When I was little, summer wasn’t filled with planned outings and various art projects to keep us busy. Immediately after breakfast, we were unceremoniously ushered outside and told to play until lunchtime. There were no cute animal shapes made from fruits and vegetables to entice us to eat healthier. We got a sandwich or soup and were told to go back outside until dinner. We had to learn to make our own fun. Staying inside was only for rainy days.
We made homemade ramps for our bikes -- albeit not the safest thing to do -- but it was a different time back then. We also jumped rope, played tag, played with jacks and, when we got bored with all those things, we made up other games. Sometimes we would tilt the wheelbarrow over on its handles to sit in it and look up at the clouds to see what shapes we could see. We spent hours in the woods right above our house building forts and digging for buried treasure. We never found any, but we had fun digging in the dirt. There was never a shortage of things to do.
In today’s world, it seems children are plugged into a device. There’s something unnatural about that. With everything opening back up, unplug your kids and send them out to play. I know it’s a different time and you can’t leave your children unattended, but you can sit out with them while they invent magical castles and fight dragons. Whatever you’ve got going on can wait. The happiest children are those that can amuse themselves and use their imagination to while away the long days of summer. Childhood is a short season. Imagine all the untapped possibilities for future generations from children who are encouraged to make-believe.
;)
