DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET excluded from a special friendship with two other girls. She felt hurt and angry as she remembered that experience. When she realized the connection between her past experiences and the girls’ situation, she was able to put her own feelings aside and focus on how to help the girls find a solution.    Clearly some of Marion’s anger from her past experience was coloring how she saw the girls’ conflict. Without understanding her own reaction, she may have handled this conflict in a harsher or more punishing manner, instead of helping the girls resolve their dilemma. Painful play experiences can influence your inter- actions years later. Understanding your own strong reactions can help you focus your interactions on what children need to learn to play successfully. Memories of your play experiences can range from the very pleasant to the very sad or something in between. As you set up the play environment or interact with children in play, you bring your memories into your teach- ing, whether you remember them consciously or not. Time to Reflect How do you think your childhood play experiences influence how you plan and implement play opportunities for the children you teach? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ If Marion had come to you with her observations about the three girls, how would you have responded to her feelings? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 14 | Chapter 1 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL