Kids drop out of sports because they aren’t having fun. There’s too much time, or pressure, or it simply is too similar to the rest of their day: More adult instruction. Let Grow’s content guru, Stacy Tornio, loved sports as a kid and is raising two athletic children. They moped when COVID put an end to their teams — but in watching the season haltingly start up again, Stacy had a revelation: Because all bets were off — no tournaments, no normal drills, no parents screaming in the stands — her kids were having MORE fun than before the pandemic.…
Author: lskenazy
On my latest “Supervision Not Required” podcast, I talk with “Range” author David Epstein who studies the zig-zag path to fulfillment/creativity. He says that pushing kids to specialize — or even READ! — early does not help them in the long run (and may even hurt them). What DOES help? Lots of experiences and exposure to different ideas, possibilities, and activities throughout their entire life. (His discussion of what type of people win the Nobel Prize is fascinating!) I LOVED talk to this guy and I loved his book! Click here to go to Let Grow where you can listen.
Something about dealing with a deadly virus seems to be making the rest of us want to conquer weird science, by nurturing a sourdough starter, or fermenting food (just made my first sauerkraut!), or growing mushrooms (I have a neighbor and son doing this). But few of us can hold a toadstool to 12-year-old Te’Lario Watkins, who started a mushroom business in his Ohio basement. We’ve got his story over at Let Grow. Click here and be inspired!
Want a lovely assortment of bookmarks for your kids? We’ve got a bunch of free ones to print out over at Let Grow. Click here and send them outside with a good book (and a baked sweet potato. That’s how my mother-in-law spent her summers).
It’s always a good time to watch this: Dr. Peter Gray’s TEDx talk on the decline of free play and its consequences (anxiety, depression). Click here to see it. And for some solutions, visit LetGrow.org. Schools & parents can start Let Grow Play Clubs where kids make their own fun and solve their own spats. Noodle around on the site and you’ll find lots about the importance of unstructured play and how to bring it back!
What does it take to tie-dye a shirt? Our video and lesson at Let Grow explain what you’ll need: 1 – Some plain white tees and colorful dyes 2 – Rubber bands 3 – An incredibly cute 5-year-old* The mom who wrote the accompanying essay just happens to be Tracy Tomasso, the exec director of Let Grow, and as she notes: This tie-dye project ended up being a perfect lesson in independence and failure. And not just for Fiona—it was good for me, too. Often when we do things together as parent and child—especially when we’re in the more typical…
So I’d never heard of “Fairy Gardens.” Turns out they are the garden equivalent of a doll house: Mini backyards with mini amenities (swings, see-saws, ponds) and lots of pretty flowers and plants. Over at Let Grow we’ve got a 1-minute video explaining how to make the different elements. If I were a kid, it would get me pretty psyched to create a whole world for the fairies who, it seems, are about 1/50th the size of us humans. (Which means that even one of them would have trouble dancing on the head of a pin.) No matter. The project…
Handy, smart and fun! The kit includes: *Instructions for lots of classic games like “Red Light/Green Light” *A list of ideas for kids to do when they’re bored *A one-pager explaining why free play — play without adults organizing the activities — is great for kids *And a lovely yellow “Let Them Play Zone” poster to print out. Click here!
This 4-year-old can! At one and a half Abby was going on mile-long hikes with her mom, who treasures the girl’s spunk and love of nature, and bear poop. (Something some of us wouldn’t recognize if it was roaring us in the face.) Now she’s a seasoned hiker who can go 6 miles at a stretch. Video below, obviously. And if you want to read her story, click here for her mom’s post on Let Grow!
We’ve got great advice on encouraging — and not ruining) — free, unstructured play. What’s more, we’ve got a cool list of the different types of play kids engage in. I, for one, didn’t realize there’s a difference between Symbolic Play, Creative Play and Dramatic Play. Now I do! Read up, over at Let Grow, by clicking here!