"My Connections to Play"

“But mostly we need to honor the innate capacity for learning that moves the limbs and fills the souls of every healthy young child (Almon 2002).”

I lived on a farm where my siblings and I spent 95% of our time.  We had very little material toys to play with, so we invented many of our own games, or we would play games such as hide and seek, football, soccer, and cops and robbers. My parents were very busy raising 15 children, they seldom played, but when they could... I remember my mom and dad joining us for our version of softball with a bat and a big blown up ball, the trees were our bases.  My mom wacked that ball and we all laughed because as she ran she was laughing and cheering for herself!  My dad was on the opposite team cheering instead of chasing the ball! Another memory I cherish about my mom and dad is at night we didn’t have much T.V. so sometimes they would push all the furniture to the walls and put on Waltz music and start dancing.  After a few minutes my dad and mom would choose one of the girls and one of the boys and they would dance with us, teaching us how to waltz. I didn’t find a picture that could display the importance of this memory, nothing can compare to what I remember in our little house on the farm.

“You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again.” ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

This dog represents me!  I loved running around. While I was from a big family I did spend time by myself. I remember watching the Olympics when I was around 11 years old and decided I was going to be a gymnast I cut two poplar trees down and began creating my own uneven bars! My dad watched me for several days, after I started digging the holes for the poles he as me what I was making (he thought it was a swing). When I told him, he didn’t stop me but gave me several pointers to consider, eventually I realized this was not going to work. My dad could have stopped me and told me that, but he didn’t he let me figure it out for myself. 

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning....They have to play with
what they know to be true in order to find out more, and then they can use what they
learn in new forms of play. --Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

I practiced hitting a volleyball against the garage for hours. Counting how many times I could hit it in a row before missing.  My love for football started because I spent all fall playing in our yard with my brothers and neighbors.  I have used these skills throughout my whole life.




 

My dog growing up was part black Labrador; she was the best listener and friend!

 

I think play is very different today in many ways, my childhood play was self - driven and I had the freedom to explore the environment around me.  Children today have less opportunity for this type of experience, because less people live on farms.  More children spend their time in the care of other adults.  Often children are directed in their play or given a specific amount of time to play before moving into another activity.  Play for many children is adult facilitated and they learn a skill but may not get to use their imagination. However, if the caregiver offers freedom for self - driven play, children will work together to play games, create their own activities and use their imagination to go anywhere and become anything, this is what I spent most of my childhood doing.