We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing--George Bernard Shaw
Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for
children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood--Fred Rogers
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If I were now a young child of 4 or 5 I would choose to play exactly as I did when I was actually that age. Not playing with objects, but exploring the world around me in solitude. I loved fishing off the dock at Lake St. Catherine; even as young as 4 I could bait a hook. Hours were enjoyed freely climbing the mountain side the house was built on and swinging forever on a long roped tire swing. I was allowed and encouraged to spend my day from breakfast to bedtime as I pleased. The innocence (or ignorance?) of the times allowed for unaccompanied hiking on unmarked trails, looking for box turtles and blackberry bushes.
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| My mom spent a lot of time with me teaching me to play rummy, casino, and gin. She also taught me to play solitaire at a very young age, and I built houses with cards also. I was not the type to play with dolls |
It is a shame this can't exist in modern times. The media has made us aware and (overly?) cautious of the things that can happen to innocent children walking alone in the woods. I don't know the percentages of these dangers, or if they always existed and we just weren't aware of them or does the media give bad people new ideas? Does the prevalence of violent video games or exposure to news, movies and tv shows create callous people who might otherwise not act on their impulses? The newest generation of parents are electronic gamers. From the parents I encounter, I find it unlikely any of them spend quiet time with their children and a deck of cards. A huge connection was made during those moments with my mom, learning inadvertently about matching, patterns, adding, and competition.
Role of play throughout life changes constantly. When it slows and stops, we die. If our body does not die, our temperament, attitude and spirit dies. The strategy for regaining play as an adult if you have let it go has three steps: 1)change your attitude 2)change your thought process and 3)gain experience (Summers, 2009) We go from running, jumping and exploring to organized games and to video games, ultimately to watching games and playing more sedate ways like verbal bantering. The book Play for Sick Children, by Catherine Hubbock, describes the benefits of play for very sick children and the importance of play therapists, who can restore hope and a sense of control through play in what is normally a frightening, out of control experience. This link is to purchase the book and provides a brief overview :
Reference:
Summers, Carl. (2009).Sustaining play throughout life, U.S.Play Coalition, Value of Play conference Retreived from: connections.greenvillesc.gov/forms/
