My Connections to Play

The bicycle is something that I absolutely LOVED to play with as a child. I was a nature child, an 'always wanted to be outside' type of child. I think that I absolutely loved to ride the bicycle well into my middle grade years. I was able to transfer my mind into many different arenas when I rode my bike. At times I pretended to be a school bus driver and other times I raced with my younger brother.

Now this is where my times of dramatic play occurred. Usually it was at my grandmothers home with an aunt whom I was very close to, who happened to be only four years older than me! We would take my grandmothers older dishes and cook all types of cakes and soul food when playing outside. We would play in the mud from sun up to sun down at times! We absolutely loved it! 

Two Quotes about Play: 

All of the adults who were apart of my life growing up supported my play in any way they could. To start, my parents provided the play materials as well as the permission to play for hours on the inside and outside, whichever was feasible. My parents helped me develop in gaining social skills by providing plenty of play partners for my brother and I when growing up. Back then, more hours were allowed for play in elementary school, etc. So these adults were necessary components of gaining play skills as well. Because of these things, I have gained better social emotional development, and it helped me in many adult areas of my life as well such as problem solving.

Today play itself is not necessarily different. What's different is the way that it is viewed. It seems to be of less and less importance in the eyes of some legislators. Therefore, the hours of play have been reduced in many early childcare centers. Play has even changed in the household setting. Nowadays, electronics/technology are keeping children in the house instead of them being outside building communication skills. This has lead to higher obesity rates in young children as well.