My Connections to Play

My Connections to Play

"It is a happy talent to know how to play"-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was blessed to grow up with a very care-free childhood, with parents who were loving and supportive of my play and development.  We didn't have a lot of money, so I don't remember having a lot of the latest toys and such, but I do remember spending countless hours in dramatic play with my older sister and friends, pretending we were moms and teachers.  We played house and school, taking turns in the various roles.  I remember my mom buying us an easy bake oven and we loved playing with it for hours!

“Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.” Friedrich Froebel

My grandparents owned property in the mountains, and every summer we would go camping there.  I would spend hours playing in the woods with my siblings and cousins...fishing and wading in the stream, building log forts, and having pinecone wars.  We would make mud pies, climb trees, and invent scavenger hunts.  It was a very care-free time with no consideration to time or commitments.  My relationship with my cousins became very close because we had this time together every summer.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw


I loved playing with Barbie dolls, and I remember asking for a Barbie Dream House for three consecutive Christmas'.  This house was expensive ($100 in the 80's), and a lot of money for my parents to spend on one gift, but I wanted it so badly, that they finally bought it for me.  My Dad and Mom stayed up late into the night on Christmas Eve, setting up this house so everything was perfect (it had a lot of parts to assemble and sticker decals to put in place).  When I walked into the living room on Christmas morning, the first thing I saw was that doll house.  I started to cry and couldn't believe that my Mom and Dad finally got me one!  I adored that doll house, and played with it many years (even into my pre-teenage years!).  When I got too old to play with it, I lovingly packed it away to save it for my own future daughter because it meant so much to me.  After having three boys, I finally got the chance to pass down this cherished childhood toy.  However, being the little sister of three older brothers, Jaymie much preferred more tom-boyish activities rather than dolls.  She never loved Barbies (nor pink or princesses dress-ups... much to her mother's dismay! Haha).  My doll house is now much loved by my sweet little 6 year old niece and she adores it as much as I did.  :)

Through my childhood play, I learned to be creative and act out the adult roles that I would later have in real life.  I watched others around me and the relationships and examples my role models created.  Often, these observations exhibited themselves in my play.  My friends and I would wander the neighborhood freely, sometimes even walking the mile or so to the gas station to buy treats.  I never felt unsafe in my neighborhood.  It saddens me to think that we live in such a different world today.  Although I live in a very safe place, I still keep very close supervision on my children by knowing who they are with and where they are at.  I try to also allow my children the freedom to choose what activities they participate in and do not pressure them to join a lot of extra-curricular activities.  We still go to the mountains every summer, and I take great joy in watching my children also have that care-free type of childhood as they build amazing forts, catch horned toads, and run "wild" with no caution to time or commitment.  Sometimes it takes these techno-generation children a few hours to remember how to play, but after a couple of days, they never want to come home!  :)

My Daughter, Jaymie (left) and my niece, Kimberlee

My Son, Brett - inspecting the playhouse the kids helped build

Horned toads - caught each summer!  The kids love to hold them, but will always put them back where they found them.  :)