If
I were a young child again sitting in a wooded area with a small stream nearby,
it would be the perfect paradise for me and for three of my childhood friends.
I can imagine the joy in such serenity as I embrace the natural world in its
entity. E would not need any
material because everything is in the world around us. Our hands and feet and
minds would be our most cherished materials. The short and tall trees would be
my associates as I envisage myself climbing the trees from branch to branch. If
they are fruit trees then it would be us exploring the taste and which of the
fruits to pluck. Before we know we would be in another part of the forest
foraging and cropping our way through the thickets aimlessly just for the fun
of it. Maybe some beautiful butterflies would be flying by and we will each
want to own it with utterances of “that blue one is mine “ 0r “ I like the
yellow one”, or “No, that one I told you is mine”. We will argue back and forth
but in the end we will peacefully switch to some other form of distraction or play. I
know this time it will be the small stream. We would play in the water; throw
it on ourselves and at each other’s face and just laugh, scream and
yell in ecstasy.
Favorite quotes that summarize what play represented for
me in childhood
“Play is
a treasured commodity that causes nothing but brings in pleasure,
laughter, and inner peace to an individual.” Ghongkedze Mary
“I
still get wildly
enthusiastic about little things… I play with
leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.” Leo F. Buscaglia
“ If I get to pick what I want to
do, then it’s play…if someone else tells me that I have to do it, then it’s
work.” Patricia Nourot
“Play provides a continuation
desire. We desire to keep doing it, and the pleasure of the experience drives
that desire. We find ways to keep it going.” Stuart Brow
Include two to three pictures of essential play items for
your younger self
Playing with basins of water used to be a favorite child play
The dance around and stoop play used to be a great exercise growing up.
There is nothing as soothing as playing with mud especially to see who gets rubbed most with mud.
Describe how people supported play when you were younger
and/or the role of play in your childhood.
I was younger my parents knew play was part of growing up. I can remember when
my mom would shout out to me to do the dishes and go back to play. Sometimes
she insisted for me to do certain chores before I could join my friends to
play. Thus she recognized it was necessary for children to play. If any one came crying during play
parents would scold the crying child and let them know accidents do occur
during plays. Play was unconsciously or I should say culturally organized.
During moon lit bright nights all the children would gather from 7pm in the
chief’s compound to play. We will pretend to count the stars, we will tell
imaginary stories about a man with an axe in the moon; we will sing, dance,
tell stories, and do hide and seek. When it was 9 pm then a parent would ask
the children to go home to sleep. There were no Televisions, resort areas,
movies, yet we played and enjoyed ourselves with the natural God given
resources in our environment. We never had toys bought from the stores. We made
our toys ourselves. We could make pretty dolls by sewing old cloths together.
We could use clay to mould different figurines and name them. The boys could
quickly peel plantain stems and shred the leaves, and tie it with numerous
ropes to form a soccer ball and they will enjoy a good game with what had been
improvised. Yes that was growing up poor but very happy and peaceful without
any stress. At school we had no restrictions, there was nothing like a personal
space, short and long breaks were time to socialize and run around and play. If we went to school with our lunches
we would share and eat veraciously so that we could have enough time to play
Write a brief entry on how you feel play today is similar
or different from the play in which you engaged as a child and what your hope
for young is now with regard to play.
Today play is very different
from what it used to be when I think about my play days as a child. I enjoyed playing
unrestricted. As children we all loved playing with friends, siblings, and in
our neighborhoods. I remember vividly how play was
part of my life. I could play all day long with my siblings and friends without
getting tired.
At school we would run and chase each other, we
would rough and tumble play just like the boys did and we would do pretend play
of preparing fufu a traditional dish. These were forms of physical, social, and
fantasy plays (Ginsburg, 2007), and for the most part the girls would play part
of the mother and boys will pretend to be the dad. At the time it was just fun
and the neighborhood children would gather and play different types of play
from peek -a- boo to hide and seek.
The merry go round, hopscotch, and the hand -clap games were my
favorites. There were symbolic in that unconsciously, it taught us how to count
numbers, we learned to rhyme and sing songs with particular rhythm. As we
jumped and skipped the ropes it coordinated the actions of singing, jumping and
clapping simultaneously. Today play scenario is very different. There are a lot
of restrictions on children to go out and play freely in the neighborhoods or
even on playgrounds maybe of insecurity reasons. The fear of child predators
was totally absent in my country.
In the twenty
first century, some mothers do not want heir kids to get muddy and there is
constant watch or yelling out not to get into the dirt. As Ginsburg (2007), points out play indeed helps children
to master their world,
develop new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and the resiliency
children will need to face future challenges. It seems to me we built more
immunity from eating raw unwashed fruits in the wild, we had no sweaters but
constant play kept the cold away, we knew we had to skip and jump on cold
chilly days. Little did we know at the time, that it was good exercise for the
mind and soul. One big difference for me is the fact that our parents never
physically played with us, but at the most they could narrate oral tales and
legends about the towns and the villages. They seemed to understand that play
was a child’s thing.
Nonetheless,
the friends I cherish the most today are my childhood friends because of the
plays we indulged in growing up. What I hope for children today is for them to
grow up as children enjoying the art of play. Play creates that forum for
social interaction and building long lasting friendships. The benefits of play
cannot be down played, as teachers, parents, and caregivers, we need to be aware of these
benefits and encourage more free play with children and for children. Through
out my life play has been my source of comfort. I love to dance, cook, run, and
I love to have fun with friends. My children act like clowns sometimes and it
keeps me thrilled. A good laughter relieves any tension I have built up in my
body. It is all part of play! As found by researchers, children engaged in
socio-dramatic play experiment with words, phrases, and idioms they have heard
and learn new and more complex ways to express themselves (Almon, 2002; Bergen,
2002; Bergen & Fromberg, 2009). I highly recommend the concept of play and
its importance to be mandatory in the school curriculum.
References
Almon, K. (2002). The vital role of
play in early childhood education.
Gateways, 43.
Retrieved from
Bergen, D. (2002). The role of
pretend play in children's cognitive
development. Early Childhood Research and Practice,
4(1). Retrieved
Bergen, D.,
& Fromberg, D. P. (2009). Play and social interaction in middle childhood.
Phi Delta Kappan, 90(6),
426-430.
Ginsberg, K. (2007). The importance
of play in promoting healthy
development and
maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics,
