Looking at play from different perspectives, these quotes touch me.
“Children learn by doing, and play is their work”
- Author unknown
“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of human kind can unfold”
- Joseph Chilton Pearce, Contemporary American Scholar.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation”
- Plato, Greek Philosopher, 427 – 347 BC.
Play is life and an essential aspect of development. Over the years, in the early years, parents and other people have encouraged and supported play in different ways. Parents send out their children to play during the day, they run around the neighborhood, and boys play with anything in sight kick stones, buckets as balls and girls play like mothers, cook in the pretend kitchen, nurse and care for babies.
Play today if at all it exists in the true sense, is different from yesteryear s. Most of what children call play is continuation of academic exercise. Television, computers and play stations have taken the show today and many children spend a lot of time on it. It is not creative and does not build imagination totally.
I enjoyed outdoor play a lot as a child. Then, there was free movement without fear; neighborhood was safe for everyone, we climb trees, run to streams, pretend a lot and use anything as props. It was fun and great learning opportunity. It is different today in many ways.
Mercy,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your Blog on play this week, and I completely agree with you that things have changed. The play we remember from yesterday is unfortunately not the same play of today. I think it's very sad that our children today will not have the same memories we all had when we were young growing up, it was a different time. And that is why I think it is our responsibility as educators, as well as parents to help instill some of the same kind of values of true play into them. Helping our children to see not only the true values of everyday play, But also the connections of play to healthy growth and development, and most important the ability to learn through play.
Great Job!
Sylvia