"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand." Native American Saying
"Learning
is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never
fears, and never regrets."
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Another favorite is the Barbie Airplane
I can remember playing barbie with the airplane and having the dolls going different place around the world.
When I was growing up, I never attended pre k or nursery school, I started going to school when I hit five years old. My aunts used to take care of me when growing up, lots of cousins, aunts, uncles always around and having weekend parties, or something that is family weekend with everyone. I can't remember not staying home. My parents always went out doing something. As for television, we never had a television and we, but growing up in my house back in the day it was fun, I know I had toys galore, and every type but mostly my favorites was the barbies with the campers and airplane, and the payday game. But the car was my truly favorite and didn't really pay any mind to the bicycle. The car was the one and use to think I was really driving.
I like some of the toys today, but really love the ones in the past, nowadays when I look for something for my grandchildren its hard and they are very expensive. But I have bought vintage toys for my preschoolers and cleaned them up and they play with it including my grandchildren. I think the best toys were the ones from the past. I had recently bought a couple of games like Parcheesi which is a classic and play with that with my kids in school and they love it.
Who says that children need new toys to learn, and technology. If you are creative enough and know how to put that creativeness into the child, the child will learn.
Devra,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the technology today and how being in front of the television or computer all day lacks any gross motor activity. You don't see very many commercials on playing outside or activities for outdoors, as much as you see computer learning games or programs on how to read. I believe that children have 12 years of school and they will develop the reading, writing and other academic requirements, but they should be able to play as well. Childrens toys are expensive these days and sometimes, children want the company or the interaction more than the toys itself. I know that video games do not get the children tired, compared to running, swimming, swinging, jumping outdoors would. Thanks for sharing your photos and your thoughts on play.
That first quote really caught my attention, and helped clarify ideas presented in some of the sources. I could relate to so much on your blog this week that I figure we must be about the same age!
ReplyDeleteI forgot all about a pedal car I had until I saw the pic you posted. I had a red one and would ride it around and around in my grandma's double wide driveway. I don't remember role playing, just feeling powerful to make that car move as fast or as slow as I wanted it to. I also had the Barbie airplane and about 3 Barbies, all gifts for Christmas or birthdays, but I didn't play with Barbies much. I would rather climb the fruit trees in my yard or swing on the glider.
Video games, mentioned in many of our blogs, is the unavoidable future for play. We as a generation seeing the change don't like it. How can a kid recognize the fresh air, get dirty, experience dare-devil risks?. What if, going forward, virtual reality was so in-the-moment and realistic that it provided all the sensory input that the actual action does, without the risks. Skiing, with equipment on, in the cold, atmosphere of the mountainscape all around you, using the muscles of your body to navigate the terrain, but if you hit the tree, cause an avalanche, or ski off a cliff, you don't get hurt! Or a class trip to explore the amazon rainforest, learning facts about the inhabitants by finding them, understanding the atmosphere because you're breathing it and feeling it on your skin, but you're here at a local library.
Considering the transformation in electronics we've seen with the speed it's happening, do you think our kids will be able to experience this type of project approach learning in the future? One of the jobs in class would be "experience picker"!