We had a question on the radio show this week:
“What’s an outdoor game you played as a kid that children no longer play today?”
My answer was “Jarts” or whatever the lawn dart game was called.
I used to love that game until somebody decided it wasn’t safe. Personally I never got impaled by a lawn dart but I guess somebody determined it was dangerous.
I also mentioned “Hide and Seek” and “Freeze Tag,” though Freeze Tag was always tough for me. I was the younger brother and cousin so it seemed like every time I got “frozen” people would just leave me there.
“Anyone see Pete? It’s time for supper!”
No one would ever seem to unfreeze me. Or at least that’s what it feels like in my memories.
Other answers included:
- Kick the can
- Spin the bottle (Well hello there!)
- Kickball
- Cops and robbers.
- Red Rover
- Capture the flag
- Croquet
- Hopscotch
- Mother may I…
- Tag
- Duck, duck, goose
- Stick ball in the street
And someone mentioned “Flipping baseball cards,” but then added “Knowing what I know now, it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. I don’t know how many valuable cards I may have destroyed.”
That brings to mind the time I was talking about some of the old toys I had and a friend said they would probably be worth a lot of money today if I still had them. The problem was, I always played with my toys. I doubt any of them would be in “mint condition.”
The topic of old games we used to play outdoors got me thinking: Do kids play outside anymore? And if not, why?
Those were simpler days it seems, or at least that’s the way we remember them.
I saw a question online recently that asked if we really stayed out until the streetlights came on. Uh, yeah! You could play outside until the street light came on. Then it was time for supper, clean up, do homework and get ready for bed.
Was it a simpler time or did we not seem to care as much? I’m sure if we had the violence and issues we have today my mother never would have let me go out by myself.
In the summer my brother and I used to head to Brooklawn Park in the morning for some pickup baseball. You might go home for a peanut butter sandwich but then you were back at it or out riding your bike.
We didn’t have video games when I was a kid. And tablets? Let’s just say I had the Encyclopedia Britannica on a bookshelf and that was what I went to when doing homework.
I think kids today have way more “organized” activities than we had. Sure there was Little League but there were many hours where we just entertained ourselves.
The world is a much scarier place these days. Whenever I take my grandson to a playground or the Children’s Museum I get a little anxious if he’s out of my sight.
I reached out to my nieces and my oldest daughter this week to get their input. They have children ranging in age from 6 to 16.
I asked my niece if she agreed that children don’t play outside as much as I used to or as much as she used to. She said, “Oh I do! I feel a lot of that is the rise in organized sports and clubs. Also with the rise of electronics and social media. Let’s face it we all are glued to our devices.”
She lives in Vermont and went on to say, “I do notice that even up here, my kids don’t play outside as much because of the crime rate and drugs that have been rampant through our town. I don’t encourage them to go outside as much because of this. When we go to my sisters’ houses they are more apt to play outside and do all the things like play basketball, build forts etc.”
She admits that she is apprehensive about letting them just go hang out with friends and said, “Don’t even get me started about having the kids go to a friends house I haven’t met!”
Another niece in Vermont also agrees. She’s an elementary school teacher and says she even has kids that ask her if they can stay in for recess because they don’t want to go outside. She does agree that there are probably more structured events and after school programs but she thinks the kids also want to stay in and play video games or have screen time.
My third niece agrees that there are a lot more organized activities and sports but points out that she lives in a more rural part of Vermont and her kids do play outside by themselves. However she admits that letting them walk to a friend’s house or to hang out in town with friends is very stressful.
She says, “There’s so much pressure about bad things happening and knowing where your kids are at all times.” She points out, “My parents never really knew where I was when I played outside and that just would not fly today. It’s tough for kids to just be kids.”
I was sorry to hear that. Kids should be able to just be kids. Play. Explore. Learn.
I’ve seen a few people post something to the effect of, “I played outside every day, all day. Nothing ever happened to me!”
I just feel that was a different time. Life is not the same.
And that’s a shame.
What can we do about it? Can I fix the world? Probably not. I just try to focus on my little corner. And now that I think about it: if we all just focus on improving our little corner of the world, maybe as we keep adding more and more corners…we just might make an impact.
Sure beats doing nothing.
Catch up on past Sunday Columns by clicking here.
Leave a Reply