"The very existence of youth is due in part to the necessity for play; the animal does not play because he is young, he has a period of youth because he must play"-Karl Groos
"Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play"-Henri Matisse
I have to first start out by saying how much fun this assignment was for me. I just had a conversation with my mom about a month ago about some of the things I used to play with and they have saved almost everything! I was so excited to hear that and I wanted to share some of my favorite memories with all of you. I included more than 3 pictures, but I just couldn't stop! I never realized how much stuff I had when I was younger and I feel so grateful for it now. My parents were huge supporters of my play. I don't remember them playing with me, but they allowed me set up tables in our basement and some of my baby doll stuff in another area and I could just play and play away down there all day without interruptions. My extended family were also supporters of my play because they would give me more of the things I loved to play with for my birthdays and at Christmas time! Again, I feel so lucky as I look back on this. My brother was born when I was almost 5, so eventually he would play with me as he grew older and he was a great sport about playing with "girly" toys. The last group that supported me as I played were my group of girlfriends that I met in kindergarten. I remember going to their houses and they would come to mine to play the day away.
The play that I participated in when I was younger definately shaped who I am today. I would like to think I have good social skills and this came from years of playing with other children and my siblings. I always remember being able to have free time to play and I was never forced and I have a strong belief that is how play should always be. I also feel that my early play shaped me for the career I am in today with children and understanding their love and need to play. I also have developed a love of travel and I think this was also learned through years of play and using my imagination to go places.
I do see some similarities to the things I played with as a child to the things children play with now: baby dolls, play houses and Barbies. Children are still playing with these and acting out what they see in real life. There are a lot of differences though too. I see very few children playing outside like I used to and if they are it is usually with some kind of electronic device in their hands. Children also watch way more television now than I did as a child and for a lot of children this has taken away their time to be out playing and enjoying their childhood. I would hope that all young children are able to experience the kinds of wonderful play opportunities that I was able to have as a child and also still go outside and get a little dirt on their clothes and enjoy the great outdoors.
Hi Amber,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and I admired your childhood of being able to have free time to play. I come from a traditional Chinese family which my parents believed play was a waste of time so I didn't have much time to play when I was young (they still believe it today). So that's why I chose my career to be an early childhood educator because I believe play is very important to children and should never be taken away from children.
Regards,
Lufei
Hi Amber, first I have to say that I love your quote from Matisse. He is one of my favorite artists and there is one aspect of the quote that leads me to a question about your childhood - He mentions how creative people are independent. You mentioned that you don't remember your parents playing with you but allowing you time and space to play and become fully emerged in your imagination. Do you consider yourself very independent? I ask because as a child I played on my own often; my mother was always doing house work, my father worked, and my sister is much older and we didn't play together often.When I got older I played with the neighborhood kids, but as a young child was allowed to use my imagination and was always encouraged to play on my own. I consider myself a very independent person and I do believe it is because of my ability to play on my own for hours.
ReplyDeleteThat is a really interesting thought. I do consider myself to be very independent and this is probably from playing on my own so much when I was younger and being perfectly fine with doing that. I never made that connection!
DeleteAmber,
ReplyDeleteI was always scared of the cabbage patch doll. For some reason they looked alive a little too much for me. I loved being outside when I was a child. In reality, I didn't have much of a choice. My mother didn't let me stay in the house around the grown-ups. It was just me and my sister so I can remember pretending to go on trips. I always wanted to ride an airplane when I was little. My uncle had a car that was working parked in our yard. We pretended that it was a plane. We took turns being the pilot. I encouraged my children to let their minds take them wherever they wanted to go.
This assignement was fun to me also. It brought back good memories of the many fun things we use to do. I also remember the cabbage patch kids. My doll was the Miss Beasley doll. Children don't play like we use to. They have so many new items that keeps them inside and glued to one thing.
ReplyDeleteHI ,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post. The pictures are awesome. I remember the craziness when the cabbage patch kids first came out. I never recieved one as a child, nor have one now, but they sure looked fun !
I think it is so neat that your parents saved lots of things for /of you . Now you have those memories to share with your ( future) children .
An what girl didnt have Barbies ?? My sister and I played with them for years, eventually we passed them all down to younger cousins. Sadly we never saw them again . Who would have guessed some of them would have had a large monitary value...
Thanks for sharing!
My mom is a bit of a pack rat when it comes to things like that, so she saved a lot of our toys. She has them in boxes and they are ready whenever I want to take them. I'm so excited to get them and open them back up. I never thought I would even care that much about them when I was my age!
Delete