"Play is the highest form of research." - Albert Einstein
"Children learn best in an environment which allows them to explore, discover, and play." - Jill Englebright Fox
When I was young, I liked to play with barbie dolls and dress them up with different outfits. I come from a traditional Chinese family and my parents believed the only way to learn and get good academic scores was to sit down and learn by doing a lot of practice. Therefore I didn't have much time to play and my parents thought playing was a waste of time.
Everything has two sides. I feel the idea of play is much different today than before because what I learn from school about the importance of play and I have seen more parents believing in the role of play in their children's life. However on the other hand, I can still see Asian parents stopping children to play and making them sit down to learn, which makes me feel sad and disappointed. Moreover, because of the safety concerns, the streets and the neighborhoods are no longer safe enough for children to play and roam.
A few pictures about the play items when I was young...
1. The cartoon stickers/cards from popular Japanese cartoon. We collected cards about different cartoon characters and showed them to our friends. Sometimes we also exchanged with each other to get what we wanted. I remembered I had thousands of these cards.
A few pictures about the play items when I was young...
1. The cartoon stickers/cards from popular Japanese cartoon. We collected cards about different cartoon characters and showed them to our friends. Sometimes we also exchanged with each other to get what we wanted. I remembered I had thousands of these cards.
2. I liked to play with the barbies and dress them up with different dresses. I could spend the whole day putting on and taking off dresses for them.
Karie,
ReplyDeleteThe quote stated by Jill Englebright Fox is right on. Children learn everything through play.
I agree with you about how play has changed over time. When I was a child we were gone from the home playing from sunrise to sunset and my parents knew we were safe. Today when I send my children outdoors to play, I need to have them within sight and sound at all times. I think the importance of supporting play and guiding children has decreased due to parent involvement as well. I know there are many times my children will ask if I want to play ball, go for a bike ride, or take a walk to the park and I decline. As a parent, I need to make a better commitment to be more involved in my children’s play in order to help them grow and develop.
Karie
ReplyDeleteYes it is sad to see that some parents perfer for their children to sit down and learn instead of play and learn also.