My Connections To Play

"Play is the beginning of knowledge."
                                        Anonymous

"Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity."
                                                                          Kay Redfield Jamison (Professor of Psychiatry)

                                                                                    
Each summer, my friends who were the same age as me would come to my house and ask if I could have some company. Most of the time, my mom or dad would allow them to watch movies with me in the living room. About 5 of my friends and I would play "House." We used the sofa pillows to build this house. We would pile up in the play house and pretend that there was a wolf outside, waiting to eat us for dinner. My mother thought it was so amusing. She would fix ice cream and cup cakes for all of us to make the "pretend play" even more exciting. My favorite form of play was sociodramatic play. My friends and I would play "Mother and Father." Someone would always play mother, father, sister, brother, and dog. We used grass for the food. We used mud to make the cakes and pies. We also used dirty water for chocolate milk. My mom and dad would support me by allowing me to play outside for several hours during the summer. "Pretend play and sociodramatic play" was also a relief from the constant bullying that I experienced in school. I think play today is different from the play in which I engaged in as a child. Today technology has invented so many advanced or high-tech games that children don't have to use a lot of energy to play anymore. The down-side to this is that the rise of obesity is increasing. Some parents are facing mounting pressures so they are not able to monitor childhood play as much as they should. Sometimes children are not able to engage in play because they are busy helping parents with chores and other responsibilites.