My Connections to Play

In play a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior. In play it is as though he were a head taller than himself.

Lev Vygotsky
Russian psychologist
1896–1934

The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.  ~Erik H. Erikson

My childhood may be over, but that doesn't mean playtime is.  ~Ron Olson

How I view Play

Play is the 'Pursuit of Happiness ' in a child's world and the 'Blue Print' to future adult roles. Play holds no grudges or prejudices as it enfolds in the roles or choices of the child; it creates a lens that only the child can visually dissect the world around him while  it's conjoined with the  symbolic existence of life. 

Younger Self Play Items

                                                
 
  ( Early mechanical thoughts)      (Architect discovering)       (Aviation / Physics  discovering)

              
 (Early Physics discovery)    (Early Science discovery)                   (Early math skills explored & fine motor)

The above were some of the childhood toys that I've built and played with my peers. Dolls were sometimes mad out of already eaten East Indian mango seeds.Sometimes adult would join in a play with me. Usually the males would push and steer the Go Cart or they'll sit and have the children push them up and down the street. The men help to strip the bamboo for the kite and they help the younger children to build their kites while the older children are on their own. There were several ways of making kites, paper airplanes were only shared by children. Jacks game is one of my favorite toy, neighborhood women usually join. They often show us how to control and balance the  metal or plastic spokes on top of our hand. The soil was a toy for me, I use to dig for a bug called  'Back Back Nanny'. My mother was not fond of me playing in the dirt, my grand-daddy didn't mind, he always say,"Come her child see a Nanny hole there, go find Nanny". My grandpa use to beat me in a game of marbles, he flicks his marble so hard that it sometimes breaks the other marbles.

Compare & Contrast Play then and now
Some play items remain the same just a bit advance, for example, the soil is now inside the classroom and it's labeled 'Sand table'. The only difference is the limitation of how many people are allowed to play in the sand table, while I had no limitation. Most kites today are already made which takes away from the creativity  I  had as a child, marbles are seen as  chokable toy or placed in a fish tank for decoration. Go Carts are very much advance in comparison to the recycled materials from an old  tire, woods nailed together, as  the patent of a car is created. The paper made airplanes and boats are replaced with plastic models; both items does not require rebuilding because of the material being used. These items are place in specific areas of the classroom, for example, airplanes are often found in the Block Area and the boats in the Water table. My childhood paper boat sailed on the rushing water from the rain on the roads. Play had helped me to discover many skills in life, such as taking turns, being creative, enhance social skills, fine and large motor development, and problem solving. During my early adolescence years play was part of my everyday life engaging in  more advanced activities such as dodge ball, know to me as Dandy Shandy, and baseball (these balls were  made out of an empty pint milk cartons stuffed with newspaper, and our hands were the bat). Today I must say play for me was the best opportunity I had to enjoy the outdoors and learn from the people that I've shared those playful moments with.