Readers — It’s Memorial Day in the States, the “unofficial beginning of summer.” Seeing this 2-min video of childhood from Britain in the ’50s, I feel tears going up my nose. How many kids would LOVE going outside and finding a field of friends to play with? And how few do, anymore? Free-Range Kids is [...]

Filed under: Miscellaneous, Other Places Other Eras, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds | 37 Comments »

Readers — These studies discussed at Inhabitots seem to support what a lot of us feel in our guts: That outdoor play is probably very key, and taking it away in favor of more “safety” or more “education” has caused us a number of ills. Ironically, our kids are LESS safe (from depression, diabetes, obesity…) [...]

Filed under: Miscellaneous, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds, Special needs | 47 Comments »

Hi Folks! This is a documentary done by Carla Reid and Franny Plumridge, two university students who were raised in the country 16,000 kilometres apart (Carla in Australia, Franny in Canada), but both encouraged by their parents to actively explore and experience their world. Their rural Free-Range upbringing and shared passion for filmmaking inspired them to [...]

Filed under: Crazy Parents, Miscellaneous, Other Places Other Eras, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds | 19 Comments »

Hi Folks! This lovely and simple idea comes to us from Heike Larson, who is the Vice President of Parent Outreach at LePort Schools, a group of six private Montessori schools in Orange County, CA. She writes about education in general and Montessori in particular on the LePort Schools blog. – L. . IF SUMMER IS FOR PLAYING, [...]

Filed under: Creating Community, Miscellaneous, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds | 47 Comments »

Readers: This comes to us from a Pennsylvania boy’s dad, who tells us it’s not a joke — it’s the sign right before you go out to the playground at his son’s after-care program at an elementary schoolI think the kids were insructed to write down the rules. Sure sounds fun! – L

Filed under: Helicopter Effect on Kids, Miscellaneous, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds | 58 Comments »

Hi Folks! This missive comes to us from Del Shannon, a civil engineer who designs and constructs (and sometimes even deconstucts) dams around the world. When not damming, he has written award-winning essays and children’s stories. His first children’s book was the serialized novella The Map, published in several newspapers. Captain Disaster  is his second, a novel. Del [...]

Filed under: Guest Post, Miscellaneous, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds, Studies and reports | 56 Comments »

Hi Folks! This lovely photo and note come to us from Paul Beard, who describes himself as growing up a Free-Range Kid “before we knew what it was.” He now lives with his wife and two high school kids in Seattle, where he “involuntarily retired from Internet technology to become COO/GM of domestic affairs, now [...]

Filed under: Creating Community, Miscellaneous, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds | 28 Comments »

Readers — I’m not going to make this a long post, because the craziness is pretty obvious and I think there will be an uproar against it. Suffice to say some Maryland schools have outlawed (at least for the moment) hugs, homemade cupcakes and parent volunteers pushing any child other than their own on the swings. [...]

Filed under: Breaking news, Miscellaneous, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies, Uber Safety | 92 Comments »

Hi Folks – A reader named Jaimie sent in this story, noting that “These kids wouldn’t have been able to help if they weren’t outside, or if they were afraid to talk to a woman they didn’t know!” What happened? An Atlanta-area mom named Susanna Rohm was in her living room when she noticed her [...]

Filed under: Breaking news, GOOD News, Miscellaneous, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds, Zingers and retorts | 37 Comments »

Folks, when I posted the letter from the dad whose 6-year-old was picked up by the police — and DETAINED — for walking solo in her neighborhood, one of you said that stories like this make you worried to let your kids go outside. Which is exactly the opposite reaction I was hoping for. I wrote [...]

Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Child Protective Services, Infantilizing young folk, Miscellaneous, Other Places Other Eras, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies, Walk to School / Stay Home Alone / Wait in Car | 62 Comments »