"A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men."
-Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
"This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play."
-Alan W. Watts
"It is a happy talent to know how to play."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
I chose these quotes to represent my experience with play because they capture the conflict I often felt as a child between the hard work that I enjoyed and the "nonsense" that I struggled to enjoy. As play looks different for everyone, it is important that each of us has the opportunity to deeply invest in activities we enjoy.
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| We had a playhouse much like this one when I was growing up. My uncle built it and painted it to imitate our house. |
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| My dad and I read The Little House on the Prairie series before bed over the course of a few years, so the series became a strong theme in my childhood play. I was Ma for Halloween one year, we visited homesteads around our state, and I even learned to cook asking my mom to help me imitate recipes from the stories. |
My parents were very supportive of my play growing up. They gave me so many tools for child directed play, as did many of the moms in the neighborhood. I don't remember any elements of play once I entered elementary school, though.
I think that play in my neighborhood looks very similar to what it was like growing up, but it really hasn't been that long and the neighborhood has maintained a lot of the same character. There is absolutely a stronger influence is technology in play these days, but I almost feel like the continuum is swinging back the other way. Parents in my neighborhood are limited early childhood screen time such that many two years olds don't recognize Elmo anymore. It will be interesting to see how technology continues to play out in early childhood.
My play in early childhood played a critical role in forming who I am today. I still enjoy "playing house" with my husband, making our house a home and taking pride in meals we share, etc. Play also helped establish my work ethic and my independence when my sisters were born (twins born when I was three and a half).
I really enjoyed your quotes you used for your blog on this subject. I would say I agree with the second one for us to be completely engaged with what we are doing and realize its play verse calling it work. Working in the child field a lot of times I do see it as all play because what else is better than working with kids all day to me it’s enjoyable. And I do agree with you that everyone does have a different look on play. For an example with my childhood I was always on the go to rodeos, sports or showing animal and to me this is consider as play because rodeo and showing animals is what I enjoyed most. Yes it did consider a lot of responsibility but I always had fun doing it.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI love your first quote! I is true that a wise person understands that you cannot work all of the time. You need to have fun and discover the things that you love. I feel that this helps me to stay connected to who I am. I love you play house. I always wanted a little play house when I was a child. My younger brother and I played house a lot when we were little. :)
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that your neighbors are limiting the amount of screen time for their children. technology can be useful, but I think children should explore and play in different environments. I spent a fair amount of playing video games and playing outside. I would say that the experiences I had outside running, climbing, and exploring are the most memorable.