My Connections to Play

“Play builds the kind of free-and-easy, try-it-out, do-it-yourself character that our future needs.” ~ James L. Hymes Jr.

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

My boys playing @ the town Halloween festival.

No better play time than play time at the

beach!

“It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self.” ~ D.W. Winnicott



 

Cabbage Patch Kids were some of my favorite things to play with when I was a little girl. I collected many of them and had numerous accessories to go along with them. I often pretended that they were my children and I was their mommy. They all had names, and I love to change their clothes.

I also enjoyed playing with the Disney princess dolls and playing dress up to look and act like them. I loved the classic movies and acting out scenes from them.

One of my favorite toys as a child was the hula hoop. I would spend hours trying to see if I could bet my record from the day before. It was great exercise and really helped develop gross motor skills. Even today, I am a great hula hooper on the Wii, and I always say it is because of my experience with it as a child.

As a child, I loved playing with the things mentioned above, but what I loved to do even more was to get dirty playing outside. We lived in a very small house on a family owned dirt road. Even though our living space was limited, our outdoor play space was endless. Because we lived on a family-owned road, I had cousins all around me. So, we would spend hours and hours exploring in the woods. We would build forts out of old scrap wood, create swings out of vines, make mud pies out of dirt and creek water. My mother and grandparents were very supportive of our outdoor play time and on occasion would come out to see our latest invention. This type of play was so important to my development. I believe it played a major part in the development of my independence and creativity. Unfortunately, this type of play is non-existent in the lives of many children today. Living spaces seems to be larger but the outdoor space is limited. Houses are enormous but the yard space is tiny. Play for my children is extremely different than play when I was a child. I played in the woods, and my children play in small areas of the neighborhood at the park or in the cul-de-sacs. I did not have very many toys, so I was creative with what little I had. Today, children have rooms and rooms full of toys to choose from. No matter what type of play children are experiencing, it is so important that children are allowed to explore, be creative, and be active. Even as adults, there are many things we do to keep play a part of our lives. We love to hike, bike ride, play outdoors with our children, play on the beach, and spend time just exploring the things we love. Play is evident and significant in all ages of life.