Take Time to Play

Take Time to Love and Be Loved.

Sign on wall of Mother Teresa’s children’s home in Calcutta

It is our privilege to have Dr. O. Fred Donaldson on our Board of Advisors.  Dr. Donaldson is a specialist who has researched play around the world for thirty years.  Easton Country Day incorporates his concept of play, “Original Play,” into our everyday curriculum.

‘Merely playing’ has the power to transform, to put us in touch, to connect, and open us to the vast potential of love hidden within. 

For young children, play is a gentle way of being in touch with the world.  It is how they learn about world and their relationship to it.  Natural childhood play confirms that the world is a safe place to be.

Too early in a child’s life, however, this early sense of playfulness is fundamentally changed by adults.  What was once play becomes contest.  What was once joyful becomes stressful.  Play becomes adulterated as grown-ups take on such roles as coach and manager, forcing children too quickly into contests and the tension of adult life.  Too often our voices and our touch become harsh and directive as our focus is task oriented rather than child centered.

Children’s play is abandoned as the adults around them, full of good intentions, push them to take on the roles and behaviors of the grown-up world.  It often appears that teaching children to cope with the stresses of later life early on gives them a competitive advantage and thus a successful head-start.  From a long-term emotional perspective, however, that assumption is mistaken.  After thirty years of experience and research with children across the globe, Dr. Donaldson is a world renowned authority on play.  He has found that, despite the best intentions, our abandonment of play and misunderstanding of our roles actually prevent children from reaching their full potential.

                Dr. Donaldson presents an alternative approach that is based on the play relationship children naturally have with the world.  For children, play and learning are the same.  Consequently, academic success – and thus a competitive advantage – comes much more naturally to children who have been allowed to develop fully in their play.   Dr. Donaldson urges parents and educational professionals not to underestimate the power of play in promoting optimal physical, emotional and cognitive development.

                Play is essential in a child’s life.  As children play, they learn; and, more importantly, they learn how to learn.  Play is the optimum learning relationship for a child.  The best learners, at whatever age or stage of development, are those who are best prepared to handle change.  As they explore, touch and wander, their play teaches children how to absorb from and adapt to the ever-changing world around them for the rest of their lives.  They acquire the basic feelings, ideas and capacities to understand and interact with their environment and to interpret the natural (i.e., non-coerced) reactions of their peers.  These skills help children grow into perceptive, well-adjusted, and socially successful young adults.

 Please click here for more information on Original Play.