Play: Go Back to School

The tire swing. It was my favorite playground piece throughout not only day care, but elementary school as well. My friends and i would spend all recess, and long days in the summer on the tire swing at my elementary school. We would make up games, songs, and even skits on the tire swing, and often even had elaborate adventures. It is amazing how big children's imagination is. They have the wondrous ability to change anything and everything into an adventure. Something as simple as a tire swing, slide, or monkey bars, can open up a whole new world to their eyes. After reading the Play chapter in AWNM, i decided to do the portfolio activity of "going back to school". Pink asks the reader to go to a playground for a little while, and just simply watch the children as they play. I went to Stern Park, a park near to my house, to complete this activity. I, of course, chose a seat facing the tire swing. As i watched what i assumed to be a group of three siblings play on that tire swing, i regressed mentally to the time where i was playing on that tire swing. It seemed so simple then to come up with all of these games and ideas, in such a short period of time. If someone were to ask me today to think up a completely original game that included only my sister, and a tire swing, it would be a challenge for me to do so. If play is in fact essential to excelling in the conceptual age, then we all must get in touch with our inner child. We all have to remember back to those "tire swing moments" and pull the creativity and imagination back to the surface.