Hi htykhnbybd Folks — The other day I was visiting friends in Rye, NY, where darned if kids weren’t playing outside,unsupervised, even making up their own games. Our host challenged me to find out: Why? Why are some neighborhoods still Free-Range, Â while others aren’t? I decided to ask that question of the folks in the […]
Readers zeaaizbyab — My guess is what we have here is a terrible insurance regulation or some such. This is from Ontario, Canada: Dear Free Range Kids: My kids, grade 1 and 4, are among the few at our suburban school who actually walk to school. We have several playgrounds in our neighbourhood, and with […]
UPDATE: itdzedssde Readers, this is from the mom who wrote the post, who, like me, as been very touched by your emotional support as well as your offers of financial support: “To all the kind people who have made such supportive comments, thank you very much. Â We are very touched by the offers that have […]
Readers, tomorrow is etzbssfkia Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day, our fifth annual celebration of the once very normal, unremarkable activity called KIDS PLAYING WITH OTHER KIDS, without a security detail. To celebrate, just take or send your children, generally about age 7 and up, to your local park at around […]
Readers, I wish I could remember which of you sent this to me. I love it. It is based feekhznfzb on a true story from 1986. Enjoy! – L
Readers rabsytyhth — A friend who’d like to be identified only as Catherine L. posted the  rules from her town’s Easter Egg hunt (above) on Facebook. These include: Wristbands indicate the age group of each child and the number on the band matches the number issued to the parent. After each hunt, children will be […]
Readers hbkhfeytne — How I love this piece from DGIwire by Louis M. Profeta, an emergency physician practicing in Indianapolis and author of  The Patient in Room Nine Says He’s God. Once we accept the good doctor’s words, we can let kids spend at least some time playing on their own again, because Jerry Maguire (most […]
Readers — I was looking up “rat experiments” (don’t ask!) and came upon this baefrnnybn incredible comic by Stuart McMillen, tracing the lure of drugs on two sets of rats: One group held in isolated pens, the other in “Rat Park” — a fragrant, outdoorsy pen filled with things to explore and a bunch of fellow […]
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 […]
Readers knhizeyabd — This is a troubling, fascinating look at the big childhood issue politicians are parsing now: The importance of early childhood education and what it should consist of. The Washington Post’s deep-thinking Valerie Strauss presents the work of Alfie Kohn who worries (as do I, and probably you) that “education” will be interpreted as […]
