"The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things."~Plato (Greek Philosopher)
"Play is not only our creative drive; it's a fundamental mode of learning." ~ David Elkind (psychologist, author)
" The activities that are the easiest, cheapest, and most fun to do - such as singing, playing games, reading, storytelling, and just talking and listening - are also the best for child development." ~ Jerome Singer (professor, Yale University)
Reference: http://www.childsplaymagazine.com/Quotes/index.htm
My childhood was full of play time. My parents always took us boating during the summer and we spent the whole summer either in Cuttyhunk, Martha's Vinyard, or Oak Bluffs or down at the boat marina that my parents kept their boat at. The end of play time for us never seemed like it was controlled by an actual time on the clock but when the sun went down and we had to come back inside. My parents wanted us to have these wonderful summers so they saved money in every other aspect that they could so as far as toys and games go, my two favorite toys that I remember are weebles, " weebles wobble but they don't fall down!", those were the most fun and the smurfs. The largest support in regards to play in childhood would have be my parents always encouraging us to explore and discover new things. A beach of sand, a school of minnows, or field of flowers. Those were my playgrounds.
I see some similarities in what play used to be and what it is now. It seems so much more controlled now. I don't think that years ago there was so much emphasis on using manipulatives and developing fine motor skills, we had playdo, that's about it. Maybe legos too but not to the extreme that children do now. And the emergence of electronic toys, I do not really feel fall into any areas of play that children years ago had. I think it takes away from some parts of the imagination play that children endulged in. Science and nature seem to be coming more into curriculum and nature in general into areas of outdoor play so in that aspect, I feel that it does resemble play of years ago but it is a lot more planned and structured now and comes with a "guidebook" or index cards. My hopes is that children will have the ability to have imagination and make believe and not have every aspect of their childhood planned. Imagination helps us to find who we really are and my hopes is that children of this generation and the next will have that same time that we did to dream and explore and not be suffocated by too much structure and schedules.
Play was and still is a vital part of my life. As a child it gave me the confidence to experiment and dream and I can honestly say without that I never would have had to ability to pursue career dreams, plant fields of flowers for my children and paint murals on the walls. People in general need time to be inspired, be creative and most important laugh and let loose. We should always find time to laugh and be silly, no matter what your age. There is so much saddness in life that we can't control, play is a intricate aspect of life and happiness.
