Summer is in full swing in our neck of the woods. The weather has been great, not to hot, not too cold. We have had trips to the beach, a trip to the water park, a trip to a state park for some camping and fishing. And yet, even with all this wonderful weather going on, I find myself having to push my kids outdoors. If I let them, I think they would sit in front of the TV or computer all day long, and luckily, for my own sanity, we have refused to buy a game system, because I am sure that would be on the list as well. Keep Reading Here
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3 comments:
It can be hard to get them away from screen time - but I agree with you -- it is important to do so, or they would sit there all day!
My guys are youngm, so it is easy to get them out. I try to plan outings in advance, rely on favorite activities and throw in something new every once and awhile. Sometimes we do "gift runs" we will bake cookies and then take them to our older neighbours down the street or to our church for the minister. It is a good activity, and then we either bike or walk. I also try to not over-book the kids - they do need down time and it is nice to take it easy too!
Have a wonderful summer!
I will be so glad when the schools get out around here, I am sure I won't have to fight to get them outside when their friends are out playing. I hope.
While I think that the much larger range of choices of indoor electronic entertainment available now is one important factor in kids staying indoors, I think another huge change since I was kid is the degree to which kid's play is arranged, managed and supervised by adults. I had very, very little of that. I think it makes kids far less likely to create their own play when they spend a lot of time in organized and structured play.
A lot of it has to do with concern for safety. I don't think the world is really any more dangerous now than it was when I was a kid, but now we hear about every bad thing that happens anywhere and get the idea that kids are continually in grave danger from accident or molestation, so parents are far less willing to have their kids out of sight somewhere down the street doing who knows what.
Another other thing that seems to me to reduce creative play are sophisticated toys. Toys do too much. It used to be that a child would at least try to build his/her toys. Now, nothing the child could construct can compete with what comes out of the box. We used to build our own scooters or skateboards, but no one would do that nowdays. Rationally, it makes no sense to do that when you can just buy a really fancy one, or just Tony Hawkes video game and do way more than you could with something you put together in your garage with scrounged parts. It is one of the downsides of affluence.
Affluence has a lot to do with the problem. When you couldn't afford fancy toys, you made your own, or just had to go out and use the simple ones you had, like a ball and bat or ball and hoop. Now, it is hard to tell the kid you can't afford the fancy toys when you know you really can afford them.
It is something that continues into adulthood. Who bothers to sew nowdays, when you can buy it ready made for less than you would pay for the material?
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