How did you spend your summer as a child? Did you spend lots
of time indoors staring at a flickering screen? Did you enjoy the pool,
backyard, front sidewalk and other outside activities? Did you find joy in a
butterfly or chasing fireflies as dusk fell? Did you build forts out of old
blankets when the rain drove you inside?
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Are your favorite memories the ones involving grown-ups
supervising play or sports? Or were they the times you were free from adult
supervision (at least you felt like you were) and you played Ghosts in the
Graveyard until dark with the neighborhood kids? Or you followed a little
stream in the ditch down the street to a land of enchantment you and your best
friend created in your imaginations?
Kids need plenty of fresh air, sunshine and freedom to
structure their own games and play fueled by imagination. I hope that your
children enjoyed as free a summer as mine did—those are the memories that they
will hug close as the years go by.
As the summer winds down, don’t forget that children will
still need the freedom of unstructured playtime when school starts. A kid is
sitting outside staring off into space is actually experiencing important brain
growth. By providing opportunities for doing nothing, you are giving your kids
the best gift of all—the ability to keep summer (and all it represents) around
throughout the year.
Until next time,
Sarah
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