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Playing, Taboo or a Lost Art?
By: Amomma4
Yes you have heard it time and time again that children learn best through playing. But why is it that as we stroll through our neighborhoods that there are virtually no children outside? Has playing become taboo? Or is it a lost art that we need to rediscover?
Each year we find ourselves wondering what we can do to get our kids motivated to go outside and play. But yet each year we continue to purchase more items that intrigue our your children to become interactively attached to these objects for entertainment. It’s time we as parents take the following advice into consideration and implement it before we loose our children to health related complications from the lack of pure physical movement and horrible morals that media subjects them to.
The first step is to sit down and think about ways you can find to interact with your children. Such as playing hopscotch, finding lightening bugs, or maybe even a good ole fashion game of hide and seek. If your children find that you enjoy doing these activities the more likely they will be to participate.
Second Step, limit the amount of time that you allow your children to watch television. Children should be watching a maximum of 1 hour of television per day and they should be matching that with 1 hour of movement as well. If you can’t keep track of the time because of your busy schedule think about activating your parental control features on your television, get a kitchen timer, or even consider removing the televisions from your children’s rooms. That way they can only watch television in a family area, where you know what and how much t.v they are watching.
Third, if your children don’t have any neighborhood friends to play with, you need to help them find some. Have a neighborhood barbeque and invite your neighbors over so the kids can get to know each other, have a sleep over or swim party, consider joining or starting a neighborhood moms group ( added benefits for you), join a local YMCA, and the list can go on and on.
Fourth but definitely not least, be sure to talk with your children and get their views. Heck who knows they may just be thinking the same thing or even be able to provide you with ideas you hadn’t thought about. Plus it will definitely save you frustration in the long run.
Hopefully with these tips, the next time I take a stroll through my neighborhood I might just see a few children shooting some hoops or playing kickball.
Amanda Hamm is a mother of 4 children and owns www.mommyneighborhood , which is an award winning online community for mothers. They provide the information, resources, empowerment, and encouragement for moms just like you to succeed in the hardest job ever.
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