My Connections to Play

This week in class we are focusing on the topic of play in early childhood education - it's importance, it's benefits, and more. In order to better understand the meaning and importance of play, we have to examine our own experiences, interpretations, and benefits of play that we have been exposed to since childhood.

1. First, I begin with two important quotes about play:

• "Through games and activities, a skilled teacher can introduce something unknown to a hesitant learner and allow the student to practice until mastery is achieved. Structured classroom play can appeal to all styles of learners: visual, aural, and kinesthetic," (Rivera, 2009, p. 52). 
• Being a very visual and hands on learner, this quote really stood out to me. Growing up, math was a challenging subject and always left me feeling frustrated. When I had the opportunity to use manipulatives and play games to practice a topic, I would feel more at ease, confident, and understand the concept more. Even as an adult, I am the type of learner that needs to see it and do it to best understand it. I attempt to provide all such types of opportunities for learning throughout the day in my classroom.
• "Play can enliven that which seems uninteresting, add humor, and infuse creativity into rigid and and dry topics," (Rivera, 2009, p. 52). 
• This quote takes me down memory lane to my primary grade and elementary school years. Some of the best school memories involved wonderful teachers who provided opportunities for fun and exciting games and projects to help us better understand the topics at hand. By participating in hands-on projects, crafts, and other learning experiences, I can still remember skills and concepts practiced in such ways to this day. 

2. Next, I will share a few pictures of the essential toys and games to my childhood. These toys and games were items I played with on a consistent basis growing up. They are items that provided me with a variety of fond memories with my parents, cousins, friends, and brother. 

• As most young girls do, I always loved playing with Barbies! I had quite the collection and loved the classic Barbie pink convertible, as well. My cousins and I would sit and play with Barbies for hours on end in our Barbie playhouses, changing their clothes and shoes, brushing and styling their hair, and having "parties". Many a rainy day was spent each summer in my cousins play room with Lisa, Jordan, Meagan and I playing Barbies!

• Another popular past time of my childhood was Nintendo! Who didn't love to play Nintendo!? Super Mario Brothers 3 and Zelda were among my favorite games that I would play with my mom, dad, aunt and cousins. We attempted to keep and use our Nintendo throughout my years growing up, even though new gaming systems were coming out each year until we had to finally retire the system as it was impossible to fix and play anymore. That was a sad day! :(

• I come from a very sports-oriented family and from a young age I had a genuine interest and love for sports, in general. By age 7 I began playing softball and completely fell in love with the game! I played until I was 19 years old for fast pitch teams, and remained on a few slow pitch teams into my early twenties. Now I miss it on a daily basis and would love to possibly go back to playing and eventually coaching someday. 

• Another popular and necessary toy and tool of my childhood were art supplies! I absolutely loved to draw, color, cut, and craft drawings, pictures, and projects as a child from very early on and this love continued throughout my childhood into adolescence and adulthood. One of my many joys of teaching is the ability to be creative and make things as samples and posters and more for my students and classroom. 

3. Thirdly, I will discuss and describe ways in which people in my life supported and encouraged play during my childhood years. 

• As a child, some of my first memories of play took place at my Aunt Deb's house in Philadelphia, where she lived across the street from my parents and I. My Aunt Deb would babysit me during the day while my uncle and parents worked and her children, my cousins, were in school. We would eat breakfast together, spend the morning playing dolls, dress up, school, and more, eat lunch and take a break for some of my shows and her shows, work on some academic and learning based activities such as practice workbooks where we would practice numbers, letters, colors, and more, and lastly while she would do some house chores during the afternoons I would nap or play independently. 
• Upon entering Kindergarten in the city, I remember only being in school for half day and having a very strict teacher. We were often sitting at tables and writing or drawing. Minimal play time was allotted. We moved to New Jersey before starting first grade and that was a total change! My teacher was wonderful, allowing me to explore and play while learning and taught me confidence in my own abilities, even teaching me how to read! I am fortunate enough to work with this teacher now in my district together in fourth grade, which is an amazing feeling as she was my first inspiration to become a teacher. 
• My parents also played a key part in my play years. Dad and I always had the connection with sports and Nintendo! Mom and I would play dolls and Barbies, draw and color, play games, and read together. My love for reading definitely comes from the times when mom and I would snuggle on the couch and read books together way back when.
• Overall, the roles of play have influenced me into being more sociable with others (even though I am shy by nature) and prepared me with a variety of academic and life skills I still carry with me to this day. 

4. Fourth, I will discuss the similarities and differences between play when I was a child as compared to play in our current society and field of education. 

• I think it is very evident and obvious that play has changed drastically in and out of school from my childhood until present day. When I was a child, life seemed less busy. Parents seemed more likely to take time to sit and work with their children, play with their children, and experience life together. In current society, most parents are consumed by work and technology in such a way that the needs of a child may be neglected, both intentionally and unintentionally. I think parents in our current society are simply uninformed of the importance and necessity of play in a  child's life and development. It is important to provide information and knowledge for them to understand this concept. 
• In addition, technology has drastically changed play through the years. When I was a child, Nintendo was a fun gaming system to play but it was not something that monopolized my play time, provided a babysitter to keep me occupied, nor was I allowed to play it for hours on end as I was made to play other games, socialize with cousins and friends, and play outside. In our current society, video games, cell phones, iPads and more monopolize a child's play time and attention. Parents use such tools as something to keep the child busy or quiet. Children now will sit for hours upon hours playing video games, while most children rarely ever take time to play outside and exercise. Times have definitely changed!
• My overall hope and goal in terms of play for our current society is for it to be recognized as the crucial piece in a child's development that it is. I hope it will become a more weighted and incorporated piece into our curriculums and that more parents will begin to foster and encourage more positive interactions and play at home, once provided with the know-how to do so. The positive effects and benefits on a child who experiences play speak for itself and I am hopeful we will all begin to support such opportunities in education more in the future. 

5. Lastly, I must discuss my thoughts on the role of play throughout my life (childhood to adulthood), as well as in general on a child's life from childhood to adulthood.

• Rivera (2009) lists, “Playground games such as “Mother May I?” or “Red Light/Green Light” develop self-control and social skills; board games promote taking turns, strategic thinking, and problem solving; sports, playground equipment, and blocks or construction activities augment physical coordination; and word games promote linguistic and social skills,” (p. 50). Each of the aforementioned play activities and opportunities spark fond memories of my childhood. Each of those play moments and memories were shared with someone special in my life and taught me skills that I still carry with me to this day. Skills taught during play are more meaningful than many people realize, such as the ability to socialize and interact with your peers in an appropriate manner! Problem solving skills are a key skill we need in every aspect of our lives. I remember facing many problems during play time with friends both in and out of school and by being part of those opportunities we learned the good and the bad of how to solve a problem and get to a resolution. Play didn't end for me when childhood "ended". I, to this day, feel as though I am a "big kid at heart" because I feel as though I still appreciate play, appreciate and realize the importance of letting go and having fun, being a little goofy at times. I still am willing to learn from others and work together to create new things and share adventures. Play continued on in my life past childhood and is still active in my life today for me personally, for the students in my classroom, for my younger cousins whom I treasure spending time with, and eventually, when the time comes, will carry over to my own children. 
• Turning the tides a bit, the overall role of play and it's impact on a child will carry on from birth through adulthood, not only specifically to my own self but to all children, in some way, shape, or form. As Rivera states, “Through toys, games, role plays, and imaginative use of equipment and materials, children develop physically, intellectually, linguistically, emotionally, and socially,” (2009, p. 50). The benefits are many, the negative impacts are few in terms of play. The role of play in any child's life can create long lasting, positive impacts on the child's development of biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial abilities. Your opportunities for play and experiences in play during childhood will provide you with a foundation for many aspects and emotions you will count on for the rest of your life. Play does not merely start and end in childhood; rather it is a concept, an idea, an entity that continues and is surrounding you at every turn. We need to embrace the opportunities, take advantage of them, and learn from them, even in adolescence and adulthood. Play provides us with opportunities to interact with others and use our creativity and imaginations to go to a whole new world. Play can be an active part of your life depending on your job or career path you have chosen! We must never, ever underestimate the power of play and the lessons it will teach us from the time we are born until the time we leave this great Earth. 

This has been lengthy but I hope it has been fun and informative. If you are anything like me, this post took you on a journey down memory lane and brought many smiles to your face. I hope you shared that with me during your time reading this posting this week. Until next time…

Ashley :)

References:

Rivera, M. (2009). The powerful effect of play in a child's education. Education Digest, 75(2), 50-52.