Snow Play, Imagination, and Empowerment for Kids
Did you ever do this as a kid? Stomp your way through the snow with your heels close together and your toes pointing out so the tracks you made with your boots looked like the track of a tractor?
My brother and I once walked painstakingly allllll the way up our driveway at an equal distance away from each other making our ‘tractor’ prints all the way to where the school bus picked us up. Our hopes? That we would fool Mom and Dad into thinking a tractor had come down the driveway.
Did we fool them? I dunno. I doubt it. I have a feeling my equidistant footsteps weren’t as perfect as my older brother’s. That and the fact that the tractor stopped right at the end of the front walk. And one track had size 9 shoes and the other about a size 1. Among several other tiny flaws. Like the fact that it took us a really, really long time to get to the end of the driveway and they probably saw us.
But the cackles we had at the thought of our parents being fooled into thinking a tractor had come by was fun.
Why Kids Should Pull Pranks on Adults
There is something special about being a kid and thinking you’ve pulled the wool over the eyes of an adult. It is empowering and takes a bit of a cognitive leap to create and pull off a good prank. Timing. Patience. And a bit of problem solving as well as imagining the foreseeable flaws in the ploy to fool others.
When you were a kid, what was your favourite or most memorable prank you pulled on an adult? Do your kids pull pranks on you?
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You may have heard about Lenore Skenazy’s (Author of Free Range Kids) latest Free Range Parenting Ploy: Pay Me to Ignore Your Kids. And a lot of people are calling her crazy. But before we get into that, let me share exactly what her program will offer as a benefit to your kids.
The Benefits of Lenore Skenazy’s Child Care Program: Pay Me to Ignore Your Kids
By participating in Lenore Skenazy’s program your kids will develop many skills and reach many developmental milestones. For example, independence, self-reliance, conflict management, social skills, self-regulation, leadership, self-control, creativity, communication skills as well as develop muscle, motor fitness, physical agility, and improve their cardiovascular health. This program will reduce ADHD type behaviours, increase feelings of self-worth and self-confidence as well as reduce the chance of developing childhood depression.
Wow. That sounds pretty damn stinking good, doesn’t it? I mean, sign my kids up for that!
How much does it cost?
$350. Sure. Why not, right? It’s New York and look at what your kids get for an hour and half of play every Wednesday. I mean, programming. To quote Lenore: “Pay for a class, enhance your child’s life.” (It’s what parents are used to.) In other words, we don’t put value on something unless we pay for it these days when it comes to our kids, their education, their development, and their well-being.
Why Lenore Skenazy is NOT Crazy
Lenore’s program plain and simple: bring your kids to the park (Wednesdays 3:45 to 5:15 p.m. in Central Park (85th and 5th)) and leave them there with Lenore. Then go away. She stays, but ignores the kids and lets them play as a huge group. The next Wednesday she meets up with everyone, then goes to the coffees hop and drinks coffee while the kids play in a big group.
Why Lenore’s “Pay Me to Ignore Your Kids” is not a crazy idea:
1. Lenore is making a point about our kids NEEDING to play outdoors, with a variety of different kids (ages, backgrounds, etc.) without adults interfering and solving every little issue. (See my list of benefits for her program above–those are the benefits of kids playing actively and independently outside, on their own, with other kids. I.e Free Play.)
2. Crime rates are LOWER now than when we were kids. I.e. the park is safer now than when we were kids and hanging out there without our parents. The world isn’t different–our thinking is. (Stupid TV shows–the only time they show a kid is when something bad is going to happen to them. How can we not be messed up when it comes to our perception of dangers to our children?)
3. Your child has a five-hundred thousand times greater chance of becoming OBESE due to a lack of active, outdoor play than of being abducted. In other words, in the long run they are going to be safer in the park than at home on the couch.
4. She is going to set kids loose in a SAFE place. A high traffic, safe neighbourhood. (Unless of course you watch CSI: New York and Law & Order.) As well it is in a playground–a place designed by experts, specifically for kids.
5. She’s going to be there for the first time. So if there are genuine issues, she is there.
6. After that she will be down the block. WHERE KIDS KNOW WHERE TO FIND HER.
7. Kids have cell phones these days. Do you think they can’t figure out how to get help if they need it?
8. There will be enough helicoptering moms of the really young kids hanging around just waiting to use their stash of Band-Aids and wipes. These kids will be well-covered should they need it. There biggest risk will be the Ohmigodyoucan’tdothatwhereisyourmother types.
9. She is not saying to leave toddlers there alone. This is for kids aged 8 and up. At age 12 kids can babysit. That means they can be responsible and most likely play in the park for awhile with other kids.
10. She is trying to put the CHILD back into CHILDhood. And that, my dear friends, is commendable.
Right now Lenore needs support. She needs people to show up (even if the idea of leaving your kid in the park freaks you out) and she also needs someone to go on TV with her. (God, how I wish I was in New York. I would so be there in a heart beat.)
So if you want what is best for your kids. Really, and truly what is best for your kids, help the gal out. It’s in the name of play and in the name of play is ALWAYS what is best for our kids.
Are you in New York? Will you be helping Lenore out?
What are your thoughts? Share ’em below.
P.S. If you want to read more on Lenore’s other reinstate play ideas, check out this post on reseeding our playgrounds with kids.
Spread the word:
10 reasons why Lenore Skenazy (@freerangekids) is not crazy for ignoring your kids. http://t.co/qu48CGFU #parenting #NewYork
— Jean Oram (@KidsPlay) September 12, 2012
Beading Crafts for kids–you can pick up a whole kit for cheap, cheap, cheap.
Why Beading Crafts for Kids are Good
Not only are beading crafts for kids a ton of fun to make, but it develops all kinds of super-good skills in your kiddos. For example, beading develops fine motor skills, patience, and creativity. As well, children learn about patterns, planning ahead, spatial awareness–will that length of bracelet fit around one’s wrist?, and other math skills.
What to Create with Beads
Your imagination is the limit when it comes to beading crafts. Here are a few ideas to get you and your kids started:
- Keychains
- Bracelets
- Necklaces
- Bookmarks (bead the string that hangs out of the book)
- Beaded animals such as a snake
Creative Bead Ideas
- Buttons.
- Cereal like Froot Loops or Cheerios.
- Pasta such as elbow noodles that have a hole in the middle.
- Aluminum foil rolled into bead shapes.
- Toilet paper rolls trimmed down. This is great for toddlers and children who have yet to develop the fine motor skills required for finer beadwork.
- Straws–trim them down so they aren’t as long.
- And beads, of course!
What else can you find that has a hole and can be beaded? Share your thoughts, ideas, and beading stories in the comment section. I love to hear what others are up to.
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P.S. Did you like this activity? Sign up for more summer play ideas with the It’s All Kid’s Play newsletter. It’s free, easy, and chalk full of fun. No strings attached.
The idea of retro parenting, or parenting like our parents did really ain’t that bad. (Sometimes you will hear it being called slow parenting, too.) And, okay, I know, we don’t want to become our parents, right? But if you think about it, how many chubby kids or kids on anti-depressants did you know growing up? Now look around at our kids and their friends. Yikes, right?
Well, if you want to go retro and give retro parenting a try, I’ve written ab post that includes 5 ways we can parent like our parents did for healthier, happier kids. It’s over on Modern Life Blogs (5 Reasons to Parent Like Our Parents) and I’d love to hear what you think. While you are over there, feel free to give it a “like” or drop a comment. I’m chatting over there as well.
Should we borrow some tools from the toolboxes of our parents and allow our kids more unstructured, unscheduled time to play? More outdoors? Less time plugged in? What do you do that is similar to your parents? What’s different?
Let’s have a conversation.
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Ever play King of the Castle when you were a kid? If so, you know the taunting challenge and sting of defeat all rolled into one lovely chant sung by the kid who bestest their rivals (you) and gained the spot on top of the hill, pile, rock, picnic table (or whatever else makes them higher than everyone else) and they sing out: “I’m the King of the Castle and you’re the dirty rascal!”
Boy, does that bring back some memories.
Today, I encourage you to bring out this old game if your kids haven’t been introduced to it already. And yes, some of you may have just given me the hairy eyeball on that one and are wondering why I am so cruel as to suggest a game that brings out the 
competitive edge in those kids you just got settled nicely on the couch.
Want to know why?
Because, believe it or not, it is healthy for your kids.
No, really. A little competition is healthy for our kids. Challenges such as King of the Castle teach our kids how to deal with conflict, competition, winning, losing, and even cooperation (think of two younger siblings unroosting the eldest) and maybe even sharing (the two youngest siblings are now looking down at the eldest from their perch).
Whenever we step in and calm a little tuffle that is bringing out the competition in our kids–because let’s face it, King of the Castle isn’t just about skill and timing, it is about competing and besting the other players, even if for 2.3 seconds–we interfere with a chance for them to learn about themselves and everyday situations. Playing King of the Castle is a chance for them to learn how to solve conflict, deal with annoying winners, be a gracious loser, and of course, a gracious winner–even though the whole point of the game is to rub your momentary win in the face of others.
Still not convinced? Think of it this way, there are always going to be those competitive rub-your-nose in it types out there in the real world, right? So, would you like your child to learn how to deal with it now when the biggest ‘risk’ is them stomping home in tears? Or would you rather protect them from it and then later in their life when they are at their first job they get so angry with a coworker who is a competitive nose-rubber that they end up losing it on this person and getting themselves fired? Probably not the last one, right?
While it is in our nature and coded into our genes to want to step in and protect our children from every sting and arrow in their childhood, we also need to peel back the protective barrier every once in awhile and let our kids deal with some small stings so they build their own protective armour for
when they leave our nests.
Every day is a learning opportunity for kids and play is learning. Let’s let our kids play.
How about you? How do you approach competition? Any King of the Castle scars to show and stories to tell?
