My Connections to Play

“Play is the highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein
“The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.” – Erik H. Erikson
Play for me was an evolving activity that was created with time that was unstructured. This usually was birthed from boredom. I don't recall having many toys. I did not like dolls. My parents valued living in the country where there was space to wander and explore. I remember at the age of 8 riding a horse, bareback, in the back field of our property. I remember getting lost in the woods. I am certain that field was bigger than a city. I am certain the forest was as dense as the amazon. I remember getting lost in that world. My child mind saw that as the reality. My adult mind knows it was under an acre and the forest was probably a few trees that touched. My child's mind is better. It was allowed to take me far away. I also remember playing school. I wanted to type fast. I wanted to write fast. I wanted to read fast. I pretended. I mimicked my mom, I am sure because she was perfect at everything. Her nails clicked when she typed so when I was little I made sure I did the same. The beauty of this world was that it was unstructured. It wasn't halted by sports and heavy schedules or video games. Time was the friend that danced along side us. Long bouts of time. I am sad for the over scheduled, heavily activity minded, sports pushing ideals of our modern time. They steal time from children. They teach fast pace life and no slow moments. They rob us of time dancing along side our children while they create. As you can see on my previous blogs, my children created a wood structure after hours outside. This was time given. It was birthed out of boredom. Play can be that beautiful gift when a child has time. That is the beast we face today. It takes intention to stop, breathe and refocus. 
Play now is equally important as an adult not only for my profession but to keep engaged with my younger children. I love to provide experiences for them to encourage play, imagination and physical activity. 

Outside, sticks, dirt, chicken eggs

Horses

Nature

Trees