My Connections to Play
My Connections to play!
During my childhood life, I was growing up in Thailand. I remember that I and my neighbor friends loved to spend time outside of the house in a park or going to somebody's houses to play in their yard even the one that we did not know them. We used sticks and mud as pretend play to sell food and drinks. Also, we loved to play by the river, jumping and swimming there. Sometimes we could catch fish from that river and bring them home to be a pet. As the quote says Children still need a childhood with dirt, mud, puddle, trees, stick to help them connect to nature, and be aware of how important nature is.
Children love exploring. Everything, they see, is every exciting in their eyes. I remember the first time I went to a beach, it was sooooooooo big and I did not even know how to play because I was scared of the wave. Everything can create small special moments for their children by letting them explore new activities or places.
My Play Items
1. Rope jumping made from hair ties: It was very fun to jump over the rope in different levels of hight to compete with other friends.
2. Play Station1: It was very famous back then, we also play games on this with others. Learning how to use technology.
3. Roller Skates: My friends and I love to wear rollers skates around my village. It was very famous among children in Thailand back then.
When I was young, we got the freedom to play around every evening after school, we get to explore every area of my village with no worries of any bad to happen. Parents gave us time to play outside a lot. I feel like I was very lucky as a 90s kid that can explore both outside and old school play with my peers, such as selling food made from muds, rope jumping, biking around, and more. Moreover, I was also got to play Nintendo, PlayStation, and computer games back then too. Children back then used both play, old-school plays, and new games, appropriately.
The role of play creates imagination to use all. We all used to play with a stick as a sword to fight with peers or play with an empty cup and pretend that there is tea in it. This play helps to nurture imagination and give a child a sense of adventure. I would say that role of play helps me earn essential skills such as problem-solving, working with others, and sharing in real life.
Nowadays, I have not seen a lot of children come out, socialize, and explore more outside as it used to. Fine motor skills can be developed from playing outside and explore nature by claiming trees, running, biking, and play hide-and-seek. I believe that one of the main reason is that parents should encourage children to go out more and play, such as bring their children to the park and play with other kids to encourage them to explore more instead of playing on their laptop, game consoles, and computer inside the house only.
As Brook Hampton said, "Children still need a childhood with dirt, mud, puddles, tree stick, and tadpoles."
Sawin, great post and nice memories. It sounds like you have a lot of outside nature play which is the best. Thank you for sharing. I remember rollers skating, bike riding, jump roping , playing Jacks, hopscotch and double dutch. Some of these activities children of today have never heard of. I do watch my students as they play in the different interest areas and I am always amazed when they use a item to represent another. I was just watching a boy use a calculator as a cell phone, pressing the numbers and pretending to talk. I would never thought to use a calculator as a cell phone.
ReplyDeleteHi Sawin,
ReplyDeleteYour blog represents that you enjoyed your childhood and still cherish those memories. As I was reading your blog, you reminded me of my struggle in rope jumping. I agree with you that nowadays children do not socialize, and parents do not encourage them. I remember that my parents never allowed us to watch TV for more than one hour. After completion of homework, we played outside in our street or some time at the park, for at least an hour, then we watched TV for just one hour, nowadays children are preoccupied with cell phones.
Hi Sawin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for jogging my memory of all the fun I had playing outside with the neighborhood kids. One of them had a huge wood pile in their backyard and we used to climb all over it and pretend to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was always April O'Neill as I was the only girl and I couldn't be a turtle, haha! The other set of neighborhood kids and I played Mario Brothers, where I got to be the princess. We ran around and hopped on mushrooms. All the neighbors knew that this was our favorite game. One of them even left stars outside for us, so we could be invincible!
Thanks for sharing!
Leanne
This is so great Sawin! Thank you for your genuine post about how play has impacted your life. I love the personal connections you made to times you remember as a young child.
ReplyDeleteHi Sawin,
ReplyDeleteYou really took it back with all the outdoor games, that you used to play. I played alot of those same games. And your right about not seeing children outside playing or socializing nowadays. And if a parent really wanted to help with their child's fine motor and gross motor all they would have to do is have the children go outside and play. Have them explore their environment and come up with different ways that they can make outside enjoyable. (imagination)
Thanks for sharing.