Childhood Connections to Play

Quote #1: “I’m a 90s kid. I miss being able to watch good TV shows. I miss Hey Arnold, Doug, Rocket Power, & Recess. I miss Full House and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I miss the Mighty Ducks and Lion King. I miss Catdog and the Wild Thornberry’s. I miss waking up early to watch cartoons. But most of all, I miss the simplicity. 90s > present – nothing personal” (pinterest.com)

Quote #2: “When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life. (zombieplace.com)

Essential Play Items:

               

 

 

            In my opinion play is an essential part of life. Parent and teacher interaction is what influences the learning experience. My parents played with me all the time and that helped me to interact with other people. The playing activities should consist of things that appear every day in life. Learning through play helps them learn counting, shapes, colors, and so on. My mom has always played with me. When she was cooking or cleaning she would allow me to help her so that I could learn the different ingredients that she used for cooking and the different smells and texture of the cleaning items. When my friends would come over I would play cook and clean sharing the information shared with me. When I would pretend to play school my dad would be the student and I was the teacher. Play helps a child expand their imagination and helps them learn and develop. As a child my learning and playing experience was great.

            Children today do not get the imagination building time by playing like I did as a child. They have all these video games, social media, and other technology that occupies their minds. I do not believe that technology is a problem but our children are going to be developing slow because they lack imagination. Using the internet is the way they find new ways to do anything. A child’s imagination is a gateway to their future and it helps them plan out their career for later in life.

            I feel that people can play just for fun or playing with a purpose. Playing is a development and learning tool for children. As adults we still play but we play with a mission in our minds. We are the people that the children look up to and we need to watch what we do.