“Remember when we would drive along the ocean at sunset flying a kite out the window.”  Memories of the time we spent on Long Beach flooded my mind.  It was one of the few places that allowed driving on the beach.  It had become the designated family vacation spot.  The condo was purchased when we first started our family.  The funds were low, the work hours long, and the missing ingredient in our life was rest and relaxation.   Somehow, we found a way to purchase the vacation spot.  It created memories that my children still speak about, and it provided us with a place to ignite our senses with play. 

 

     Studies have shown that play is valuable in developing a child’s creative and social skills needed as an adult.  Any organized atmosphere of play that eliminates the use of the imagination is detrimental to creative forces. Children are growing up in a world where they are expected to know and be able to do more.  These expectations of productivity have resulted in a narrow view of learning opportunities. What will the children of today be like as adults tomorrow, if they are deprived of their creative play time?

 

     I believe play is an under-rated tool for learning.  Play has many functions. It increases peer relationships, releases tensions, advances intellectual development, increases exploration, and increases chances of speaking and interacting with others.  Opportunities for ideas are generated when we take time to relax and enjoy the world around us.  Work takes our energy and focuses it on a desired product.  Work is about being productive and play is about being creative.

 

     When was the last time your creativity was sparked?