My Connections to Play

By Deb Trowbridge

“Play involves a free choice activity that is non-literal, self-motivated, enjoyable and process oriented” (Wardle, 1987).

“Play is children’s work” (Rivera, 2009).

I have fond memories of playing with my sister in our spacious basement on Sunday afternoons while my parents napped.  We named our baby dolls, changed their clothes, fed them, put them to bed in their little cribs and nurtured them while they were awake.  My sister and I set up our own houses by arranging the furniture.  We had a little sized table and play dishes.  We visited each other with all our babies to have tea together just like our mom did with her sisters, our aunts.  Once we were school age, we played school.  We played house and school whole-heartedly.

 

I have fond memories of playing outside with my sister in the edge of the woods by our house.  We both had our own tree that we could climb and it was our ‘home’ while we played.  I remember exploring the pond filled with fat black tadpoles.  I remember the hours we spent playing games or just swimming together in our swimming pool with our cousins.

I can see how all these opportunities to play gave me the opportunity to be independent, explore my world, figure out how things work, develop my physical body, help me to grow confident in myself, and practice social rules.  I give my parents all the credit for the opportunity to play while I was young.  Playing was my work while my dad went to do his work away from home and my mom tended to household responsibilities.  My parents provided my siblings and I with safe playing environments, dolls and other appropriate toys, time and the freedom to explore.  They were also our role models so we knew how to act while playing.  Playing for me certainly was a free-choice, self-motivated, and enjoyable time!

I feel that play can be the same for children now as it was for me if parents can offer a safe play environment and time.  My husband and I were able to offer both to our daughters when they were small.  Unlike my mother, I decided to get back into the work world soon after our daughters were born.  I carefully selected babysitters that created a very similar environment to what I provided.  My daughters had other children to play with as a bonus.  I am pleased with the opportunities they had to play.  As they grew older I did find myself too busy with my daughters getting involved with extra activities such as cello lessons, gymnastics, dance or soccer.  It probably would have been better to just be home with the girls and let them play outside or spend time together.  Experience tells me that all parents have to carefully balance the activities of their children’s lives.

It is my hope that all children have the opportunity to play outside to explore and use their bodies, that all children have the opportunity to interact with other children so they can develop socially, that all children have the opportunity to pretend and use their imagination all while parents or other nurturing adults are nearby to offer support and guidance when it is needed.  It is my hope that all children have someone at home who will limit their screen time, read to them, play games with them, be interested in them and play with them some of the time.

In conclusion, one of the things I enjoyed playing was ‘school’ when I was young.  I am one of the happy people who agrees with Rivera’s statement, “Fortunate are those whose career is a form of play-mastery and continued building of competence-for which one gets paid!” (2009).  I am in the education field today.  J

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

Wardle, F. (1987).  Getting back to the basics of children’s play.  Child Care Information Exchange, Sept., 27-30.