What was your favorite game to play as a child? Did this activity involve other children or family members?
What is the meaning of play?
----on a completely unrelated animal note, you may also answer this----
I have a friend who always insists that animals do not play. I would always argue with him that if you watch a dog chase a ball, it sure looks like play. He says no. Animals don't play; they practice for real world engagements. Even domesticated beasts simply act out of instinct. What do you think? Do animals play?
As kids we played many games with our families and friends, but if I had to choose one between all of those games, then I would choose soccer. I think that my favorite game to play has always been soccer. I remember every morning I would go 30 minutes earlier to school, so my friends and I could play soccer before class started. Playing soccer is also a special game to me because my brothers thought me how to play it. My brothers played with me even if we were always breaking things inside and outside of the house. This game is special to me not for the things I won while playing it, but because of the things I learned from it and the people I met.
ReplyDeleteSounds like soccer was a great family building game for you and your family. I myself am not very good at soccer so I have always appreciated those that were good at it. I'm happy to see that your family passion brought you so much joy and great connections!
DeleteSoccer was a huge game to play in my family too! It is a great game to interact and have fun! I played soccer for 12 years and it is an amazing sport for so many reasons.
DeleteKelly... Yes it was a great experience while it lasted. I am not good at it either but it doesn't stop me from enjoying playing the game. that is something important I learned from playing soccer.
DeleteMiranda... Yes soccer unites and connects people. Are you the only one in your family that played soccer for that long?
DeleteI would like to comment on the "animals dont play" thing. Thats hogwash! Watch that movie Chimpanzie and thell me they dont play. Thats just one animal. Ive seen mamma bears playing with their cubs or lion cubs batting at butterflys harmlessly. I had a dog named saddie years ago and she LOVED to play. She wasnt much of a fetch dog, she loved to play tag and hide and go seek. My family and I swear she was human for many other reasons besides her ability to play. When playing tag, she would run up to me or my little brother and jump on us to "tag" us... as soon as she did this, she ran away and we would have to chase her. She would run from us, and I swear, had a smile on her face while doing it. She knew when she was tagged too! She would stop running from us and go after us. Hide and seek was her favorite game! We'd ask if she wanted to play hide and seek and she would get super excited and go sit between my mom or dads legs so they could hold her. My little brother and I would go hide and while doing so she would be chopping at the bit to come find us. My parent would let her go and she would run all over the house searching for us. you could hear and see the excitement in her and she had a special bark when she found us. Then it was her turn to hide. We would sit down and hide our faces and shed go hide. It was always either the kitchen or under a table in another room, but regardless... she hid! Now tell me thats not playing!!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! Animals do play. My dogs get excited and run around and then start playing together. I like how you described so much regarding your dogs. I know I could not enjoy life without mine. They bring so much warmth and love to my home and life.
DeleteWow!!! I love the story about your dog Saddie. She sounds like a smart and wonderful dog. It amazes me that she was so familiar with the game hide and seek. I can totally imagine it as I was reading your post. I agree with you that animals play because our cat Nala loves playing fetch! Every time she hears someone crumpling up a paper she takes off running towards them because she thinks it's time to play. She also likes to play this laser game we taught her. Animals are so amazing to me. Sometimes I wonder how much do they really know.
DeleteI agree with you. the behavior you describe cannot be described as instinct. An instinctive behavior should be more aggressive compared to the one you describe. I believe animals do play.
DeleteMy animals are huge part of my life. Sometimes I swear they are human to, I call them my children. I completely agree with you, they do play! Mine are always playing together, and I find no other explanation for what they are doing. That's amazing that your dog played hide and seek.
DeleteI really like your examples of how your dog played these two games, hide and go seek and tag. I've always that it was really interesting to watch animals play these games and interact with us and other animals. But I think that when it comes to animals playing, it might not be as clear cut as we think. While I think that there are certain instances where some animals may be playing, I find myself on the side of the argument that these animals are simply using these tasks as learning mechanisms. Take the idea of a mother bear playing with a cub, the is almost always going to be a way for her to show her cubs how to do certain things in what promises to be a not so easy life that they are about to live. She will teach them how to stand tall, forage for food and protect itself. I guess we will never really be sure of what exactly is happening, but it does provide us with some very interesting ideas to ponder.
DeleteAw that is so great! I play tag with my dogs as well and it is hilariously fun :) I have never tried playing hide and go seek with them but you make it sound so fun that I may try it now!
DeleteMy favorite game to play as a child was cops and robbers with my neighbors. Looking back at that now makes me want to laugh so hard til I can't laugh any longer. We would play this for hours and hours on our bikes chasing each other around the neighborhood. One team was cops and the other were robbers. Which, I'm sure you all know the cops chased the robbers. Another game we loved to play was hide and seek. I loved playing that with my neighbors or cousins.
ReplyDeleteThat statement about dogs not playing is outrageous. Animals enjoy playing. I'm not sure if all animals do, but I know for a fact my dogs do! They are always play fighting, chasing each other, or running around being rambunctious. They have similar emotions and feeling to us, so why wouldn't they play and enjoy it? I'm sure they know its play because one of my dogs gets extremely excited if I tell her to bring her toy and she goes and finds one. I don't think I've ever heard that statement before in my life.
I LOVED this game! I forgot about playing this. My entire neighborhood was get together and play this. When you look back it does seem silly, but it was so fun then right? Im sure if we played again we would get into it and it would be just as fun as before!!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI loved playing hide and go seek as well.
DeleteCops and robbers sounds like fun! Growing up it was just myself and my younger sister, no boys, therefore we never experienced such games! But it does sound like a lot of fun! Especially because you mentioned that your bicycles were your vehicles. There is no real robber that would get away in that! haha I enjoyed reading your post!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, so much anthropomorphism. The more you folks talk about animals playing, the more I agree with my friend.
ReplyDeleteSeriously? Explain........
DeleteHow fun that you played cops and robbers. I forgot about that one when I wrote my post. I too played that when I went to daycare. I always enjoyed being the robber!
DeleteWell, Michelle, I have always thought that dogs play. This was my friend's theory. But, having said that, we clearly give far too many human characteristics to animals--they smile, hide, have a "favorite" game? I have heard people talking to their animals in ways that sound like a parent and child--Fido, you know I told you not to leave the yard!
DeleteObviously, we humans love to give human characteristics to pets and to bring them more fully into the human psychological world because if we can do that, we can feel love from the animals--which is always nice. But do animals love? Uh oh, if they can play then they can surely love too, right? Sometimes the anthropomorphism is a bit much. Or maybe the dogs I had growing up, Woofer and Tweeter, were just unhappy with our relationship.
Maybe Dr. Schmoll. Do you have dog now? I believe dogs, at least some dogs, do have the abiltity to love their owners. The same dog I was talking about, Saddie, would go crazy with excitment any time myself or my dad would come home (we were her favorite). She got excited with others too... but showed favoritism. If she found someone crying, she would slowly and gently crawl up to your shoulder and lay her head there, almost like she was giving us a hug. It never failed to stop me from crying :-) (omg such a great memory)
DeleteShe was diagnosed with cancer and my dad couldnt put her down. I know it sound horrible to think my dad let her suffer, but he believed God would take her when she was ready. The day she died, she was practically already dead. Laying there all day, barely breathing. My dad came home from work and her tail started to wag... she got up and slowly walked down the hallway and just stood there looking at my dad. He got down on his knees and petted her head and said "I love you too, hold on a second and Ill take you outside". When he turned around she fell and passed away. Its so weird to think that a dog, or a human for that matter, can put off death just to say goodbye to someone they love. But after witnessing that, its hard to not say thats what happened.
In order to determine whether or not animals can love, we must first define what love is.
Deletegood point, Nile. And Michelle, now it is too emotional...my critical capacities are turned off thinking about how sad that would be. I do not have a dog now; I have a kindergartner instead.
DeleteTo argue your side further, I read about the way that some rhinos in Africa actually mourn a dead rhino from their same pack/herd/whateverrhinoshave. They actually have a mourning ritual when a fellow rhino dies. Amazing! The point of the question, though, and the reason my friend Hubert used to want to argue about it, is closer to what Nile says. When we say "play" or "love" we create a human category. These concepts are cultural, so we should at least wonder about whether other animals fit into our categories--or in the case of the grizzly man, if we fit into theirs. Anybody remember Grizzly man? Scary!
I understand now. And I do agree with that.
DeleteAs for the grizzly man... sounds familiar. Is he the guy that was gilled by a bear and his own equipment recorded it?
When I was younger I grew up with all boys. I was the first granddaughter on my mom's side of the family, so I grew up playing football and wrestling. I would get teased by cousins and brothers because I was the only girl and they did not think I could play with them. I always had to prove to them that I was tough enough to play any sport with them. I really enjoyed playing with my family even though it was all boys. I especially enjoyed it when I would beat one of them because they would have to admit that a girl beat them.
ReplyDeleteBeing physically active and having some kind social interaction with other would be the meaning of play. I think play should be fun for everyone because should be able to enjoy themselves when they interact with everyone. It could be a game of tag or a scavenger hunt. I think as long as you are somewhat active and just participating with other people it is considered play.
I do believe that dogs play. I have two dogs and they are always playing with each other. They chase each other and tease one another with their chew toys.
My dogs do the same thing! I love watching them
DeleteI think it is great that you bring up the social interaction that play has to offer. While I believe that social interaction doesn't necessarily have to be present for someone to be playing, I do believe that when play is carried out successfully, it teaches us social skills that can be used later in life. Great post!
DeleteIt's funny reading this because you reminded me of when I used to play football when I was younger. I used to be a tomboy just as you were when you were younger. It's always nice when you can get together with family and play some games and just have a great time.
DeleteMy dogs do the same thing. It brings me happiness to seem them playing and enjoying each other's company. Especially when no one is home I hope they play or just feel content knowing there is someone else there with them.
DeleteI bet you learned how to be competitive and successful in order to keep up with the boys. My dogs love to run around and play to. My little terrier will run laps around my lab/mastiff. I love playing tag with them and wrestle. They are so fun to watch.
DeleteI agree with you Abigail, playing games has no age. As long as your not a grumpy adult, and can run, then games are a treat. I thinks playing games like tag are a great way of getting your physical activity, and interacting with family and friends.
DeleteFor my childhood I really liked to play in the back yard. I would collect all sorts of leaves, berries, and sticks. I really like to mix them all together and pretend that they were a perfume or mystical potion of some sort. They always were terrible to smell and to look at but I loved to make them. I normally made them in old sour cream containers that had been cleaned out. The problem with this was that I would always leave them around the backyard and a week later my Dad would find them. He would be so upset because they were now growing mold and reeked! Also, during the summer my sister and I would have our friends over to jump on the trampoline with the hose attached to the net so it sprayed us as we jumped. I remember jumping for hours and hours, just laughing and playing a bunch of jumping games. So I guess as a child I played with other kids and at the same time I had time to myself to play as well. To me the meaning of play is anything that you can do that is fun, creates laughter, and memories. I’m sure that playing makes smiles and hopefully is done often. I don’t think that playing is something that only kids do. I think that as we become older we play in other ways. Women can shop for clothes for fun; they enjoy the day and make memories with friends as they go from store to store. Men can go hunting, fishing, golfing you name it. Overall, I think that play time for adults translates into what we would consider a hobby.
ReplyDeleteI loved having friends over to play on the trampoline. I still get on it with my siblings and we put a sprinkler underneath it as well during the summer:) I agree with your meaning of play, that's a great way to look at it.
DeleteOh my goodness, lol perfume making is so creative. That must've sucked for your dad.
DeleteKelly... I used to make perfumes and potions too with a old neighbor of mine. We would walk around the neighborhood gathering petals of different flowers and/or pine needles. I had a big eucolyptus tree in my backyard and we used that alot too. I never thought anyone else did that. I remember telling my husband about it once and he just gave me a "youre weird" kinda look.
DeleteThanks so Jordan! I'm really sad because we just gave it away! I'm sure that that I will never forget how much fun I had!
DeleteSara, thanks for thinking it was creative. It was lots of fun!
Michelle, that is so cool that you made them too. Its okay that your husband thought it was weird, it was fun and that is all that matters.
I loved playing as a child. I loved playing hide and seek outside all around my apartment complex with my friends. We would stay out until most of us had to go home for dinner. With my family I enjoyed to play board games. we would take turns picking a game to play. Monopoly was one of our favorite to play. We never would actually finish it, but would play for hours until someone got tired. Animals might not play in the same ways we do. I mean they would sit there and play monopoly with me lol. I have two dogs and a cat, they are always sleeping, playing or eating. My little dog and my cat wrestle all the time. They all chase each other through the house constantly. The fight over toys too. So yes I do think animals play, because I witness it daily. If they aren't playing I have no idea what they're doing.
ReplyDeleteHide and seek seems to be the game we all enjoyed growing up! I can remember being outside and playing it with friends/family for hours. It was especially fun when the majority of kids from my apartment complex participated. I really like board games, but I cannot stand monopoly (possibly because it takes too long for me to always end up losing)!!
DeleteMy dogs run around my house all day everyday chasing each other. My dogs love playing tug-o-war with their toys. Nandi, I also cannot stand Monopoly! That game takes forever. The Game of Life was another one, my little sister always wants to play. The only board game I liked was Guess Who!
DeleteWe never finished the game but I loved to play it:) Yes Nandi I also loved how all the kids participated. It made it so much better. Miranda I also like guess who!
DeleteHi Jordan, one of my all time favorite games was Hide and Seek too. I loved being outdoors and running around the block and having fun with my neighborhood friends and siblings. It's awesome that you also loved to play monopoly, it's a fun board game.
DeleteMy favorite game as a child was playing hide and go seek tag. I would play with my younger sister in our backyard. I loved this game because it would get me very excited. It is exciting trying to look for a place to hide and having to be extremely quiet so that she didn't know where I was. The greatest rush was having to be sneaky and running to the safe zone without being tagged. At times, we would end up running around the house and the neighborhood trying to tag each other. We still play it now with our 11 year old brother, and it is still just as fun, but in a different way. Before, my sister and I, would have fun playing because we were young and found anything entertaining. Now what makes it fun is watching my brother play and seeing the excitement in his face as he tries to hide and be sneaky.
ReplyDeleteI played hide and go seek tag with my sister in our house/backyard all the time! Im glad to see that this game excited someone as much as me! I am 20 years old and I play this with my kids I babysit and my baby cousin and I still run around like I am a kid and get super into it!
DeleteWe always used to play this game throughout the whole house and even outside. Now that I think about it, I miss playing hide and seek.
DeleteFor me, Hide and Go Seek was by far my favorite game to play as a child. I come from a very small town in the middle of the desert where everyone knew everyone, so these games of hide and go seek were normally very big. We would all meet at someone's house and establish a safe zone or base and hen choose who was going to be the seeker. I actually really enjoyed being the seeker, which I believe many people do not enjoy. Being the seeker gave me the challenge of finding someone that was purposely hiding from me and then beginning a small game of tag when I did find someone. This challenge was fun because it had to be completed 100% or you would find yourself as the seeker once again. When you have lots of friends playing with you, you are able to form groups and find more hiding places then you would be able to with just yourself, so these bigger games were always much more fun. For me, the idea of "play" is when someone does an activity that is both fun and advantageous for them. The advantages of play can be both mental and physical. Take children playing as an example, they use blocks or other toys to enhance their motor skills and develop their muscles. These children are reaping the benefits of both types of advantages that play has to offer. This idea can also be easily projected on adults as well. Take an adult playing golf for instance; this adult is playing the sport for pleasure and fun, but they are also enhancing and reinforcing their muscles and muscle memory. They too, are receiving both types of advantages that play has to offer.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid I really enjoyed playing hide and seek. I also come from a small town and all my friend would gather at a little garden in the middle of the town to play. Plating Hide and seek was special because we played it at night so it was more difficult to find the other players. Without any doubt, hide and seek is a wonderful game to play.
DeleteI liked hide and seek as a child too. I would always pick the best best to hide and i was always the last person to be found. Thinking back now, it was probably one of my favorite of all time
DeleteThere was a Chinese jump rope boom at the elementary school I attended. Chinese jump rope was a big thing in 2002, at the elementary I attended in Texas. Chinese jump rope involves 3 players. Two players face each other and position the rope around their ankles so that it is taut. The jumper has to complete a chosen pattern. One of these moves, called "scissors", is executed by starting with both feet outside the rope and then crossing the legs, with the ropes in tow, so that a formation resembling a pair of scissors is formed. Chinese jump rope is all about foot position. If (s)he succeeds, the rope holders move the rope higher until the rope gets too high for the jumper to jump over the rope. If the jumper fails to be able to exercise the chosen pattern, (s)he accidentally touches the rope while jumping over, the player is eliminated.
ReplyDeleteThe teachers had made Chinese jump rope a physical education objective to teach its students. We had to make the jump ropes from rubber bands. Each rubber band had to be knotted forming a 3-5 foot rope of rubber bands. The procedure of making the rope was a challenging task to a ten-year-old. Chinese jump rope was meaningful in the aspect that it taught us patience and the value of ownership. The process we had to endure, hand making the jump rope in order to play, kind of made the value of the rope surge. We had to take the time to make a good, the jump rope, but it was well-worth crafting the jump rope because then the rope was ours to keep. I moved from Texas to Alabama, and I continued to spread the Chinese jump rope Texan trend to my new peers.
Never heard of this. Fascinating!
DeleteOH COOL!! I totally forgot about Chinese jump rope. I used to play that all the time as a kid. This was probably 1987ish. I loved it. Thanks for bringing that delightful memory up.
DeleteSarah... Chinese jump rope...that's one of my childhood favorite game too! back to early 80s when I was in elementary school.. I was good on that.. until I fell and hit my forehead on the floor... then I stopped. We made our own rope with rubber bands. Yes.. thanks for bringing up that memory!
DeleteI remember this game! I was in the 6th grade when it became a popular game at my elementary school. It was fun because of the challenge to accomplish certain tricks. My friends and I would play every recess. I had forgotten about this game, until I read your entry. I am so glad to read that you experienced this game, it is great!
DeleteOh my goodness, apparently Chinese jumprope wasn't just a Texan phenomena lol @Mishabc @Gabriela
DeleteArina, I can't imagine scraping my forehead on the floor. Ouch
My favorite game as a child is probably something no one else has played. I come from a very close and small family who likes to make noes inventions. We go on lots of vacations and always seemed of find something new to do. One year my uncle decided to make marshmallow guns before going on our trip. Once we were there he decided to show us his new invention. This was by far my favorite childhood game. Everyone in the family would all get together and the game was on. This game is played with a marshmallow gun and a bag of marshmallows. Everyone hides and tries to run to different locations without getting shot. It is similar to having nerd guns, but more fun because it involved making the gun itself and shooting food at people! haha I grew up in a family full of boys; all my cousins are boys, and I was also raised like a tomboy. Games that involved running, trill, and a gun were always my favorite. Hide and see was also a game that I played a lot with my sister. Now that I am older, I work with kids, babysit, and have a younger cousin that I play hide and seek with. Playing with them brings back memorize of the trill of play a game such as hide and seek. It makes me laugh and smile, and thats the most important thing in a game; to love it.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of animals playing... Not all animals may play but dogs sure do. I have three dogs and all they do is play together. I have two smaller dogs that actually hit each other like they have hands. Not a mean hit, play hitting. I have been raised with hunting dogs and they are known to have not as playful personalities. They still played together, and played with us as a family. Dogs most definitely play, dogs are playful just like humans.
Nerf guns, not nerd guns. Opps! Oh and this game was played in true trees mostly. The vacations we had were in Shaver lake is anyone knows where that is, or Alta Sierra. When this games was played in the trees, it was also dark. This made the thrill even bigger! Strange game, bur SO fun!
DeleteWe should all spend more time in the mountains...and with marshmallow or nerf guns!!!
DeleteMiranda, I think it is neat that your family invented their own game. It can sometimes be fun to create a new game or even put a twist on old games. You create your rules or just making the game more challenging to get everyone to participate. This just shows that you can create anything and fun with it as well. I do not think you are ever to old to play any games, especially hide and go seek. I still play with my younger cousins when I have chance too!
DeleteHow fun!! I love to eat marshmallows and go hiking. Does that count?
DeleteI grew up in Shaver! Miss it there. When I moved here I was told to go see Lake Isabella.... that is not a lake! I am actually relocating back up north towards Jamestown and I have never been to the high country in that area. Im sooooo looking foward to checking out Pine Crest because I hear it tops Shaver.
DeleteI just recenetly had a marshmellow gun fight with my ten year old nephew. You can buy those things at the store now. Your uncle shouldve patented (spelling?) that
I grew up with a lot of boys. I had many male cousins my age and like two females cousins but they were older and didn't have anything in common with a little girl (me). But my favorite childhood game involved marbles, a circle, and players So how this game is played is a circle is to be made with other people and each player has to shoot his or her marble if the marble is within the circle you must get another marble and try to recovered your marble but at the same time you can "rescue" the other players marble and if you do so they are yours to keep. The meaning of play is to socialize and do something that brings joy.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best games ever, even though I lost all the time. I was not very good at it so they always took my marbles.I would take marbles from my brother's collection and since he knew exactly how many marbles he had, I always got in trouble.
DeleteWow! the game actually sound like fun, i believe we have a game similar like that i my country too.
DeleteHi Geraldine, how is your game played?
DeleteI rarely played games as a child, however I did enjoy playing board games with my family. My mother used to comment on how I was a very odd child because I did not do what most kids do at a young age. My fondest memories as a child were me running around my grandparents backyard. I used to love wandering around the backyard and just touch the plants, trees, and other foliage. It brings sweet memories because it always reminds me of my grandparents. They would usually be out with me planting new fruit trees or shrubs. Those are memories of my "play time".
ReplyDeleteIn regards to animals and the idea of primal instinct or actual play time, I think that animals find a sense of joy with their "parents". I know with my dog I find that he enjoys playing fetch and running around with me. He even enjoys wearing his clothes and his collar. When we take something off of him it is almost as if he has a sense of fear because he does not have it on. He is a very active dog and definitely plays.
Haha I completely know what you mean about your dog being "naked" as my kids call it. My baby cries until I put his sweater back on. I wash it weekly, give him a bath and the 30-40 minutes it takes to dry it is torture for him. All is right when this process is done.
DeleteI agree with you joey my dogs are the same way. They love fetching and wrestling with me for their toys, it is clear in their faces that they truly enjoy it.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe as I child my favorite game to play was football, or as Americans would call it soccer. Football has also been a huge part of my life because of my family. I remember when I was four years old, my uncle would always team my twin and I with the grow ups to play football. Oh yea! Four years old children playing football with grow ups? what could possible go wrong right?? Well, my uncle ran over me this one time chasing after a ball, and I had a really bad knee injury. I couldn’t walk properly for months. After that injury, there were no longer grow ups and children football game anymore. You would think that after an injury like that, I would be scared from playing football, but it’s actually the opposite. I love and breathe football. To me, the world “play” as always meant something fun. Play is just way for the brain to exercise itself and just let lose.
ReplyDeleteThis is great. Are you going to watch the World Cup? It should be an exciting summer of football!
Delete@ Dr. Schmoll, of course!!!! World Cup season is always the best!!! I can not wait until summer! My family has this tradition were we throw a party and we watch all the matches together and cheer for our favorite teams. Is really the best time. just like American Superbowl Brazil here we go!!!!
Deletethat sounds great. I will be in Portugal when the U.S. plays Portugal(even though the game will obviously be in Brazil). It should be a good soccer summer!
DeleteMy favorite game to play as a child was “Hide-N-Seek!” To play this game, other children must be involved to begin the game. I used to always play this game when I was younger with my little brother and sister, as well as with my neighborhood friends. The meaning of this game was for one individual person to find someone who was hiding and tag them. Once that person was tagged they had to count for 1 minute. Once that person was done counting, they would shout out “Ready or not, here I come”, then they would look for us. When playing Hide-N-Seek, there is a boundary where the participants are supposed to stay within. This is so it doesn’t become impossible for participants to find others.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement about animals not playing. I have 2 dogs that engage in instinctual activities and behavior that may be perceived as playing, but is essentially carried out as a form of practice for real world engagements. For example, one of my dogs named Abbey is a Yorkshire Terrier that was bred for hunting mice. When I throw a ball for her to chase, she anticipates the throw, then she chases the ball down until it’s captured. It is an instinct for her to run after the ball. Her senses are heightened and she becomes more alert when the ball travels along the floor. Each stride she takes, she becomes closer to finally attacking her prey. In conclusion, animals take advantage of physical activities to enhance their innate survival skills.
Every employee and student at CSUB should stop working for one day per quarter and play hide and seek all across campus...or maybe just in the library in the dark. Hide and seek is a great game!
DeleteHide-n-seek is awesome! Unless the person doing the seeking forgets to seek. Then it turns into "oh crap" I lost the kids lol. I know this not from personal experience but from my father who lost my three year old for a few hours. He forgot to hurry and look for her and she feel asleep waiting for him to find her. While this is funny now, then it was the scariest feeling in the world at the time.
DeleteDr. Schmoll, that would be so exciting! I wonder if ASI or another club/organization on campus, could really make that happen! If not the whole day, then I think just a few hours would be fine! Hide and seek in the darkness of the library would be as well but it may be a little scary....Let's do it!
DeleteWhen I was a child, I had many games that I loved but I actually liked to explore and to play in the jungle more than playing games. We lived in an oil company’s compound, in the middle of Sumatera jungle until I graduated from elementary school. The company had its own power generator for the whole complex, but we were too far from the closest TV station, sometimes we could get the TV signal, sometimes we couldn’t, so we spent our time playing outside the house more than inside the house. My favorite games to play were Chinese jump rope, hide and seek, and freeze tag. Freeze tag is a game which one of the players would run around and try to tag everyone she or he could get her or his hand on. If she or he could get someone, this kid is frozen and couldn’t move until someone else come and un-tag her or him. I liked to play “hop scotch” too: we drew a series of large squares with sidewalk chalks and the first one who got the turn to play would throw a stone to one of the squares, careful not to touch the lines, the one who got his or her stone touch the line, he or she would lose the turn. We would hop the squares with only one foot and skipped the one we marked with our stone. If one of our feet touched the line or the other foot touched the ground, then we lose our turn. There were many other games I played, but my friends and I loved to explore and play in the jungle more. We would explore many different trees in the jungle: explored the fruit of palm oil tree – crashed the fruit with stone and ate the meat; searched for cashew fruits and when we found the fruits, we would take them home and ate them. I knew cashew fruit first before I knew that we could also eat the nuts. I learnt how to tap natural rubber from a rubber tree as well. I enjoyed exploring the jungle, but not when I saw a snake. The first time I saw a king cobra was when I was 7 years old. It suddenly appeared in our patio. A small king cobra, we killed it. A bigger one appeared a week later in our backyard and we killed it again. Another cobra bigger than the second one appeared a couple days later. Our gardener killed and burnt it. Our gardener told us that if we killed a cobra without we burnt it, a bigger one would come. We would be able to stop the bigger ones to come if we burnt the one that we killed. After the third cobra was burnt, we didn’t have any cobra visiting us anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the meaning of play? Someone ever told me that playing is learning as you go. I think agree.
Hi Arina, exploring the jungle sounds so much fun! Is there a reason why burning a cobra will stop any more from coming? It sound so interesting!
DeleteWow I almost completely forgot about chinese jump rope! This was so much fun. I was lucky to be quite small and very nimble which helped a lot. Growing up in a jungle sounds very interesting. I've never left Bakersfield and a change in location sounds great. How did you end up here?
DeleteHi Adriana, from what I heard (it's an Indian myth), a king cobra is believed to have an exceptional memory. The killer of the cobra will stay in its memory and later, that memory will be picked up by its partner and its partner will hunt down the killer for revenge. That's why, in order to erase the memory completely, it has to be burnt or its head has to be crushed.
DeleteMoria.. yes.. interesting, I feel lucky that I've had lived there, I have so many stories that I can share to my son. We left "the jungle" and moved back to the capital city when I was junior high. After I graduated from college and got my engineering degree, I followed my dad working in oil industry, and "came back" to the jungle..but this time I worked for Chevron as an engineer. Chevron sent me to Bakersfield, as an expatriate and I retired here. That's why I am here now. :)
DeleteAs a child I was a latchkey kid. My mother was a single mother who worked two jobs just to make ends meet. This is not to say I was without, on the contrary I was lucky to be able to play sports, do nearly any activity I wanted but these were done out of necessity rather than for enjoyment. For me play time was the countless hours I spent with my grandparents. Even though my parents were divorced when I was young, and I was an only child, I was blessed with an overly large amount of cousins. My father is the oldest of thirteen children and my mother was the youngest of nine children, and each of their siblings seemed to mass produce children. At last count there are over fifty people, most residing in Bakersfield, that I can call my cousin and more are expected this year. But as a child my grandparents were the main source of child care during working hours, overtime, trips that were adult only, and whenever the need arose. To some going to grandparents’ house was not something to look forward to but for me it was heaven. At any given time there were at least six or seven children running through the house, wild and free. There was no TiVo, no PlayStation, no cell phones, and no technology available then as it is now. There were trees to climb on, scraps of lumber to build with, sprinklers to run through, and the availability of an imagination to run wild. It was a time of no thoughts of perverts, kidnappers, and need for constant supervision. We were free to destroy the yard, walk to the corner store, harass the ice cream man and generally run amuck. It was glorious! Mulberry trees served as source of snacks, adventures, and race track to see who could climb the highest. Pecan trees provided ammunition for home-made weapons in wars between the girls and boys that always resulted in someone getting hurt. Looking back as a parent myself, it’s a wonder that there wasn’t any permanent damage to ourselves or the house as we were quite the rambunctious lot. Yet, I don’t regret any of the times we pushed the limit. I am quite saddened that my own children won’t know the amount of fun we had in the hours upon hours we had to play outside but it is always fun to reminisce whenever we get together for family functions today.
ReplyDeleteMoria.. that's what keep worrying me ... that my son doesn't know how fun playing outside.. he does play outside, but that's when we "force" him to .. not because he enjoys playing outside.. :(
DeleteGrowing up, my favorite game to play was school! I would ALWAYS be the teacher, and I loved it. I normally played with my younger sister and my cousins. I remember playing different types of teachers; sometimes I would be the really mean and strict teacher, and other times I would be the super sweet and really nice teacher. I could play that game for hours. I think my family would get tired of it though. At that time, the hardest part for me was figuring out what type of work to give “my students.” I would sit down a write out a whole page of easy math problems for them to solve and I even gave them spelling test! My little cousin Joseph hated playing school with us, but I would always bribe him into playing. As for outside games, I enjoyed playing freeze tag. I liked it more than hide and seek because we were able to help our “fallen soldiers” or in the game’s terms, the frozen people. Being able to sneak around the person who was it and unfreeze someone else was so exciting to me. (Slightly off topic…) Kids today do not play outside as much as they used to anymore. If they do, I haven’t noticed. I knew basically every kid in my neighborhood because we would all play outside together. Most of our parents were familiar with each other, we were always at one another’s homes, and we always just had a great time together. I remember a couple times when a bunch of us went to a boy name Anthony’s house and we would slide down his staircase while on an old mattress. I know it was so dangerous at times, but we had a really good time doing it!
ReplyDeleteAs a child, my parents worked a lot so I spent most of my time at my aunt's daycare. We had many games inside the house but my favorite thing to do was to go outside and play "Bakery". I made the best mudpies and muck cakes with dirt frosting. I added grass and berries to add a fancy decorative look to them. Playing outdoors was my favorite thing to do and I still love doing activities outside. I especially love playing with my dogs. I do believe that animals can play with other animals, as well as with people. My dogs will run laps around me in pure excitement when they know I want to play outside. We do the normal things like play fetch but we also like to wrestle and play tag. Animals are amazing and fun - loving creatures.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! I never played "Bakery" with mud, but I did play "Spa" and "Pottery" with mud! My dad would dig up holes for trees and would sometimes fill them up with water and my sister and I would sit and dip our feet in it to "relax." I would also gather mud and attempt to make boxes and vases with it!
DeleteThis has been a good bunch of writing this week on your own playing and on the side note, animal issue. Here is one of the final words on the animals and playing business...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTBaIpEU_JU
I continue to argue that we need to examine our notions of play, work, sport, love, or even death.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite childhood game consisted of playing video games. A lot of video games. Most of these games were first person shooters like Halo and Call of Duty. On weekends I would invite my closets friends over and play many co-op missions, defeating bosses, and achieving new levels. We would all form a fortress with sofa mattresses and stay up all night snacking on popcorns, ice cream, candy bars and left-over pizza. Those were the good times.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of boys had a similar childhood as you. Video games sure are what kept my brothers entertained!
DeleteAs far as animals playing, I believe that it is their natural instinct to hunt out but I also believe that it like to have fun and play when they can.
DeleteThis sounds like more of a boy thing and makes me wish I was a boy at times! Lol
DeleteI can't say that I partook in as much video game activity as you when I was a kid, but I do remember loving playing Donkey Kong on my Nintendo 64 with my older brother. Your childhood gaming sounds like a lot of fun though with all of the junk-food and late nights.
DeleteThe game that I remember most from my childhood was power rangers. My brother and our friends would all gather up after school and choose our rangers. I was always assigned the pink power ranger because I was the only girl. We would then spend hours running around our neighborhood acting out scenes from the TV show. Our main objective was always to catch the bad guy. To this day it surprises me how big our imaginations were as children. Acting out a TV show is so simple but it kept us entertained for hours.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I would play this with my sister! As little girls, we actually watched the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and she was the pink ranger while I was the yellow ranger. On a side not, we also did the same with Sailor Moon characters!
DeleteI loved watching the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers with my older brother when we were kids! I always wanted to be the pink one Kimberly! I saw an old Power Ranger movie at Target a few months ago and had to buy it! It was the one with the bad guy Ivan Ooze. Your post brought back good memories for me:]
DeleteOne of my childhood favorite games was Cops and Robbers. I used to always want to play this game with my cousins. When the family would have gatherings all my cousins would get together and play Cops and Robbers. I loved being the cop because the cop was able to tackle the robber and put him in handcuffs. All the robber could do was run and try to get away. I believe this game of Cops and Robbers motivated me to choose my future career, law enforcement. There were other games I liked playing such as hide and seek, basketball, football, wrestling but Cops and Robbers was way much more fun. I remember one time my older cousin was a cop and he through my little cousin to the floor. When my little cousin got up he realized his wrist was just dangling. He had to go to the doctor and receive a cast. After that incident we were not allowed to play Cops and Robbers. Eventually, the older family forgot about the incident and we were allowed to play Cops and Robbers again.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's really cool that you related your favorite childhood game to what you're aspiring to do now as an adult. I think many people can find their passion(s) through the things they did as a child, but I feel like we all usually grow out of our childhood dreams/passions and don't usually pursue making those activities into a career. It's nice to hear(see) that you get to continue to play cops and robbers as an adult and get paid for it.
DeleteI believe that my favorite “game” when I was a child was the activity of coloring. At least, little Monica found coloring to be her favorite “game.” My favorite coloring books were the Color by Number books too. I actually saw these as a game. It might sound weird, but just knowing that the book told you what colors to chose was a type of “rule” for me to follow. I can actually recall a time where I had finished coloring a book my parents had bought for me and since I became anxious for another one, they decided to take my sister and I to a 24 hour Walgreens. There, I chose a simple 2 for $1 coloring book and a cheapy set of crayons since my rough method of coloring had broken my old ones. As soon as I got into the car, I began coloring. The outcome was pretty bad since I went out of the lines. I can still remember trying to color along the way home by using the moonlight and street light, even though my parents told me to wait until I was home due to no lighting in the car. I would go through a few books a month and would color with or without my sister, since I didn’t have many friends growing up, that is before school. The meaning of play is something that I believe differs on people. What I consider the meaning of play is pure, clean, and innocent happiness in action.
ReplyDeleteAh! I miss coloring! I used to enjoy that activity when I was a child too! I can definitely see the rules that are involved in coloring like staying in the lines as you mentioned.
DeleteI don’t remember playing any games with family members as a child or remember having a favorite game in general so I’m going the animal route. I completely believe that animals play. I have a mini dachshund who’s almost a year and a half old and we live on our own without other dogs. He plays by himself all the time. I’ve seen him throw his own toys (via his mouth) across my apartment and into my grandma’s pool when we’re at her house. He throws his toy across the tile (when we’re at my apartment) and then runs after it and starts moving it between/around his paws with his paws like a human would with a soccer ball. He is constantly playing with himself or trying to get me or other people to play with him. Dachshunds were bred to hunt honey badgers and go in holes, I don’t see how fetching/retrieving toys/balls and scooting a toy around would constitute as practicing for real world engagements. I don’t think that Frank playing with a toy by himself or with others is instinctual at all. The instinct of his honey badger hunting that I do see is when he has a stuffed toy or rope and he shakes it violently while it’s in his mouth from side-to-side. That incident is an example of a dog shaking its prey around to break the neck and ensure that it’s dead. Bottom line, I do think that animals play but I also think that aspects of their play can show the instincts that they’ve inherited.
ReplyDelete