My Connectons to Play!

          

When I was a young girl I spent many days outside playing with my siblings, cousins, and friends. There were two-hand touch football, basketball, kick ball, jump rope, hide-n-seek, relay races, skating, swimming, games we would make up, and so much more. We would wake up eat breakfast and go outside and play. There was four of us so it was plenty to do and plenty of children to play with and we also had cousins spend the night all the time especially during the summer. I played everything and I was very competitive. It was important for us to go outside not only to keep our parents sane from the rough house play and noise in the house but to stay physically fit and it was what we loved to do. My favorite is skating and running. To this day I still skate and have a good time doing it. I still play outside with my children and husband and we also introduce them to the games we played as children. It is important for my children to go outside and experience the great outdoors. We go on nature walks, play tag, swim, and other activities. On rainy days we play electronics, board games, read, and play with dolls (my girls) and action figures and cars (my son). I also enjoy outside activities with my students when I am at work. One activity my students love me playing with them is when I turn the playground into a big ship and the ground is the water and if anyone gets down they are eaten by sharks unless the ship stops. It is a game we made up as a class, so when we go outside that is one of the games we play along with me chasing them playing freeze tag. I want all children to experience how much fun you can have by playing outside instead of watching TV or playing with electronics. Play today is very different because kids are so drawn to technology and that takes away from their outdoor creativity, some social skills, and physical fitness. I make sure I stay physically fit so that I can keep up with my 3 children and my students.

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything, than when we are at play.”
― Charles Schaefer

“How would your life be different if...You decided to give freely, love fully, and play feverously? Let today be the day...You free yourself from the conditioned rules that limit your happiness and dilute the beautiful life experience. Have fun. Give - Love - Play!”
― Steve Maraboli, The Power of One

 
“Go and play. Run around. Build something. Break something. Climb a tree. Get dirty. Get in some trouble. Have some fun.”
― Brom, The Child Thief

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.”
― Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr