Head of Primary Blog

Why we all need time to be playful

As I write this we are on the eve of a long weekend, a time to relax and rejuvenate. It does seem very early in the year to be having some time away from school but the first few weeks of any school year are stressful and exhausting for all members of our school community.

Children have been spending these first few weeks making new friendships and rekindling old ones. They have been getting to know their new teachers and reminding themselves of how school works and the expectations upon them.

Many of our teachers who have joined us this term have come from all parts of the world, they have moved jobs, moved house and moved country, and some have come directly from other schools with virtually no holiday break in between.

Some of our parents have also had a very busy few months with new jobs and new homes all whilst trying to keep calm and settle their families into a new way of life.

Busy lives are brilliant but we must be mindful that we also create time and space in our lives to enjoy the simple pleasures such as taking time to talk with each other in an unhurried environment and enjoy a change of perspective.

Children are the super heroes of the art of living in the moment and taking great joy in the simpler pleasures of life, think of the time when your child had so much more fun playing with box that the expensive toy came in rather than playing with the actual toy?

Take time to play with your children, take time to become more playful yourself. The National Trust in the UK has created a fabulous list of ‘playful’ activities ; *50 things to do before you are 11 and ¾ .

You could go stargazing, build a den, go cloud watching or maybe even make a mud creation.

https://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/documents/50-things-activity-list.pdf

Whatever you do this weekend, do it through the eyes of a child, forget being an adult for a few hours and enjoy the precious moments of freedom.