It's Important for Children to Play Issue 22 Home Page   Home Page

How Do—and Did—Children Play? Dorothea Baerthleinfrom Germany Photo: Winfried Baerthlein Scientists say that playing and the opportunity to be creative is one of the basic needs for children's development, and the desire to play is anchored in children's personality.   Scientists say that playing and the opportunity to be creative is one of the basic needs for children's development, and the desire to play is anchored in children's personality. How do children play? Do my kids play differently than I used to play? When I was a child, we didn't have many toys. For me, the most beloved toy was my doll, which shared virtually my entire childhood. A dollhouse that I once got for Christmas was the greatest gift I could imagine, and my siblings, my friends, and I played "Mom and Dad" with the dollhouse and our dolls again and again never getting tired of it. The first Lego blocks came up replacing the traditional wooden building blocks. The lack of ready-to-use-toys inspired us to create our own using many kinds of material like paper to fold into ships or hats, or wood to carve toys. Pretending to be adults—playing house, playing doctor—used to be very amusing. If I compare the ways I used to play with the ways my children play now, there are many differences. Their rooms are filled with toys, and nevertheless they sometimes have no idea what to play. Having too many choices makes them feel overwhelmed, unable to take advantage of each single one. Also, the toys themselves have changed dramatically. I see many plastic toys ready to use; no need for children to create their own ideas and invent their own toys. Electronic toys are on the rise, displacing classical toys. Children don't need to be so creative; playing does not involve much imagination. Now they expect some kind of stimulation and entertainment. Electronic toys require more passive reactions and logical thinking. When I was a child we used to play a lot outdoors. We moved and got lots of exercise. Playing outdoors has become less interesting as this would keep them away from their video games and play stations.  More on the importance of children playing: Traditional vs. High Tech Toys | I Was a So-Called Tomboy Let's Play Outdoors! | The Toys I Played With | My Favorite Toy Was a Doll Return to: It's Important for Children to Play | Issue 22 | Home Page  TOPICS Online Magazine ©1997-2008 - Sandy and Thomas Peters - topics.mag@gmail.com