My Connections to Play

"Culture arises and unfolds in and as play".

Johan Huizinga

"Play is training for the unexpected".

Marc Bekoff

*These two quotes represent what play was to me during my childhood*

My sisters and I used sheets to make tents 

Skip-it was one of my favorite toys as a child. i used to have competitions with my sisters. 

I loved to jump rope especially double dutch with my friends!

My parents, aunts and uncles, neighbors and school all supported play when I was younger. My parents always allowed my sisters and I to play outside with each other and with our friends in the neighborhood. We had a big basement growing up and if it was too hot or too cold outside we would go play downstairs in our basements. My father taught my sisters and I how to ride a bike. My parents would also take us to the toy store if we got a good report card! 

I feel play today is similar to when I was a child in the fact that children do play. Where I think the difference lies is the way in which children play. When I was growing up children spent more time outside playing with their friends, or using different household items for play. Today I rarely see children playing outside. Television, video games, Ipads, computers and cellphones have become play for children. Children spend more of their time on technology devices than actually playing with other people or engaging in physical play activities. My hope today is for children to spend more time playing outside for fun not for sports practice. I want to see children spending less time on tech devices and their parents encouraging them to play. 

The encouragement and fun I had playing as a child helped me to grow closer to my sisters. We spent a lot of time playing together as a children that today we still can play together. I also use the same encouragement with my children at work and with my cousins nieces and nephews.