“Play is the highest form of Research”

                        …….German-born Theoretical Physicist and Scientist, Albert Einstein

 “One of my clearest childhood memories is slithering through the tall grass like a snake with my brother and sister”

                ……..Marcia L. Nell and Walter F. Drew authors of  Five Essentials of Meaningful Play

CHILDHOOD CONNECTIONS TO PLAY

When I reflect back on my childhood play experiences, I feel a great sense of inward “joy” as I remember the social sounds of laughter at recess and the imitating conversations between me, my school friends who lived nearby, my cousins who came to visit and my two sisters. My dad was also very playful as he always made time to romp and play with us before dinner for a few moments after homework checks and on Sunday mornings he would sing a few choruses of a familiar  “blues” song with us while my mother was making one of her delicious breakfasts.

I grew up in a very structured environment and during the school year, child-initiated play took a back seat to homework which was often pushed back until the weekends because homework had to be completed and checked by my dad by dinner time when my mother called everyone to wash-up and help set the table.  After dinner, homework was then extended to all children in the house who needed more time to either study, practice or answer more questions, up until bath-time. Then, it was time to go to bed.

On the weekends however, I was eager and looked forward to following my own preferences for play. I loved to play house for example, with one or two of my mother’s old kitchen pots or pans. I also loved to play outside--I made mud pies. I played jump rope, dodge ball and I loved going to the playground around the corner from my house.  Except for my father though, I hardly ever played with adults because it seemed they always managed to be painfully restrictive and emotionally draining as I noticed that whenever they showed-up, playtime was always abruptly cut-off and I often felt like I didn’t have enough play time and it was this abruptness that often left me feeling frustrated to the point of tears.

Now as an educator, I keep these feelings in mind as I recommend and ask teachers to: provide lots of opportunities for various types of play during the day; try to keep children’s choices in mind; provide adequate materials for play; try to keep children informed about how many minutes they have to play and how many minutes they have left before counting- down to cleanup to help children transition well to the next activity; be flexible and make room for more of what the children want to do so that more joyful child-centered and child-initiated opportunities can be experienced.