Go Outside and PLAY!

I was driving down the street on my way home tonight and I paused to watch some neighborhood kids as they were playing a game.  They were running and shouting, making quite a ruckus, and it was AWESOME!

The article "Why Free Play is the Best Summer School" challenges adults to give children the freedom to play.  

Consider this quote: "Unscheduled, unsupervised, playtime is one of the most valuable educational opportunities we give our children. It is fertile ground; the place where children strengthen social bonds, build emotional maturity, develop cognitive skills, and shore up their physical health."

Do you know kids in your neighborhood that have unscheduled, unsupervised playtime?

When I was a kid I couldn't wait until summer because we had free time every day.  My mom and grandma used to tell us to go outside and play, and we did!

We rode our bikes and raided the clothespin bag and stuck playing cards in the spokes to pretend that they were motorcycles.  We ran screaming "Red Alert" through the backyard chased by an imaginary rabid dog all the way to the swingset and climbed up to the top.  We climbed trees and made forts.  

We played outside in the dark with flashlights.  We had fashion shows with dress up clothes, acted in plays with scripts we improvised and lip-synched to our favorite groups on LPs.  We baked cookies and made our own lunches.  We decided what we wanted to do and we did it.

 When the weather was bad we watched reruns on TV or daytime dramas ("stories" as my grandma called them).  Even then we made up our own game - the "Commercial Game" where we competed to see who could call out the name of the advertised product before they said it or displayed the name.

I worry about today's generation of kids who are missing out on unstructured play time because they are scheduled within an inch of their lives.  Play dates carefully monitored with plenty of hand sanitizer to pass around, store-bought individual snacks, and parents stepping in to ensure that toys are shared and turns are taken seem to be the norm.

Are we doing a disservice to children when we set up their summer schedules and supervise their every movement?  I think so.  Classrooms are filled with students who have trouble monitoring their own behavior, with students who have trouble prioritizing and problem-solving, who can't handle small setbacks and disappointments because their parents - no doubt with good intentions -  have sheltered them from having to do this for themselves.  It's only natural that we don't want our children to get hurt or be disappointed, but I think we serve them better when we give them the space they need to exercise their creativity and let them be in charge of themselves.

This summer, let's tell kids to go outside and play!