My Connections to Play

Childhood Connections to Play

“Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father.” ~ Roger von Oech

“Today you are You, that is truer than true.  There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” ~ Dr. Seuss.

As a child, growing up in a large family and in a community that every child played outside all day long no matter the weather, we really only needed each other and our imaginations!  Toys were a thrill that added to our stories of what we created during outdoor play.  Of course, as a girl, I LOVED Barbie dolls (probably until 7^th grade I played with them, shamelessly!) but never really cared to play dress up. 

We loved our pogo ball!  Competitions of how many jumps each person could do in a row grew to obstacle courses on the pogo ball and then how high you could jump on the pogo ball grew into placing objects on the sidewalk in attempt to jump onto it while hopping on the pogo ball.

Another toy that brought incredible hours of play was our plastic big wheels!  It didn’t matter that all traction on ours was lost within the first week of receiving, because we hit the biggest hills in our neighborhood!  It was amazing the thrill we received making our big wheel go as fast as it could then crank the hand break to cause a whirl wind of turns.  Now thinking back as Mom, I would FREAK out to watch my daughter perform acts of fun in this form!

Our neighborhood was full of a support for play!  We were very active in our church, supplying loads of plays, musicals, and other performances that we were a part of.  Although organized activities, the opportunities to assist in writing the performances allowed us to use our imaginations and creative portions of our brains!  Other mothers within our community had open doors for allowing us to play.  I can remember playing at a close girl friend’s house all day long in the summer with Barbie dolls, cars, and Barbie castles that lunch was quickly forgotten about and dinner was a nuisance as I knew I had to leave and go home for the night.  Returning to the same dialogue and play the following day just didn’t feel the same, although we attempted plenty of times!  With several “McGruff Crime Houses” within our community, our parents felt safe allowing us to ride our bikes around the neighborhood and returning to home before night came upon us.

Play is different for children now than it was when I was younger.  With parents concerned their child will “get dirty” or “not have energy” for other organized activities (soccer, gymnastics, football, etc.) that they pay money to be enrolled in; play within the community and on the playground is soon becoming a past time.  I’ve noticed even at birthday parties, when children arrive they are usually dressed in special “party clothes” and parents become nervous when the cake and ice cream come out that their child will get it all over themselves that they begin to feed their child in order to avoid getting food on themselves.  Very sad to say!  Although children will always have their imaginations; they will always have a form of play that nobody can take away from them.

Choosing the two quotes concerning play fully reflect my thoughts regarding play in both childhood and throughout our adult life.  “Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father” speaks to me personally about play as there will always be necessities in life (school, meals, sleep) but we must not forget to allow ourselves the time for play.  As without play, life becomes ritual and not life.  “Today you are You, that is truer than true.  There is no one alive who is Youer than You” speaks to me as throughout play we are able to be ourselves.  Play allows a person to express themselves with their own imaginations; there will always be times when others will attempt to conform a person into their version but allowing the two to become one is a part of life as well.  Play is a form of expression, no matter what age you are!