The Philosopher Dad has a link to a great article about kids and playing outdoors. I think that I had a pretty similar experience to philosopher dad. I had a BMX and a rather large wooded area all around the house where I grew up. I seem to remember riding through woods and exploring the trails unsupervised, discovering all sorts of things and places. The woods seemed huge and interminable - they probably weren't. I learned all sorts of things from raft building to following trails and where to find ant hills.
Since coming to live in a real city I've always worried that the kinds of experiences with the outdoors my children will have will not be nearly as deep, exciting and memorable as the ones that I had. Though there are parks and some very nice green spaces in our neighbourhood they are not as accessible to the kid and her/his bike as the ones that I played in. Moreover there are safety issues regarding very busy streets and letting children play unsupervised in the city. I hope that my daughter has similar opportunities to explore, but I worry that they will be restricted to outings to parks and the country. Though I'm sure such outings would be great - I enjoyed the ones that I took with my parents - I believe there is something to be said about the unsupervised wanderings and discoveries that are made without the watchful gaze of a parent.
The Philosopher Dad: No Child Left Inside
Leave No Child Inside | by Richard Louv | Orion Magazine March-April 2007
Technorati Tags: Parenting, outdoors, recreation, cities, playing
Since coming to live in a real city I've always worried that the kinds of experiences with the outdoors my children will have will not be nearly as deep, exciting and memorable as the ones that I had. Though there are parks and some very nice green spaces in our neighbourhood they are not as accessible to the kid and her/his bike as the ones that I played in. Moreover there are safety issues regarding very busy streets and letting children play unsupervised in the city. I hope that my daughter has similar opportunities to explore, but I worry that they will be restricted to outings to parks and the country. Though I'm sure such outings would be great - I enjoyed the ones that I took with my parents - I believe there is something to be said about the unsupervised wanderings and discoveries that are made without the watchful gaze of a parent.
The Philosopher Dad: No Child Left Inside
Leave No Child Inside | by Richard Louv | Orion Magazine March-April 2007
Technorati Tags: Parenting, outdoors, recreation, cities, playing
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