The Wondrous World of Child's Play

Chodesh Tov! Today is Rosh Chodesh Shevat, a Jewish month most commonly known for the minor holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the birthday of the trees! Just as we enter this month that welcomes Israel's first crops of Spring, we are in the midst of a Winter storm that closed schools for the day. Sometimes I think that popular adage about childhood's hours being long and years being short is entirely captured in the 24 hour course of one snow day! All of the excitement and potential when the early morning announcement arrives slowly gives way to the reality that there are still two hours before naptime and you're just about out of non-screen ways to fill them in your parental bag of tricks. And then, I remember the very best trick in my bag--a gift I give to my children and to myself each and every day that I can: the gift of play. No project, no craft, no agenda, no limits or goals or motives. Simple, unadulterated play. Play in which for just a little while, I leave my phone on the other side of the room if I can manage it. Play in which I simply sit on the rug, right alongside the boys, and enter their world. S in particular is very engaged now in dramatic play and story telling. This is the way in which he works through all the curiosities and anxieties of his world. Y is utterly thrilled to watch his brother and laugh, and when he can, to play along with him at his own level.

Today when the novelty of craft projects, stickers, playdough and a cooking activity had worn off, S went to the toy shelf and grabbed a set of baskets I'd filled with "tree blocks" (wooden circles and shapes cut from tree trunks that I snagged from a craft supply store that's going out of business) and some additional loose parts. What a perfect tree themed activity to welcome the month of Shevat!

 I set out a collection of tree/forest themed loose parts on our toy shelf over the weekend. I also added a basket of toy woodland creatures, a pair of white mittens and some  of our favorite winter themed Jan Brett books. S and Y love hearing the story of The Mitten and The Three Snow Bears and while I do plan a lot of structured story stretcher activities here, this was something I put out more just to see where it took us through natural play.
Yesterday, these baskets caught S's eye and he brought them to the rug to begin to play. He built a "tree forest" with "petals" (wood circles) and then added some animals to the scene.


As we played, he asked me to read The Mitten, and got very busy as we read filling the white mittens with all of our woodland creatures! Y had a blast playing alongside S and watching his story unfold. I spend some time sitting and observing. This is when S tests out new vocabulary words (sometimes accurately and other times not so much...) He might offer me a loose part or an idea to expand upon. Other times I might interject with my own idea. If he is resistant toward my input, I step back--this is his play and while there are many opportunities to work with and teach about social graces in shared play, sometimes it is important for children to have their own space in which to fully control the play scenario.
In fact, I think play is in and of itself a crucial space for children. It is the space in which they can be cast in the role of being in charge while still being nurtured. They can confront the biggest bear in the woods or grow a forest from seed in a matter of minutes. Size and time are irrelevant in this world. There is no waiting until you are bigger or waiting until something is ready or finished. Everything can happen in a moment and in that moment, nothing needs to happen at all.

Sitting with children in play feels like an invitation to have a private audience with royalty. It is truly a gift to be let in to their imagination and sense of wonder.  Sometimes I might expand on their play ideas if a child seems "stuck" or repeats a particular scenario over and over--and on the other hand, many times, I value the need for repetition in play. A child might repeat a play scenario that is enjoyable and familiar or he might repeat a play scenario as a means to work through a challenge or fear. Using loose parts and natural materials is a great way to open up a world of imaginative play. There are so many options when it comes to selecting toys and playthings, and many of them are incredible (while some I don't prefer). However, in this world of fast paced technology, not as many toys are open ended and encourage abstract thought. I am a strong believer in using what you have and not breaking the bank in the process. Less is almost always more and most children actually favor household items and non-toys. Loose parts play, or open ended play with small trinkets and materials is a great way to use what you have on hand--and trust me, even if you don't know what to do with loose parts, your children will!

To be quite honest, I have no clue what other people use these wood circles and shapes for! But in my living room, they became the Hebrew letter, dalet

...a telephone, a forest, a flying saucer, a table, an oven...

River rocks and glass gems became a playground with icy pathways leading from place to place... Trees were planted, Shabbat boxes were lost in the woods, and as our family peg dolls entered the scene, so did many of our other family scenarios... Suddenly we were back at the pumpkin patch we visited this past Autumn with S's preschool and we were picking pumpkins to cook and make muffins with!

I was so excited and impressed by S's ability to use what is in front of him abstractly and imaginatively! (Do other grown ups get as excited by play as I do???) And after a recent attempt to organize all of my craft supplies, I also knew I had some acrylic gems in Autumn shapes and colors stashed away upstairs that would be a perfect addition. Who says Winter and Autumn can't coincide in the Wondrous World of Child's Play?

And while we spend a lot of time trying to channel that childhood tendency to move from one idea to another like the mouse in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, play is a space in which it is perfectly acceptable to jump from idea to idea at lightening speed--or even to dwell on one idea for quite a while. Our play scene wrapped up when we discovered that some of the acrylic gems were beads and S wanted to make a necklace! We got some string, beaded an Autumn toned work of preschool art and before we knew it, it was nap-time!



Unless you happen to be this guy... Nope, no naps for him today. Luckily my husband is also home today so I can blog and caffeinate and gear up for an afternoon of snow day survival and happy playing!