outdoors and to be creative instead of always spending time on the computer and playing video games.
I feel that their needs to be a balance between work in play in school. It is important for children to be educated in academics, but it is also important for children to take mental breaks and have fun. I feel that if a teacher plays educational games with the children such as The Hokey Pokey and Red Light, Green Light it let’s children run around, but it is also teaching them how to follow directions. I remember in my childhood my parents always played educational games with us such as Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders and Memory. As we got older we played games like Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit. These games were fun, but they also taught us things.
