My Connections to Play

I remember when I was little; I used to cry when my mother or my nanny dressed me up like my sister. My sister loves wearing pretty dresses with matching hair clips, bag, shoes, fan, and handkerchief. She enjoys making dresses for her dolls and playing indoors, while me on the other hand is the exact opposite of her. I have very low self-esteem when I am wearing a dress, I do not see myself beautiful when I am wearing a girls dress but rather I am confident and comfortable  when I  wear my brothers’ clothes. I am a tomboy and I enjoy playing outdoors.  I am very quiet and introvert at school but I am a totally different person when I play at home.  After a while, my parents did not mind how I looked like but rather focus on what makes me happy and what helps me overcome my shyness.

“Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.”

                                              Friedrich Froebel (founder of the concept of kindergarten)

We have a big backyard with lots of fruit bearing trees. We climb trees, pick fruits and eat it while on top of the tree, swing to it and climb again. We play hide and seek and some children hide inside our house. Our family welcomes our friends and allows everyone who wants to play in our yard.  The only way you will not be allowed in our yard is when you start a fight, curse and gambles. Our friends love to go to our place because children have the freedom to play and explore the things around our yard. Their families do not have to worry where they are because they now that my parents will look after their children.  

We do not need any fancy or store bought toys. I remember marbles, tops and plastic balls are few of the toys that I have to buy when I was little. We improvised games; we use the things that are available around us. Things like sticks, tin cans and slippers. Sometimes we do not need anything, just by playing tag, hide and seek and flicking the flower petals. We never run out of things to do and we always have fun playing. We gather scraps of wood in our backyard use hammer and nail to also build our own house. Each one will bring whatever food they have such as eggs, can goods, dried fish and rice. We will cook it using improvised stove and fire woods. We will cut banana leaves to use as our plate, put our food and eat together using bare hands. These are just some of the wonderful memories I had when I was little. 

“It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self.”

                                                         ~ D.W. Winnicott (British pediatrician)

Looking back, I remember how our parents allow us to be ourselves, they let us learn from our experience, whether it is a good or painful one, they let us figure things out. When I asked permission from my parents to go out and play or do something daring or challenging, they always consider my safety first. When I assure them that I will be alright and this is what I want to do, they will voice out their concern and show their support on me. In gratitude to their support and allowing me to do the things I love to do, I make sure that I succeed and share with them what I learned from the experience. I am very fortunate that I have this opportunity to play and learn from the things around me. I am not as intelligent and rich as my other friends are but I would say I can overcome the challenges that come my way because my parents and my family has prepared for the real life.

As an early childhood educator, it is my hope that children today will have the opportunity to play and experience what we have when we were younger. Every one of us has can make a difference in children’s future by allowing children to learn through play.

Essential Play Items For my Younger Self                                                                      

Slippers – can be use in any kind of game. There is a game we call “bending”. I just realized now that this game is in English which means, to bend. There are two to four players on one side and another player standing at the end of the course. Each player will carry the slippers using every part of their body except holding the slippers by their hand. It will start from the foot, positioning the slippers horizontally, using your toes to clip it; you will then hop until you reach the other person, then going back to the base. Then followed by folding your legs, and so and so forth; going up to the other parts of your body. Once you are successful and reach your head, the final step is to throw your slippers behind you, bending your body to reach it and that is the end of the game. When the slippers fell, you are unsuccessful; it is the other persons turn to play. You will go back to where you stop and finish the course. The first one to finish the course wins.

Tin can and slippers – we call this game “Tumbang Preso” which means Tumba means fall, Preso literally means jail or pressed. The game “tumbang preso” is played by one player that is “it” and as many children as they want to join the game. The “it” will have one pressed tin can and the other children, need to have a pair of slippers. The “It “ will guard the pressed tin can and make sure that it remains standing, he can tag anybody while the can is  standing. The rest of the children will use their slippers to hit the can, when the can falls, everybody can get their slippers, and go back to their bases, while the “ It” puts the can back in the can base, when the can is up and the “it” tagged you, you will be the “ It”. He cannot tag you if the can is still lying down in the ground. If the can is still up and the children do not have their slippers anymore, they can work together and make develop a strategy on how they can sneak and put the can down. The game continues until there is new “it’ or the children get tired playing the game.

Game of sticks – we call this game “Shato”. I do not know where this game originated or what the name of the game means but I remember playing it when I was little. You need two sticks, to play this game. One stick is about six inches in length and the other one is about two to two and a half feet long. Either you dig a hole to put the small stick in the middle or you use a rock to hold the small stick will be fine. You position the bigger stick in the middle of the small stick to lift or hit it as far as you can. The other person will try to catch it. If he or she catches it, they switched places, if not they will remain in their same position. At the end of the game the other person will put a rock in the middle of the stick, in an inclining position and hit it. Wherever it landed, they will start counting the distance from the landing area going to the base and that will be your score. If the other party catches it, game will be over and they will switch places. Whoever gets the highest score at the end of two games, the other party gets to hit the small stick three times, and no matter how far it is, there will be one or two persons from the losing group has to shout the word “shato” without breathing. If they stop shouting before getting into the base, the other party can hit the small stick farther and repeat the same process again.

These games promote team work, physical activities that help with fine and gross motor skills development as well as mathematical skills too.  It also promotes creativity and resourcefulness by letting children improvised and make up a game that is flexible and fun for children without having adult intervention. Children can decide and resolve conflicts on their own when needed in order to finish the game or play.