“Play builds the kind of free-and-easy, try-it-out, do-it-yourself character that our future needs.” ~ James L. Hymes Jr. (child development specialist, author)
“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (writer)
When I was a child, my mom and dad would always say stuff about what you could do with stuff, such as, " I bet you can build a teepee with those sticks." Or when it rained my mom would always tell us to go cook some mud pie. People loved to see kids outside playing when I was young. I lived down a long dirt road and I would ride my bicycle as far as they'd let me then ride it back. At school, we could play out as long as we wanted. The teachers knew what they had to teach and they got it done and allowed us to play too.
I feel that play today is discouraged. Parents want their children inside at school doing work. They want them to learn everything and they don't understand that these children need to be outside to relieve stress. They can't sit in a chair all day and expect them to learn anything. Also, when I was a child, my parents hardly ever bought us toys, Christmas and birthdays was about it. We always played with what we had. We played with pots, pans, utensils, sticks, dirt, mud and anything else we could find. Children are so dependent on technology and toys these days that it's crazy. I have to admit even my daughter knows how to work my ipad and iphone better than I do. I have started teaching her that she doesn't need a toy everytime we go to walmart though and that we're not even going to look. Children have forgot how to make due with what you have and they are drawn away from sticks and mud and pushed towards phones and ipads and toys. It makes me sick honestly because my childhood was SO FUN! I didn't have anything but it was fun. I got up every morning since I was probably 4 or 5 with my dad to help him milk. I enjoyed working! That has followed me through adulthood. I worked hard all through high school and all through college. Children these days are going to grow up thinking they can just sit on a phone all day and not do anything. I played all kinds of sports in high school. I thought of it as play even though it was VERY hard work. It was fun for me. I still play today, I love being outside and I feel that when we clean up brush and stuff, that is play to me. Anything I find fun is play for me. We sometimes go out to eat and go to walmart or shopping. This is a type of play for adults in which I greatly enjoy!
Play is very vital and people need to step back and see how it has changed from past to present!
From reading your post I feel that we had the same upbringing. My parents always believed in play and were challenging me to use my imagination. I too have a child that knows how to work technology. I have really taken the time to reevaluate and make sure that I have my electronics turned off. I agree that we need to make sure that children realize the importance of play!
ReplyDeleteHi Shanda, Your childhood was similar to mine where we both had limited ‘toys’; my childhood was fun when using homemade items (shoeboxes, kitchen items, plastic items, toilet rolls, etc) that I could construct my own ideas. I also learned to manipulate these items and invent new toys (pretend cars and rockets). Technology surely has come a long way and our skills now have to focus on such items to have fun (remote control cars, tablets, and so forth) Jay…
ReplyDeleteHey Shanda,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I have enjoyed reading and reminiscing with you. I know what you mean. Like you my sister and I didn't get something every time we went to the store. Now with my 8 yr old son, and 2 yr old daughter, they are just like your children they think they are supposed to get something every time we set foot in any store. Toys girl what is that you know these kids these days don't know anything about or how to play with toys unless it has something to do with technology. It had gotten so bad in our house I had to make the rule of after homework, my children have to go in their rooms and play with some of their toys for 30 minutes before playing with some form of technology for the next 30 then back to just playing with toys.