“My Connections to Play”

Special Play Quotes:

Almost all creativity involves purposeful play

Abraham Maslow
American psychologist 1908-1970
 

When children pretend, they’re using their imagination to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand.  A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero.

Fred Rogers

American children’s television host
1928-2003

Favorite play items and places

I made dinner



   Quest though the forest     



Pretend to be a baker

 

My Childhood  play experiences

When I was a young child my mother encouraged me and my siblings to go outdoors to play. She would give us old pots and pans to play with and would come to check on us to see what we were up to. She would pretend to eat the dinners we made with the red dirt and ask questions about what we used to make it. When I got my Easy Baker Oven, she would ask “what is my little baker creating today”. This was the best creative time in my life. I would pretend to measure the ingredients, mix them put them in the sun or my oven to cook     . The interaction between my siblings was positive and very special because we never had fuss over the things we were playing with. We would play outside for hours and never complained about the heat or cold.

When we visited my grandmother I would go on adventures in the woods. I would pretend to be explorer looking for unique objects, animals and pretend we were camping out using my grandmother’s swing set with pillows and old curtains. These types of play were an important part of my growth and development. It enhanced cognitive, language, social and motor skills without the direct instruction from my parents.

 Today play is different from when I was a growing up. Children are not interested in playing outside or during gross motor activities. They have so many toys and computer games to play with. They can turn computers on, login and find websites. Some of them will play games such as basketball, football or on playground equipment but I observe very little imaginary play.  They ask to go inside because the weather is too hot or cold and what to play with the many store purchased items in the classroom. We need to help children get back to the true power of play.

 

 

 

Relationship Reflection

“Relationship Reflection”

I believe relationships can be both personal and professional and can have equal impacts in live. The one person I would say my strongest and most rewarding relationship will my oldest sister. She has been a role model, listening hear, encourager, and motivator when I did not see my way through. Our relationship surpasses the personal level as family but also professionally. I say this because as I embarked on furthering my education she was able to assist me with the process, helping me understanding the course work and celebrated my successes. This relationship is and will all ways be the most important in my personal and professional live.

 There are other relationships and partnerships that have been establish in my live as well. They are with people I work with in the educational field. The first in this part of my live was with my first partner in the classroom. She was the lead teacher and I was her assistant. She was an awesome teacher and mentor for the children and for me. Her passion for teaching placed golden nuggets of the same passion in me. I will always reflect on the knowledge about early childhood I gained for the working relationship with her.

 One other person I have gained a professional relationship with is Ms. Katherine Maynard our educational manager in the Head Start program I work in. She took me under her wing and taught me the importance of observing, assessing and planning goals and objectives for children. She also helped get a better understanding of having the parents being involved in the education of children. I never faced challenges in either of my relationships with any of the people that have impacted my professional and person live.

“For this I feel blessed and honored for having such awesome people in my live.”