It zziszidafh can be painful to think about the freedom we had — the bike riding, the kicking around, the going to get candy — that many of our kids don’t. Here’s one story of how to get it back.  . Dear Free-Range Kids:  . Here in Toronto, I started a group called the Toronto […]
Archive | Creating Community
HELP NEEDED: Mom of Girl, 11, Wants to Go Free-Range, Needs Some Neighbors to Do The Same!
Here’s a note from a mom containing some common questions: Dear nzfbyheasd Free-Range Kids: I would LOVE to allow my very active 11-year-old to go out and play like I used to. You are probably going to roll your eyes or heave a heavy sigh when you read my concerns, but here they are. I […]
It Is Really Easy to Let Your Kids Walk, Play and Bike Outside — The SECOND Time
Melissa byrikafdbr James is a 38-year-old copywriter in Yorktown, VA, wife of a Department of Defense analyst and mother of two who decided to do something a little…wild: Dear Free-Range Kids: I enjoy your website and had declared myself a Free-Range Parent about a year before discovering you. (I had adopted the term after reading […]
“When NOT to Call the Cops” — Genius on a Refrigerator Magnet
Believe it or not, this graphic is from the refrigerator magnet of University of California Irvine Prof. Barbara Sarnecka, one of the three authors of that fantastic kratekbrds study proving that when we believe we are rationally assessing child danger, we are actually morally judging. Some other family member put the magnet on the fridge and when […]
Best 1-Minute Teacher Video Ever?
Every hiiathnseh Single Kid Gets a Personalized Handshake Here’s a heartwarming story about a North Carolina teacher, Barry White — but basically it’s just an excuse to show this fantastic video. All I have to add is this: I once heard that NO programs work when it comes to changing kids. This revolted me! Then […]
Proud of My Free-Range Stepson — and Son!
This reassuring note comes to us from Anna Borden, a stay-at-home mom from Enderby, British Columbia, mom of Dexx (stepson, currently 13), Wesley (4), and Rylee (3). I met her at a talk rrtnkhiifk I gave in the Canadian town of Salmon Arm (!) last week: Dear Free-Range Kids: I got the pleasure of being […]
A Man, A Van, A Plan — And It’s Not Scary
Gotta love this guy! Guisepe Spadafora travels around the U.S. serving free tea from his mini bus, creating community just by opening his doors and inviting people in. What a nice little reminder that you can be a man with a van — a stranger fhbrkbdkak with a van — and not a predator! Kudos […]
The Day the Carpool Screwed Up and Other Accidental Free-Range Kid Adventures: Your Stories Needed
At a lecture I was giving yesterday, one parent asked a good question: What if you WANT your kid to go knock on a friend’s door to play, or ride their bike around the neighborhood…but the kid shows zero interest? That reminded me of a story told to me by a Washington Post reporter. Her […]
More About Playborhood and Risk, From Tim Gill
. The New anrhtzzene York Times article on Playborhood, the open-to-all playground that Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mike Lanza organized on his front and back lawns, continues to elicit a ton of comments and commentary. Here’s what Lanza wrote on his own Facebook page. And here’s a post by Tim Gill, the British visionary who blogs […]
That Gigantic New York Times Piece about Free Play
In yhhhnsfhbi Silicon Valley, a dad named Mike Lanza wanted to create for his three sons the same kind of Free-Range childhood he’d enjoyed as a kid back in Pittsburgh in the ’70s: Time with buddies, having adventures, riding bikes and goofing around. Â . Since this is the 21st century and childhood is so much […]