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Comments:
Jim - 2006-10-16 22:42:53
We played cowboys and Indians, refought WWII (which had ended just a couple of years earlier), explored the moon and Mars, on rainy days turned our porches into ships on storm-tossed seas, built forts and clubhouses and treehouses, drove toy cars and trucks and dug (on a small scale model) massive road and construction projects, explored forests and jungles, climbed mountains, built igloos (in winter) while being Arctic (or Antarctic) explorers... and ran around and climbed trees and ran some more and had plenty of fresh air and sunshine and all the exercise that so many kids do not get today.
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John Bailey - 2006-10-17 05:52:52
You're so right, Doug. And if you don't learn to play as a kid you can't do much in the way of constructive play as an adult. Don't know where I'd be if I didn't know how to play...:)
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Bex - 2006-10-17 08:23:25
I often think about our playing days too. And it's sad that kids don't seem to have that anymore. Oh, maybe out in the country they still do, but in the populated areas now, kids are under the watchful eyes all the time. I see the children in my neighborhood outside playing a game together, but their parents are sitting there watching them to make sure nothing happens to them. I got into so much mischief as a girl (I was a tom-boy and all my neighbors were boys) - and no one was watching us. It was heaven. I guess we can't turn back the clocks either... don't know it it will ever be like that again.
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l'empress - 2006-10-17 10:45:36
Overscheduling a child gives him no sense of control. "Mama will do it." I can't imagine what parents are thinking when they decide *every* aspect of a kid's life. Then again, we're about two generations into structured parenting, where the parents can't think either.
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LA - 2006-10-17 11:12:19
Yup. I'll join the "I told you so" chorus. I mean, HOW many entries have I written about poor Wolf who has no one to play with because his friends are scheduled out the wazoo? It's about time someone with some clout stepped up and spoke the truth about these horribly micro-managed kids. Hmph! ~LA
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Sunshyn - 2006-10-17 11:28:19
I played the way Jim played, with the boys. And some of us pretended we were living out "Flipper" or in a rock band. We made up whole dramas about ourselves. But I wanted to comment about a long-gone website that said: "You have reached the last page of the internet. Now turn off the computer and go outside and play."
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Lynn - 2006-10-17 19:13:45
Doug, I couldn't agree more. Our children have lots of homework and it is very time-consuming for them (and for us!). We couldn't schedule other things for them even if we wanted to. We don't want to. We realize that the free time they have left should truly br free.
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bb - 2006-10-17 20:09:54
Does trying to ride a skateboard on a metal piece fall into play? I don't think our neighbor's son ever does homework. He never comes home with books.
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plankton - 2006-10-17 20:14:12
Why restrict it to children? I've always thought that adults need play too---the creative, unstructured type--but few are willing to indulge in it. Luckily, I still have an occasional spare moment to play. It's just that nowadays I try to do it without my teenager watching me.
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mz. em - 2006-10-18 21:05:25
It's funny that you write about recess and play becasue the other day when I went for my walk, I hit the school by me at play time and there was children swinging, running and laughing. Looked like fun to me.
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LetMeGoToo - 2006-10-19 01:50:02
It's so healthy for kids to learn to play! I wonder how much more is going to be legislated away?!
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