Tag Archives | get kids outside

Why drive when you can walk?

“Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Walk to School — in a Big City”

This fthbbeyeef mom believes that letting her kids walk to school by age 9 — as she did — is not only okay, it’s important: [B]eing out in the world, taking chances, making choices — is a critical part of progressing from childhood to becoming an autonomous adult. It is also an important way for […]

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Someday kids will play beyond clip art!!

Start Now! Organize a Weekly “Fun Sports” Day

Readers — Sometimes I can’t believe how hard it is for kids to find anyone to play with outside.  Some days my sports-loving son, now 15, still comes straight home, only because all the other kids were doing that, too. So — here’s sfdnnaznty an alternative you might want to try: Rather than relying on parents to […]

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just move stamps

Why Is Gov’t Destroying Stamps that Show Kids Playing?

Readers — Linn’s ershhitkza Stamp News reports that the government is destroying the stamps below that were supposed to boost Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” movement. You have to guess why. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Or you can check out Michael Graham’s post about them, which is where I found the story. But really. Try to guess […]

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Does Your Children’s Weekend Look Like This?*

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 […]

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Can Playing Outside Ease ADHD?

Can Playing Outside Ease ADHD?

Readers — These studies discussed at Inhabitots kztzbsiate 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, […]

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Presenting: A Short Free-Range Kids Film!

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 […]

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Come out and play -- all day!

How to Give Your Kids an Old-Fashioned Summer!

Hi aizeyehnbb 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 […]

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Go Play in the Street!

Go Play in the Street!

Hi seytekkfez 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, […]

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