One of the quotes I feel summarizes my play in childhood is "play is contagious". When I was a youngster we played outside more than inside. Some of my favorite toys to play with were bottle tops .We played a game called scaleies. The game consisted of bottle tops off of a soda bottle not the screw tops but the ones you had to be taken off with a can opener. A target was put in the middle and everyone tried to hit the target. Another game we played was called chinese rope.We linked rubber bands together until we had a long string of rubber bands and then we tied the ends together. It was placed around two peoples ankles and stretched until it made a rectangular shape. We jumped in it and twisted the bands across each other. We played with chalk all of the time. Chalk was used to make hop scotch, scaleies circle, and making pictures on the sidewalks. Jump rope was one of my favorites also. Regular rope and double dutch rope either one of them was very enjoyable. My mother and the parents of my friends always encouraged us to go outside and play. I was a very quiet child. Some times I would of rather stay in but I was always encouraged to go outside and get some exercise. Every generation play seems to change. When my children were young they played inside a little but they would rather go outside playing with their friends. They were getting exercise in and outside. Their children and my grandchildren do not want to go outside at all. What is on their mind all the time is electronic stuff. Cell phones, computer games, I Pads, computers and the list can go on and on. I am in hopes that parents encourages their children and grandchildren to go out and soak up some of the sun. Play is the beginning of great things in child development. It touches and help develop all of the domains of development. Play is not just for children. Adults play differently but I do feel that most that engage in play, a smile is put on their face. I also believe play is healthy for all.
That game that you mentioned was one I had never heard of before. But it did remind me of how we could make up games out of practically anything. I think that when we were young even when the weather was bad we were begging to go outside. I can still remember one spring break it was abnormally warm and I was suck on the couch with chicken pox! I can still remember crying to my mom about how much I wanted to go outside and play. It seems to me that children today beg to stay inside. You have to practically pry them from their rooms and kick them out the door. The would much rather rot their brains in front of some type of media outlet. I joke with my almost three yr old and tell her that her brain will melt if she watches too much tv!
ReplyDeleteJumping rope is a pastime that I still enjoy with a nieces. As a child I used to dream of being on a McDonalds commercial playing doubledutch. This was a fantastic post, thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteI used to love playing double dutch. Don't see much of that in neighborhoods anymore. Those were the good ole days. Low maintenance play. Now kids want all kinds of gadgets and high tech non-sense that parents will go in debt to provide. Children don't need all those things to have fun. How do you guard your children from all this materialism?
DeleteMy youngest child is 29 years old. I encourage them to have my grandchildren spend more time outside. At the same time they can not encourage if they are on their phones all of the time. I just try and be and example to them all.
DeleteDeborah: I feel that this is a common saying, "when I was a kid, we played outside, more than we did inside." Jumping rope and drawing with chalk were favorites in our neighborhood. I encourage children I know to play with chalk, even at a young age. Its just so much fun to erase and start all over again. Great blog entry! Sorry for the late comment, life can be crazy sometimes.
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