My Connections to Play

        

                               

I was fortunate to have grown in a rural community on the west coast of my beautiful island.  This afforded me the luxury of open yard space, a river, playing field and the beach where I could roam and play carefree.  I can remember playing for hours with my cousins in my great grandmother’s back yard.  There we would climb the plum tree, seeing who would get the juiciest red plum.  My sisters, cousins and I would often play hide and seek, hopscotch, cricket or rounders in my yard.  During our game of hide and seek we would often use my mums flowering plants a haven in which to hide.   I can still picture myself holding that little wooden bat (which my uncle had made me from the coconut palm) trying to hit the ball.  Those were indeed happy days.

On Sundays, my dad would take us to the sea side.  There on the beach I learnt the art of sand castle making.  I also collected sea shells and my sisters and I searched for tortoise.  On some days my sisters would take me to the river. There I always had a blast playing and splashing in the crystal clear water.  My sisters would catch crayfish while I carried the tiny bucket in which the crayfish was placed.  Back at home, the crayfish caught would be cleaned and seasoned, and using a small coal pot which my grandmother had given me we would cook a crayfish broth.  As I grew older and entered primary school, recess time was all play.  My friend and I would spend the entire break period playing jack (with tiny stones we had collected from the river), jump rope or ‘chinese skip’.  Those were my magical childhood days were my parents and sisters enhanced my physical, social, emotional and cognitive development by allowing me to play freely.  Having five siblings and four cousins who frequented my home, social dramatic play gave me experiences that taught me to use my gross and fine motor skills, communicate, cooperate, compromise and solve problems.  Today as an adult, I still find time to play.  I would often spend some time playing with my nieces, grandnieces and grandnephews.  I also take some time to play with my partner.

Today, play is not the same as it use when I was a child.  Although many children frequent the field, they do not run about freely.  Most often, they are there with their coach training for football or cricket.  No longer do you see many children in the river catching crayfish.  The majority of them are engrossed in television, video games and computers (on the social media).  The games I played at recess are no longer played.  Children just sit around and eat and often times are asked not to run in the school yard.  It is my hope that parents and educators alike will realize the positive impact play has on a child’s development and will encourage children to participate in free play both at home and in school.

                            

                   Picture of coal pot similar to that used in childhood play

                          

                          Picture of bucket similar to that used to collect crayfish

                                   

                           Picture of tiny sea stones used to play jacks