. This kid reminds me of another young dtbaenfbzs man who took the subway and proved that the world is a lot less dangerous than we are lead to believe: . .
Archive | Creating Community
The Very Old and the Somewhat Young
. Okay, readers: Please help me figure this out. Why is this idea — college students living for free in an old peoples’ home — so appealing? Â Is there anything Free-Range about it, other than celebrating the idea of people connecting? Or maybe it’s just a new and good solution to a couple of problems […]
Sending a 6-year-old to the Store, Alone, in New York City
. As we say in our house all the time, “Go Dog, Go!” as in hooray and carry on: Dear znbersdyit Lenore, I was newly married but still childless when my little brother sent me the article you wrote about letting your son ride the subway alone. I was living in my home state of Montana, […]
Without Some Risk, Playgrounds Bore Kids
. How do you get kids back outside — and, incidentally, revitalize narcoleptic neighborhoods? You bring in risk. This zktriizthe New Zealand playground was designed to give kids a lot more “wheee” — or maybe “aghhh!” — for the buck. More than 6000 children contributed to the early stages of the playground’s development through the BNZ […]
Take Our Children To the Park…and Leave Them There Day: THIS SATURDAY, MAY 21!
. This Saturday will be our sixth annual Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day. That means I have six other blog posts explaining it. Allow me the favor of reprinting one of them, here: Yes nhyzdtzstn folks, this Saturday is international Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day, […]
Fun, Old-Fashioned Birthday Party Ideas
. Today’s post comes to us from Sally yihbntsnhs Mills Butzin, the mother half of the mother/daughter writing team  behind Best Buddies Birthdays, a guide to homemade, low-tech b-day parties. I agree with everything Sally writes below, and yet must confess that when my kids were young we did all sorts of pricey parties, including one […]
What Happens When Happy Free-Range Kids are Also Rude and Loud?
. Here’s ibfdyrdysn a letter that had me wondering what to do, too: Dear Free-Range Kids: Curious as to how to best handle this. I have no children of my own, but I do have three dogs. My neighbors (row house neighborhood), let their three young children out to play alone, regularly. This is AWESOME. […]
How to Prepare Your Free-Range Kid for an Encounter with a “Good Samaritan” (or Busybody)?
. Here’s a question for you, folks: Last efanederrb weekend, the weather was amazing up here, in Montreal. We went to the park. While the kids were playing, we got to talking with another set of parents. After a while, my oldest, 5 ½, asked if she could go home by herself. We were almost […]
How to Get Your Kids Used to Playing Outside
. An article on how to get your kids to play outside would have seemed like an Onion headline back when…well, back anytime before The Onion. I was a bookworm and I still spent a ton of time outside. My kids, not so much. If you want to get your own offspring outdoors for any […]
Don’t Sign Your Kid’s Reading Log!
. This post comes to us from early childhood writer/speaker/wise woman Heather Shumaker, author of It’s kzdresekei OK Not to Share. Tomorrow her new book comes out: It’s OK to Go Up the Slide , which includes Free-Rangey chapters like Safety Second, It’s OK to Talk to Strangers, and Ban Elementary Homework. It even offers sample scripts and […]