My Connections to Play

Two quotes that summarize what play represented for me in childhood:
"Play is the highest form of research."
Albert Einstein
 
"To play is to yield oneself to a kind of magic."
Hugo Rahner
 
Pictures of some of the toys that were a part of my playtime as a child:



 
My parents always supported play in my childhood.  My dad would have tea parties with me and my mom would play with baby dolls with me.  They would limit my other activities so that I would have time for play.  They always encouraged me to use my imagination and to play "pretend" all of the time.  Play is a little different now that when I was a child.  It has become more technical.  About five or six weeks ago, I was observing a little girl that I have in the mornings at daycare.  She is four years old.  She was playing "house" and had a little rectangular block in her hand.  I was curious to what she was going to use it for so I decided to watch and see. A little later she turned the block long ways in her hand and used her thumb to push pretend buttons on it and put it up to her ear and used it as a cell phone. It amazes me that a four year little girl knows what a cell phone is and that it is a part of her playtime.  Children are way more tech savvy than when I was a child.  Play "plays" an important role in childhood and throughout adulthood.  It encourages individuality, healthy biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial development.  Play has been an important aspect in my life.  I can say from personal experience play had a part in molding me into who I am as an adult.   


References:
Ockuly, Marta Davidovich. (2013). Joy of Quotes.  Retrieved from     http://www.joyofquotes.com/play_quotes.html