“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -George Bernard Shaw
“Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesn’t taste good.” -Lucia Capocchione
These three pictures does not justify how much fun I had as a child playing and how free I was. Whether in my neighborhood or my grandparent’s neighborhood, there always children enjoying life outside. We played hit-the-can, basketball, rode bikes, played in dirt. You name it, we did it!
As a child, I grew up in the 90s and my family and community supported play 100%. As a child, my parent’s, grandparent’s and the community made sure that all children actually enjoyed their childhood. Personally, my grandfather purchased a new bike for me every summer, so I was able to lend bikes for my friends to ride if they did not have one. If we were not riding bikes, we were playing freeze tag, hide and seek, racing down the streets or just running freely in someone’s yard! Our community made sure that we all were treated equally no matter who you were. My hometown is really small, so majority of all my childhood friends were in the same activities and events. I even had a family member (cousin) whom was my Girl Scout leader and she made sure we enjoyed all outside activities. My mom did not limit whether we wanted to stay in the house or go outside but at that age, I honestly do not remember being in the house watching tv all day. The town made sure they kept our playground’s safe, basketball and tennis court up to date and fixed and grass cut at our baseball field. Overall, I had a great childhood and was able to experience a lot of “play” as I grew up.
Honestly, play has definitely changed in today’s world. I’ve come across children who are 8 years old who doesn’t know how to ride a bike, never been skating/roller blading or rarely have any fun outside. Now a day, children are so big on technology and just being in the house all day and they are missing out on their childhood. Personally, I try to make sure my daughter enjoy her childhood the way I did. Last spring, I taught her to ride a bike at 3 years of age, she is currently working on skating (of course we have knee pads) and just enjoying her time. In my city, we have a program called City Stars, where children starting at the age of 4 can play sports. These sports include: soccer (which I signed my daughter up for), basketball, t-ball and even cheerleading. The community has the tools for parent’s to offer their children “play” but it is up to the parent’s to actually take it into consideration. But as long as they continue to allow them to be on their tablets, computers, phones and gaming systems every day, they will never understand the real meaning behind “play.”
My hope for children in this generation is for their parent’s to realize how important play is for them. They will never witness that actual freedom time of being a kid and experience the luxury of actually enjoying themselves. Children learn through play, they learn how to be a friend, how to speak up for others, how to share and how to be nice to others. Today’s play for children is based off their parents.
My thoughts regarding the role of play throughout my life has made me a free spirit. I am eager to get out and explore and enjoy myself with my daughter. Play made me realize how important it is for her to enjoy her childhood, so I make sure I do as much as possible while she is still small. Play has helped me be physically active, mentally and emotionally strong and help me be very social. You are not able to actually enjoy friends through social media because you are not physically present.
Early Childhood Studies 
Hi Shakita,
Yes, it is unfortunate children do not want to engage in any physical activities today. The combination of bad food and lack of exercise contributes to childhood obesity. This is a topic parents do not want to tackle. There are so many overweight children in this country. People in the South mainly tend to blame genetics or just being “big bone”. I know because I was one of those children. Now, that I am a parent, I will continue to encourage my children to stay active. I will teach them to create a balance between technology and active play. I remembered I would take my daughter to the park everyday. She saw me incorporate exercise in my daily schedule. This was a refreshing moment for the both of us. Now she is 10 and is thinking of playing some type of sport in a year or two. My son is 3 and I can’t wait until he is ready to play a “peewee” sport. It seems like you and your baby girl are on the right track for her to truly embrace her childhood. Awesome job mom!! 🙂
LikeLike
Hi Shakita, Awesome post about the connection to play. Reading your blog, you took me way back to my childhood days with racing, bike riding, and just spending fun times with the children in my small community as well. We had so much fun growing up and once again, just like you play all the games you can think of with your community circle, I was the very same in and with mine. It’s like we never wanted the day to end and even when the day ended, we still found other indoor activities to do just to keep ourselves occupied. The kids in today’s society will not have a clue of what it is to have this kind of play story to tell. I took also signed my son up for basketball, soccer, and this summer once all goes well with the Covid, he will be joining the swimming classes too. We have to help to keep them as engaged as possible and to not focus so much on what they are going to be caught up in with the technologies around them. I am happy that you are able to go above and beyond with and for your little girl to show her that what she sees is not just what it is to explore. The world is a very big place with much more opportunities at hand besides the technological world.
LikeLike
Shakita,
I enjoyed reading your post. When my children were younger I always encouraged outside play by making sure they had bikes, scooters, balls, gloves but also I made sure they had a sandbox, water toys, and other items to enjoy being outside. but I also made sure they had items in the house that they could explore with and pretend with. children also need to have fun and get dirty. i know someone who would never allow her children to have messy toys like play dough or noise toys in the house. but children need this to be able to explore in all areas of play.
LikeLike
Hi Shakita,
I enjoyed reading your post. I had a lot of fun growing up too we played a lot of the same things. It is wonderful that we have those memories from being fortunate enough to grow in neighborhood where it was safe and all the neighbors look out for not only their children but other children as well. We are both so blessed. I am glad you are able to enroll your daughter in soccer and taught her to ride her bike, you sound like an awesome mother. I play tea parties with my granddaughter also we taught her to ride her bike, We want to put her in ballet but we going have to wait on the pandemic to subside some but nevertheless sound like we are both doing well with our girls playing. Thank you for sharing.
LikeLike