Play

You see a child play, and it is so close to seeing an artist paint, for in play a child says things without uttering a word. You can see how he solves his problems. You can also see what’s wrong. Young children, especially, have enormous creativity, and whatever’s in them rise to the surface in free play…Erik Erikson.  I have been an early childhood educator for over eighteen years. My favorite grade to teach was four year-old kindergarten for the state of Alabama. Besides being in the presence of amazing children and their parents, I really loved teaching by means of play. I am a believer in playing with a purpose, which is a major concept in child development (birth-five). It’s by means of play a child learn valuable concepts, that is beneficial for the rest of their lives. For example, a child jumping in a puddle of water after a hard rain teaches cause and effect. The higher a jump equals bigger splashes. Or playing with playdough opens a child mind to endless possibilities like pretend cookies. One of my favorites is watching children develop conversation skills by playing housekeeping/dress-up. Who hasn’t done an imaginary tea party with their dolls/stuffed animals? Or playing with blocks using the skills of an architect to build? Or playing in dirt to discover like a scientist? Honestly, play is a beautiful thing, that every child should be able to experience. There is no one treatment or educational plan that will work for every autism spectrum disorder child. However, I do believe early intervention has improve M possibilities. I love to watch M play. Thanks to early intervention, M is now playing with toys. These last few weeks he has actually been playing with cars on the floor. On top of that, he has been actually mimicking car like sounds! Surprisingly too, M imagination is expanding. He loves drinking straws now. No not to drink with them, he uses them for drum sticks. M plays a beat with his sticks here or there, he will play them everywhere! So if you’re around M, mind your straw. This understanding of play concept for M came about by means of his wonderful therapists using Mr. Potato Head for a year. Additionally, all of  M amazing teachers over the years used play to reach his beautiful mind and heart. M is reminding me that play opens a world of wonderful learning experiences…keep rocking M!

Simply an autism mom learning