My Connections to Play

              
      Throughout my childhood, I was lucky enough to be a part of a generation that spent most of the time outside and on our own in the neighborhood.  We had our own children’s culture within the children I lived by and played with every day.  We had favorite make-believe games that involved role playing and getting messy.  If the weather was good outside, my parents expected that I was outside playing.  I recall neighbors helping with each other’s families and watching each other’s children as we hopped from one house to another to play.  I was only expected to be home for meals, when the sun went down, or when I heard my mom yelling my name across the neighborhood.  I remember having specific clothes for school and clothes that were just for playing in.  My play clothes were free game to do as I pleased in, and I sure did!  I needed many baths at the end of my play days as a child climbing trees, racing bikes, and making “witches brew” from mud and whatever else we could find in the yard.

My childhood experiences with play are greatly different from the play I see children have today.  I am even guilty of this as a parent with my own children.  I hate to be cliché, but times have changed, and fear of safety is greater than ever when considering children.  I feel responsible to be with them when they are playing outside, just in case.  Unfortunately, by ensuring such great levels of safety, my children have less opportunities to be creative and take risks on their own.  That fear-based feeling parents have has stifled the freedom of outdoor play for children in many communities.  However, children innately are curious and seek out play in any environment they are in.  That desire to explore the world around you is timeless.  Today, children can still find ways to play with the simplest of materials and environments.  The adult support provided in the environment is the most important factor in play.

Play evolves as an individual develops over time.  The type of play a child may engage in can look drastically different to an adult playing.  Adults can abstractly thing and make-believe, but they also have a greater amount of experiences, knowledge, and fear that might inhibit their openness to truly playing.  Adults are more socially conscious of their peer group as well, feeling a pressure to conform and not be as creative.  As a child, playing with my friends and family was the greatest memories I have.  Play was my main “job”, with minimal stress.  I can still say that my memories throughout my life into adulthood have involved play too, but in a different way.  Adulthood is stressful and comes with many responsibilities.  Adults must prioritize when play occurs in life.  I have found that I need to make more time for play as an adult, really schedule playful activities and times for creativity and physical outlet.  I think adult’s play becomes more and more elusive as we grow older and we tend to forget the importance of play for all ages.  Early childhood professionals need to make time to play themselves to understand and support the play our children are engaged in.

       I have fond memories of my best friend and I riding our matching banana seat Schwinn bikes around the neighborhood.  Our bikes were how we traveled.  You could tell who’s house we were playing at by the pile of bikes in the front yard.  My favorite memories of this bike were tying a jump rope to the back-seat handle with my best friend and pulling each other on roller skates attached to the rope.  Picking up speed around street corners to sling-shot the skater forward.  It was dangerous, risky, and the time of my life!

       Trees were my challenge and my sanctuary at times.  I loved using my strength and physical ability to take on any wacky branched trees.  Pretending the tree was my mountain that I had conquered, like a warrior.  And, just like the book, “When Sophie Gets Angry, Really Angry”, I hid in a tree when the world was overwhelming, and I needed my own space.  The top of a tree was always magnificent to me.  I loved looking up through the ever-changing leaves, looking down on the tiny world below me, and taking in breaths of the nature around me.  To this day, I love being surrounded by trees.  I am not as agile and climbing them like I used to.  But, the love I found through my childhood play in climbing trees is still very strong in my heart.

Photograph Source: Moss, L. (2015). You’re never too old to climb a tree. Retrieved from https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/youre-never-too-old-climb-tree