Children need the
freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.
Kay
Redfield Jamison
Contemporary American professor of psychiatry
Contemporary American professor of psychiatry
In play a child
always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior. In play it is
as though he were a head taller than himself.
Lev
Vygotsky
Russian psychologist
1896–1934
Russian psychologist
1896–1934
Describe how people supported
play when you were younger and/or the role of play in your childhood.
Well I don’t really know how to answer this. When I was 4 I
suffered a third degree burn to my right hand and spent about a year to a year
and a half in a hospital unable to use my hands. One was covered with medically
dressing ( I had to have multiple surgeries on that hand) and one had IV’s in
it. I don’t remember much from that time period at all. But I always loved
playing with the above toys.
The thing that sticks out the most about my child play is
that boys were not encouraged to participate in dramatic play, and girls was
not encouraged to play sports. Today it’s the total opposite, boys are not only
encouraged but they enjoy playing in the dramatic play area with the dolls and
cooking. Also girls are being encouraged not only to play sports but to play
them with the boys. I feel that this teaches are children that they are all
equal regardless of their gender. I hope
that government and school wake up and see that children are learning so much
when they play, it’s not just them having fun. I didn’t play much when I was
growing up, I always had to be the little grown up with responsibility. When I
started taking care of my younger siblings I watched how they would learn from
playing with each other. I loved the way that they were learning shapes,
colors, etc. just from play. From them I learned that play is the best way for
children to learn.
Chenieka, I couldn't agree with you more about the change in dynamics during dramatic play. When my son went through a phase of carrying a baby doll around, his preschool teacher said, "We need good fathers in this world, too". I was so impressed. This behavior, carrying baby dolls, would have been discouraged for the boys of my generation.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed many of the same toys you listed, loved those clackers! You shared that as a child you had lots of responsibility and not much time for play. I will tell you it is never too late to add play. My husband and I had an opportunity to visit an ammusment park recently without the kids. We had a blast riding and taking in shows. I think the other adults were a little jealous.
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