Don’t forget importance of play
Leanne Italie
The Associated Press
March 16, 2008
Does your teen turn on the sarcasm when she’s kicked off
the computer? Is your grade-schooler asking for more
quality time with the TV?
It could be your kids are overprogrammed and
overstimulated in these hectic, wired times, and your
family could stand to be unplugged. Tossing the
electronics, if only temporarily, provides your kids
with something in short supply – your undivided
attention.
So nix the phone, shut down the computer and turn off
the television for a “family slowdown.” It may be hard
to find the time, but it’s worth it, said Susan Linn,
author of the new book “The Case for Make Believe:
Saving Play in a Commercialized World.”
“Remember that your child is going to be grappling with
electronic media and the things it sells for the rest of
their lives,” said Linn, a psychiatry instructor at
Harvard Medical School. “They’ll be better equipped to
cope if they have lots of experience enjoying their own
ability to make things happen, using their own curiosity
as an impetus for actively exploring the world.”
Pamela Pensock, a working single mother of twin
12-year-old boys in Brooklyn, N.Y., couldn’t agree more.
She provided a virtually TV-free, computer-free life for
her boys when they were younger and says she can see the
benefits now that they’re in sixth grade.
“They still play with action figures, interact on a
creative level when their friends come over,” said
Pensock, a freelance writer and editor. “I give my kids
little talks about some of their peers, about ‘Well,
isn’t it strange that all they can do is watch TV?’ Peer
pressure is big in middle school and we do have a TV
now, but the funny thing is they don’t even watch it.”
On a recent rainy afternoon, my 8-year-old daughter and
twin girls she knows from school made their own snack
with an ice cream-making ball they filled up with
ingredients and rolled around on the living room rug.
There was measuring, mixing, pounding ice cubes with a
hammer and plenty of physical activity for the three
girls and the twins’ 10-year-old brother.
“It was nice because we got to pass it around and shake
it. Everybody got a turn. Then we got to eat it!” said
my daughter, a third-grader.
Of course, there are times when even the most attentive
parents are grateful to the creators of DVDs and video
recorders. But quieter activities that kids can do
mostly themselves with exhausted grownups nearby can
replace electronic baby sitters.
Dig into the desk for rubberbands and have them start a
rubberband ball. Teach them old-fashioned hand string
games, get them to think up a story and draw their own
illustrations to go with it, pack travel puzzle books
with enough variety to keep fresh on the road or suggest
freestyle origami that encourages kids to be inventive.
Whatever suits your family, Linn urges parents to start
young. In good weather, a family hike in the woods or a
walk around the neighborhood can clear everybody’s heads
and provide a quieter outdoor alternative to noisy and
chaotic playgrounds. Visit the pet shop, the firehouse
and the resident cat at the corner store as you stroll.
For youngsters learning how to identify money, grab your
spare change jar, toss the contents on the dining room
table and let them create sorting and counting games of
their own.
“Don’t buy into the ‘educational’ baby video and
software scam,” said Linn, who lives in Boston and is
the director and co-founder of the nonprofit Campaign
for a Commercial-Free Childhood. “There’s no credible
evidence that screen time is beneficial to babies and
toddlers, and some evidence suggests that it might be
harmful.”
On the Net
American Academy of Pediatrics:
aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;107/2/423
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood:
www.commercialfreechildhood.org
Ideas for unplugging your kids: www.familyeducation.com
The Case For Make-Believe: Saving Play in Our
Commercialized World
by Susan Linn
The New Press, 288 pages, $24.95 Ideas for a special
family slowdowns
PUPPETS: They can be made on the fly out of a variety of
textured, colorful materials. Children as young as 2 can
make puppets out of old socks and cotton balls or
recycled pantyhose secured by hair bands. Use markers to
decorate, and sew on button eyes if you have the time.
Use a cardboard box as a stage and assign every member
of the family a puppet for a performance of your child’s
creation.
BUILDING BRICKS: Plastic clip-together bricks like Legos
can be purchased by the bucket or in specialty sets.
Parents need only sit and build at their kids’
instruction.
DRAMATIC READ-ALOUDS: Let your child pick a favorite
book and choose a family member to be narrator,
preferably the one who does funny and/or scary voices
the best. Let other family members dress up as
characters in the book and act out their parts.
SEW A FAMILY QUILT: Quilting doesn’t have to be hard.
You can buy batting in bulk at low cost. Send your kids
on a treasure hunt for old blankets, nightgowns, linens
and other fabric scraps around the house. Sew squares
together by hand as a group or take turns on a machine.
Your goal is not necessarily to produce heirloom
quality.
PUT OUT A FAMILY NEWSPAPER: Assign somebody news of the
day, the sports beat, movie reviews and advertising.
Give each family member two pages, but leave room for
ads that can be glued into the paper. You can base your
paper on real events or make it up! Spread the work over
time or operate on a “deadline” of an hour or two.
Staple or stitch together.
HAIR SALON: Grab every hair band and bauble in the house
and haul them over to the dining room table so your
daughter can plop you in a chair and make over your
look. Dad’s hair is just as much fun. Brother can fill
up a spray bottle and be water spritzer, prepare a
pretend salon “bill” when it comes time to pay and snap
a photo for posterity to share in the fun.