Remember sitting in class as a kid complaining about the schoolwork we had to do?
Many of us gave off “I hate it here” vibes, but there was one part of the day – well maybe 2 parts of the day – that we loved with a passion and greatly anticipated the bell to ring. One of those was for the pizza at lunch (lucky tray day was an added bonus) and the other was for recess!
That was our time to shine. It was a time to relax, play, show off in front of our friends, crack jokes on each other, get some fresh air, and time to reset. Recess was all of that!
During my recess showing off didn’t always go as well in actuality as it did in my head. One time I thought to myself, “Watch when I jump off that swing today. I’m gonna swing extra high and I’m gonna look so smooth when I land standing up”. Because the day before I busted my head in front of the whole 4th grade when I jumped.
Whatever you did on your recess, the point of it was to get a break and play. We all know that kids don’t have a very long attention span, so how long can we realistically expect a kid to sit quietly through a school day and actively participate without blowing a gasket?
Shoot, the same goes for the teachers and adults. Why are we expected to perform under such standards?
Play is an important part of a child’s learning and development. It allows them time to relax and decompress, and it teaches self-expression. But wait, it gets better.
The top 3 benefits of learning through play are:
1. It encourages communication.
2. It improves cognitive development
3. It encourages relationship building.
Tell me the adult association doesn’t need this?
We definitely need to initiate daily recesses. I’m going take it one step further and advocate for nap time. We need both of them.
The majority of the adult association is walking around with our butt cheeks and mouths clinched way too tight. If we don’t fix it soon, those butt cheeks are going to separate for good because they’re tired of holding it together.
Then what?
You’re just going to be a sad member of the adult association with no butt to fall back on.
The morale of the story is why should kids have all the fun? Learning should be a lifelong process. As long as we’re alive, we should be learning, playing, and napping. Get into it.
For more info about the benefits of learning through play, check out Centerforparentingeducation.org/library-of-articles/baby-through-preschool |THIS.
[By Keisha Crawford]
