“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato
“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” Joseph Chilton Pearce
When I was a small child we went outside and ran through the woods, challenged bridges that are much to scary as an adult for me to cross and was chased by neighbors for pretending we were spies and writing down their license plate numbers. My days of play started out in an apartment complex ventured into living in the woods with box turtles and ending by moving into the city. My play was supported by neighbors and friends. My mother would let us out of the house and was told to come back before it was dark. There was a man in a truck that stopped off at the park in the middle of the day that would give you a sandwich and a juice. You sat in the grass, peeled the plastic off the Styrofoam plate and squeeze mustard from a foil pouch. My play involved my friends, enemies and just the streets. We would wander into the local businesses and get free pieces or learn how to lazer writing on the sides of trophies. Play is different now. It is much more organized and there are more adults in charge. We were free to climb trees, hop fences and now everything is alot safer. We learned to work out problems, make freeze pops from juice and toothpicks in an ice cube tray. Now a days you don't see as much creativity. There are more electronics and there are more things bought. I don't think that I ever stopped playing. This is why I have a job as an after school teacher. I tell my kids the stories of when I was a child and we would sneak into these after school programs and watch these children play basketball, make giant tissue flowers. I thought this must be the most incredible job in the world. So I achieved one of my dreams. I remember what it's like to be a kid; sneaky and misunderstood. I try to incorporate as many social based games in my room as I can as well as letting them play the electronic. I don't think I ever gave up on playing. I just got old.
