My Connections to Play

Here are two quotes that I feel represent my feelings on play:


“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato

“It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self.” ~ D.W. Winnicott

I grew up in a large family with four sisters (five girls total). When I was little being able to go outside and play was a huge part of our childhood. We never wanted to be cooped up in the house, that was considered a punishment. We were always outside playing ball, or pretending we were playing house. When I was in elementary school I remember having at least three recesses where we got to just go and play with our classmates. I find it sad that my students barely even get one recess during the day and I contribute some of their behavior problems to the lack of play they get to experience. The have so much energy at seven years old and need to let it out. It seems today's generations focuses more on video and computer games, they don't enjoy going outside and just playing like kids should. I hope to see the education system allocate more time towards play and physical education in the future. Our children can benefit from it physically, emotionally, and cognitively.