How Play Can Increase Resilience

Play is a microcosm of childhood, a protective shell like a butterfly’s chrysalis that safeguards children from the slings and arrows of life, one that allows them to grow. What happens, however, when, through no fault of your own, you are born into conditions—poverty, racism, and other adversities—that groom children for bad outcomes? Can play, if nurtured and supported in such adverse conditions, create resilience? Can increased opportunities for play encourage better-than-expected life outcomes, and possibly even provide a buffer against the odds of the cycle of poverty being perpetuated? [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] I think back to my own childhood; when the violence and abuse started, I think I stopped playing entirely until I managed to escape that home. For me, as for so many other children, school was no place for play, either. Once I lost the sense of safety to play at home, I had no other outlets for it. The classrooms I was educated in throughout K–12 schooling would be familiar to most of you: rows of desks in which students sat facing the front of the classroom; very little physical movement; a lot of time spent listening to the teacher; and then too much quiet time doing the required workbook or instructional activity alone at one’s desk. Read More: The Secret Power of Play The direct instruction setting was a nightmare for me but even more so for my teachers, who regularly pleaded with me to stop drummi...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized freelance Source Type: news