The document discusses three play activities: coloring, play dough molding, and building with Legos. For each activity, the author describes enjoying the creative aspects of choosing colors, molding different shapes, and constructing buildings without a set goal. The author finds that engaging in these childhood activities reduces stress and helps take a more carefree approach to schoolwork, focusing on the process rather than the end result. Overall, the document advocates for incorporating play activities into one's routine to relax, boost creativity, and have fun while learning.

2. Activity 1:Activity 1:
A Book for ColoringA Book for Coloring

3. A Book for ColoringA Book for Coloring
 Play Pattern: Creative
 One of my favorite activities as a child, and still as an adult, was coloring. I loved taking the time to choose
colors that were appealing to the eye and brightening an otherwise plain piece of paper.
 It was always fun for me to trying to figure out the story each color told about the person or object I was
coloring. Especially if I was coloring a character I knew well. For instance, with Jasmine and Aladdin I chose
my colors to compliment one another, show their bond, and show the deeper emotions and personality of each
character. And in the end I got a pretty (if unfinished) picture!
 I find coloring to be enjoyable and soothing even today, and I often do it when I am stressed, bored, or just
need a release to more innocent and childlike times.
 This is a useful aspect for calming my nerves when I become overwhelmed with a school activity. Taking a
break and coloring will center me again, lighten my mood, and get me back on track to a smoother road to
success- As well as stretching my creative legs!

4. Activity 2:Activity 2:
Dough for MoldingDough for Molding

5. Dough for MoldingDough for Molding
 Play Pattern: Creative
 I have always enjoyed molding play dough, though I haven’t done it in many years. As a child, it was a
forbidden activity, a treat when I visited my aunts who had fewer carpets to be ruined by stray leftovers.
 I have always enjoyed the infinite possibilities of molding the dough into different shapes. I could mold
anything from a simple smiley face to an intricate and fully sculpted house with yard and children. The only
limit was my own creativity, and the skill with which I molded.
 I still found this activity fun today, and it would have been far more so if my own play dough had not been so
dry. I found this to be another creative exercise to stretch my mind and open it to possibilities. This is a
wonderful thing in my field of education and future career. It reminds me that, no matter what I do, it is my
own creativity and skill that limits me. Only I can hold myself back.
 I still enjoy creating and molding new things, only now I do it with words rather than physical substance. Still,
I think I’ll leave this activity on my plate for re-visiting once I’ve picked up (or made) a new batch of dough.

6. Activity 3:Activity 3:
Blocks for BuildingBlocks for Building

7. Blocks for BuildingBlocks for Building
 Play Pattern: Creative/Object Play
 I LOVE LEGOS! This has always been the case. From a young age I loved the symmetry and possibilities of
Legos. I found structure, patterns, and (once more) room to let my imagination run with these small building
blocks. I had so much fun building with Legos again, that I might just leave them out.
 With Legos I can let go, stack things just for the fun of it, and see what cool new thing comes out of it. At the
end of my project both of my sons and my husband asked me what I had made. I shrugged, and professed that
I didn’t know, I didn’t care, and I still thought it was pretty darn cool. The pride I felt in my unidentifiable
(spotlight?) tower was mood brightening. I felt accomplished, even if I didn’t know what I had made, and I
had built it without an end purpose in mind. It was sheer joy.
 I think that approaching my school work with the same care-free mentality as far as actually doing the work is
a great way to allow myself to have fun. Not stressing about the end result while keeping just enough
guidelines to get me to the proper place leaves me with a lot of room to wiggle and enjoy myself.
 I will be revisiting this activity again and again.

8. A Final NoteA Final Note
 While this assignment was not, itself, a part of my play activities I wish to fully admit that the
amount of writing involved in it made it play in and of itself. I not only got to do three fun
and exciting things, but then I got to write about them.
 Even within the parameters of being work itself, I would still say that this assignment was at
least 75 percent play just in creating the presentation.
 I hope to revisit a number of play activities I didn’t visit for this project in the coming weeks,
just for my own satisfaction.