Do you also happily think back of
banging your mom’s favorite stew pan with a spoon? And what about collecting
the nice smelling flowers, putting them in your grandpa’s coffee mug, than
adding some mud and stirring it all together with a stick, only to cook the
kind of lunch that your parents could only dream of? Or what about a game of
hide and seek, skipping ropes, playing football with the boys or playing a game
of “Sorry!”, which seems to be designed in a way that you never want to say
you’re sorry.
I seem to have these moments permanently
stored in my memory, and I seem to going back to them even more often since
I’ve started professionally playing games, which is a part of my job as a
pedagogue.
Even though that casual playing may seem
unimportant to some, it is actually a way for us to develop in many different
directions. It is a box that we slowly open, as we set off on our magical road
of learning, a road which we will travel for the rest of our lives. We learn so
many things through playing: how to speak, to be friends with someone, to be
patient, creative, imaginative; in other words, we learn how to live. Why is it
then that growing up turns us into these dull grey boxes, with no magic left
inside?
This is the question I’m trying to
answer. It happens to me sometimes that I realize how I’m trapped in this whole
growing up thing, and I forget all about adding the magic to everything I do. I
realized that no matter what I do, I should always remember the child stirring
her “lunch” with a stick, smile on her face as she serves it to her parents.
This is what I’m trying to achieve.
Playing has a very positive effect on
the development of personality, emotional stability and, as stated previously,
on learning. It can be used as a leisure time activity as well as in teaching
all sorts of subjects, learning foreign languages, developing communication
skills, and many other purposes.
Instead of banging on stew pans and
making “lunch”, lately I have mostly played various different card or board
games. Here I will describe just a few of those, which I encountered during my
volunteering experience in Spain. They are very popular in Europe, but not as
much in Serbia, and they left a very strong impression on me. They yield very
positive results and I can say that they can add a lot of color to educational
work with kids and adults alike.
STORY CUBES
Storytelling dices. Very interesting to
use for leisure activities, developing imagination and skills, and learning a
foreign language. The game rules are: you throw the dices and you’re supposed
to tell a story, a poem or a short sentence, based on the images the dices show
you. You can choose all the dices, or only the ones you like. I used them mostly
as energizers, before a certain activity, but also as ice breakers, as means
for practicing Spanish and English skills, and especially to develop creativity
and imagination. Creating wonderful stories is usually not so hard at all. The
inspiration is made easier by the pictures on the dices, and learning through
entertainment is guaranteed.
DOBBLE
An awesome game, especially for 7
year-olds and older ones. It helps develop perception, vocabulary, attention
spans, fast recognition of items and tolerance; and only some of its benefits. The
goal is to be the first one to notice a picture on a card, and once you’ve
started playing, it’s very difficult to stop. It’s addictive! There are
countless ways to use this game for educational purposes: as an energizer,
leisure activity, for acquiring new vocabulary, learning grammar, and it can
also somewhat contribute to the development of fast reading.
These are just some of the games which
can be utilized in many ways, and I have them in my bag very often because I
never know when I could run into a child (young or old), whit whom I would
gladly share the colors from my magic box.
So, having all this in mind it is important to ask ourselves in
what way do we keep the colors in our lives alive? Is it the way that keeps our
inner child awake, happy, playful, interested, trying to pick the nicest
flowers and realize his/her ideas?
Playing gives us strength, it liberates
us and makes us curious and yearning for new adventures. When we play we are
truly ourselves. So, you should never stop playing!
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