Importance of Play..

Remember your own childhood days. Whizzing recklessly down the street, we boys with short knickers, with bruised knees and triumphant facial expressions and a stick in hand wheeled old and disused scooter tyres. We stood on the steps of the entrance and played “On the bank-In the river” in its myriad variations. We simply sat down and played with the traditional five stones, tamarind seeds or sea shells. We roamed in our own groups and made adventurous journeys picking mangoes and guavas. We ran, we played, we laughed, we climbed trees and we fell and we got back to our feet again and most importantly we sweat. A reminder call from our parents and we were inside the house to wash ourself and study or eat the simple meal together as a family. TV was an uncommon device.

Cut the scene some 25 years later to today. Urban life has ensured that the number of cars have doubled on the streets. Nuclear families means that older siblings no longer take care of younger ones and have been replaced by house maids. Today’s sophisticated and technological toys leave very little room  for children to either move or be creative, only endlessly repeat what has been done before at the press of a button. Rag dolls made by an elderly aunt have been replaced by the Barbies. Play areas are sanitised, safe and devoid of imagination. The proverb, “Necessity is the mother of invention” holds good no more. Because parents are busy working to earn money to buy their children the best that money can buy.

Another new trend among parents and teachers lately seems to be a rush to dispense with childhood, to reach its end as early as possible. There is a scramble among parents and even schools to enrol children into grade schools as early as 5 years or lesser in an effort to feel that their children are very intelligent. Research shows that children enrolled early may show good strides in the first few years but are unable to cope with studies in higher classes due to the tremendous amount of information to be stored in a literally ‘small brain’ added with peer pressure and parental fears, finally burning out the child followed by tuitions and more mechanical and boring work. Where is the time to ‘Play’?

Lets understand that children have their own pace and timescales unlike adults. When was the last time you paused to show your child an aeroplane in the sky, a ladybird in the bush or sat on the rock gazing the stars? Says Sally Jenkinson in her book “The Genius of Play”, ‘Childhood is a state of grace, a big in-breath, a time for storing riches for the future. Have we lost our ability to emphathise with children – to hear their voices, to enter their worlds? Can we protect them, yet also leave them free? Each child carries the knowledge of who he or she wants to become, and charts their course towards the secret future guided by the deep wisdom and light of the inner vision”

So what is it that we parents can do? We do love our children and want to give them our best. But let’s ensure that the best is not only the best that money can buy. Have we kissed him ‘goodnight’ with a bed time story or did he sleep watching some adult dramas or nosiy cartoons on TV ? Did he spend his weekend playing video games alone in his room or did we make a family trek to the temple high up on the hill. (Incidentally the last trek I did with my kids were the Kandagiri/Kumaragiri hills in Salem. The excitement of observing/explaining the plants, the insects from snails and millipedes to butterflies, the dogs and the monkeys following us and the little drops of water trickling amidst the rain, the sheer beauty of nature- the sun, the wind and the rain - all in those 3 hours are ways in which I rejuvenate myself and bond with my family.) Does he have hobbies in his life like painting and knitting or aeromodelling or is he constantly manipulating you for the costliest shoe or jacket from the hi-fi store? Does he put his books, shoes and other things back in place after use or does your ‘maid servant’ have to do them all? Watch out for these symptoms of the Gen-X kids if you are really talking about holistic education. But also know that in these modern days, you must strike a balance. And that difference  is made by how much time you spent with your kids this day, this week or even this month (If you are travelling for work outside of home town) and How did you spend that time? Did you jointly trek the hill, cycle down the lanes, paint together, dust the windows together or even cooked together or did you go about buying the best brands off the market in the name of ‘Quality Time’.

I would like to quote psychologist Dr.Stuart Brown, “Childhood Play rather than being optional or extra-curricular is central to an Individual’s healthy development. The child who has played much during those early years is less prone to stress-related diseases as an adult, is more well-adjusted in her home or work environments or in marriage, and builds confidence and mental strength to handle crises situations in life. Play is as important to life as is sleeping and dreaming”.

Our schools and education system also need to recognize this and provide an environment where children can play, their innocence retained, and not rushed into their intellect and an adult world. As Rudolf Steiner said: "It is absolutely essential that before we think, before we so much as begin to set our thinking in motion, we experience the condition of wonder." Such a child will grow into its intellect and adulthood with innocence in balance. They will carry forward a sustained enthusiasm and can tap into their creative energy and self as effectively as they can into their memory and intellect. That is the human being that the world needs for a sustainable tomorrow and the employee, an employer seeks for solutions in a fast paced complex world. She is the successful citizen of tomorrow. If there is any one thing that the Steiner education system does, it nurtures, protects, and develops the intelligence of a child while retaining a playful innocence and a lifelong curiosity.

G Manivannan
Trustee of Bangalore Steiner School