My Connections to Play

Quotes that summarize what play meant to me as a child:
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato

Two essential items that were essential to have when I was a child:


As a little girl my bike would take me anywhere. I remember my siblings and I would have bike races and ride for hours.

Barbies were the THING to play for hours and hours. My sister and I use to sit for hours on end playing with our barbies. We would have fashion shows, camping trips, school, or whatever else our little imaginations could create.

People supported play by letting me just play for hours and hours. As a child I spent many hours playing outside catching lightning bugs with my siblings and cousins, building forts with my cousins, riding my bike, roller blading,  and anything else that would be "fun" for the moment. My mother encouraged play as much as possible but if we dare uttered the words "Im bored" she found us some chores to do-especially during the summer time. Now days play is different than when I was a child. The world is much more dangerous so parents worry about letting their children outside to play. That is the reason many children play inside on video games, watch TV, or play games on the computer. It is  a shame that the innocence of play is destroyed because of the ignorance of the world.