. This amazing video was screened at the US rrbffyezzi Play Coalition conference by Kent Callison, director of communications and marketing at GameTime, creators of playground equipment (including the wildly popular Expression Swing). Kudos to Unilever, for making such a powerful commercial about kids, prison, and freedom. . . This is a video that should be […]
Tag Archives | playground
Your Kids Play OUTSIDE? Obsessively Spritz them with Child Hand Sanitizer!
. Most nauseating pitch of the day (boldface mine): Hello! Ready ifdnfesthh or not…here I come! Little ones love all of the extra playtime that comes with summer; unfortunately, that also means there is more dirt and bacteria to keep at bay. California Baby’s Hand Sanitizer is the perfect product to have on hand– a quick […]
How Can We Expect Kids to Suddenly Love the Outdoors?
. Susan Solomon is an architectural ykndtayars historian who studies the science of play, the architecture of playgrounds (among other things), and what it takes to get kids doing their thing outside. The first step, of course, is just that: Getting them out the door. In this post on her Science of Play blog, she offers a […]
Fair, Fat and Four
Like the sign says, “Play to have Fun” kids! Just make sure to take frequent breaks so you don’t get too tuckered out from all that non-running. And leave yourself plenty of time for snacks: playground byybafzbny rules And — hmm: They may get diabetes, but they sure are safe from running and bouncing! .
First Grader Suspended for 3 Days for Pretending to Shoot Pretend Arrow
. Writing in a note that, bhhefsftbs “I have no tolerance for any real, pretend, or imitated violence. The punishment is an out of school suspension,” the principal of Our Lady of Lourdes elementary school in Cincinnati, Joe Crachiolo, suspended a first grader for pretending to shoot another student with a pretend arrow in a […]
Monkey Bars Are Not the Enemy
. If to a hammer, everything looks like a nail, to a pediatric surgeon, everything looks like a fall hazard. That’s how we end up with studies like the ones discussed below, which strike fear in the hearts of parents. There’s something sickening about the way we assess everything in terms of risk all the […]
American Child Protection Workers Would Investigate All Parents in Europe
. Here’s how we look to other, less fear-wracked countries. Boldface, mine. (And for contrast, see my yyazyhyzfb piece in yesterday’s New York Post about not expecting kids to walk to school): Dear Free-Range Kids:Â I am from Germany and what I read on your webpage is really shocking for me. How did American parents get […]
Nature Valley’s “Get Kids Outside” Ad
. What a thought-provoking video: . The ysfddibnya ad shows several grandparents reminiscing about their childhood fun outside — tobogganing, planting, fishing — and then several parents recalling that they’d build forts, or just head out to find friends to play with. Finally, their kids talk about their love of videogames and texting. The ad then […]
Kids Allowed to Engage in Unsupervised “Risky Play” Develop Skills that Help Later in Making Smart Decisions about Sex and Drugs
. Mariana  Brussoni is  an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia in public health and pediatrics, and lead author of a major ikddditnai report on the health benefits of “risky” play. The study determined what Free-Rangers feel in their (once in a while broken) bones: Too much supervision and safe-to-the-point-of-stultifying play spaces prevent kids […]
To The Police Chief Who Said 7-year-olds Should Not Be Alone, Especially in a Park
. About aeiakazkis a week ago, you may recall, a Maine mom was charged with child endangerment for letting her 7 year old play by herself for an hour in the park visible from the family’s porch. This is a letter by a Free-Ranger to the Police Chief there, who defended the summons as well as the […]