People tend to forget that play is serious.
David Hockney
Contemporary British painter
Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.
Michael Jordan
American basketball player
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| My first love was playing basketball. I learned how to compete and I learned how to make friends. |
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| I loved to play with cardboard boxes. Like Calvin and his friend, Hobbes, I could do anything with a cardboard box.
It's hard to talk about play and not smile. Play and I have had a longstanding relationship. I love play. As a child, my brother and I played in forts made of cardboard boxes, blankets and pillows. We made a mess, but my parents didn't mind. They encouraged us to develop our imagination by not getting us toys. Who knows if they actually had a plan or were just too cheap to spring for a toy. In retrospect, I am glad they made us play with cardboard boxes. I plan on doing the same for my son.
I haven't lived in the US for 3 years now, but here in Korea, I see children playing with smartphones! Games are so easy to play on the smartphone that even 3 and 4 years old can pick it up within 5 minutes. This does not bode well for the future of the children of Korea. Although they maybe more savvy with the internet, I feel that this will disrupt the creativity that can develop from imaginative play. I fear that children in most developed countries will adopt technology to soon and it will hinder them in the long run.
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Oh my gosh, did you also like to play in cardboard boxes. I use to love pretend play when I was young and mother/daddy was out of no money. The games now is all about electronics, you can do anything with a phone or computer. What will the world be like if we took away 40 years? Would the children be able to handle our play days? I can answer that for you, NO! Enjoy reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteYour post made me smile too, the idea of play with cardboard boxes is endless in my classroom. My students and I have just finished painting a refrigerator box that we plan to use as our special place to be alone center. The children decided to paint it and turn it into a spaceship, it will allow two children to sit comfortably in the bottom while looking up theyll enjoy the moon and stars. Everyday items and nature can be such powerful learning tools. We had to measure and cut and draw out plans, this project has been ongoing for two and a half weeks now. The children love it! This is my hope for children, that they find ways to be creative, to use their imaginations to make sense of the world through having fun. Still smiling, I recall using boxes to slide down grassy hills as a child, oh what fun that was.
ReplyDeleteI relate to your love of basketball. Playing sports gives children a feeling of togetherness. I cherish the friends, I made playing basketball. I played in a lot of boxes too. We made forts out of them with blankets for the top. I use them in the classroom for various things, like a gingerbread house or a store front. So much fun.
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