Cycling on abandoned Second World War airfields and Jugando a Las Escondidas en el Parque: examining play memories from adults growing up around the world

Abstract

This study examined play memories from adults who grew up in a wide range of international contexts. Surveys and semi-structured interviews asking adults to recollect play memories were completed with 135 adults (100 Females, 35 Males) who grew up in 21 countries. Play memories were analysed to identify adults’ favourite types of childhood play, barriers preventing their play, beliefs about the impact of their childhood play across their lifespan, the emotions associated with recollecting their play, and the similarities and variations represented across the adults’ play memories. Pretend play, play in nature, and risk-taking were prevalent themes, however, the data reflect how variation in sociocultural and historical contexts strongly influenced children's play experiences. The majority of participants associated play memories with positive feelings and reported lifelong benefits of early play experiences. The literature on sociocultural variations in children's play and neuroscience research on memories as reconstructions informs discussion of the findings.

Keywords:

• play memories
• children's play
• sociocultural theory
• global

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Julie Nicholson, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Practice and Chair of Early Childhood in the School of Education at Mills College. Dr. Nicholson directs the Center for Play Research at Mills College where she works on a variety of research projects examining the role of play across the lifespan in diverse global and cultural contexts. She is currently involved in creating a framework for use in research and professional development that integrates international perspectives on children's play with the latest research in culturally sustaining and responsive pedagogy. Her research and publications emphasize social justice in several areas including leadership development, play across the lifespan, the use of social networking tools in higher education coursework, teachers' use of data to inform their instruction, consequential validity in ECE assessments, and system building efforts (prenatal-8 years) in urban schools.

Priya Mariana Shimpi, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Mills College. As a National Science Foundation predoctoral fellow, she received a PhD in Developmental Psychology in 2006 from the University of Chicago. In 2009, she completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she examined the role of cultural and environmental experiences in children's attention and learning. Her current research focuses on the role of experience in children's social and cognitive development, including the role of play in children's learning. At Mills since 2009, she teaches in the Early Childhood Education MA and undergraduate Child Development programs.

Maja Jevgjovikj, MA is a Research Associate at the Center for Play Research at Mills College and is currently working as a toddler teacher at the Marin Day Schools, San Francisco City Hall Campus. Maja obtained her BA in Pedagogy from the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Macedonia and her MA in Education from Mills College. Prior to her graduate studies, Maja lived and worked as a journalist in Macedonia. Her current professional and research interests are related to the sociological and cultural aspects of play. She is currently working on a study that examines children's perspectives on play in SOS Children's Villages in several countries from the Balkan region.

Jean Kurnik, MA, is a Research Associate at the Center for Play Research at Mills College. Her research interest has been focused on collecting child and adult play narratives for the documentation and examination of children's perspectives on play and of adults' play memories and their perspectives on children's play around the world. Ms. Kurnik received her master's degree in early childhood education with an emphasis in leadership from Mills College. She manages social media content for the Bay Area Coalition for Play, and reviews research for the For Our Babies Campaign, a project to raise awareness of the importance of investing in our youngest children.

Veronica Ufoegbune, Ed.D., works as the Director of several sites in the Alameda Unified School District Early Childhood and School Age Programs in northern California. Veronica received her doctorate from Pepperdine University in 2013 where she examined how female leaders in organizations across the world create work life balance in their lives. She is currently Chair of the Alameda County Early Care and Education Planning Council and she works on many committees addressing policy issues impacting children and families in the state of California. Veronica is a research assistant at the Center for Play research at Mills College.