My Connections to Play

“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” ~ Plato (Greek philosopher)

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” ~ Joseph Chilton Pearce (author)

“For a small child there is no division between playing and learning; between the things he or she does ‘just for fun’ and things that are ‘educational.’ The child learns while living and any part of living that is enjoyable is also play. ~ Penelope Leach (psychologist and author)

 
 

When I was a child I remember I loved to play outdoors with my cousins. My mom tells me that before my sister was born I used to have an imaginary friend. I remember that I would play for hours on my own with my imaginary friend and the fact of playing alone didn’t bother me. But when my sister was old enough to play with me, I rarely played by myself. I always wanted a playmate. Of course, like any other 5 year old girl, I loved to play with dolls and I being the mom was the greatest feeling ever. I experienced what it was to have the control over what I wanted to do. My mom supported my play when she took us over to my cousins’ house and to the park. When we went to the store she would buy us sporting goods to use at our house with our cousins. I hardly remember her playing with us outdoors, but boy, she was mad about playing board games with us! During my childhood I played the same amount of time indoors and outdoors. But my favorite was going to my cousins’ house and play outdoors with their neighbors. Now, I rarely see a child riding a bicycle, playing soccer, playing hide and seek, or kickball. Now that I’m a mother in these times, to be honest my heart can’t let go of my daughter riding a bike on the streets because of the fast cars. She only plays outdoors in our backyard, when I take her to the park, or when we go to our ranch, but never in the streets. Play definitely is what freed my soul when I was a child, running, feeling the air in my face, my heart pounding fast, experiencing the adult world, and then going to bed thinking that I wanted to do the same things the next day. That was what play was to me, and it shaped who I’m today because I can freely express myself and feel free.