Simple Play

I took that picture on the beach of a small Fijian island. The amazing villagers were happy living in their grass huts and small, cinder block homes with tin roofs. They attended their small church every Sunday and had one of the best choirs you'd hear anywhere. On top of it all, they lived in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Living so far away from everything, there were plenty of things they didn't have. Television. Playstation. Tablet computers. Plastic toys of all shapes and sizes.

Wait, what?

If they don't have all that expensive stuff we use to keep our kids busy, then how on earth do they keep theirs from being bored?

Simple.

They don't view it as their job to entertain their kids and instead let them entertain themselves. This boy is pushing around a curved stick, sort of like a small ski, with a longer stick. Plenty of the younger kids did the same, running up and down the beach, leaving lines that criss-crossed on the sand. Between this improvised toy and playing rugby on the beach, the children of Malakati village learned to occupy themselves just fine.

That's it.

Kids don't need a ton of stuff.

And sometimes simple is best. 

Mights and Won'ts and Wills and Don'ts

Hey, look up here!
Up in the tree!
Have you ever once seen 
a better place you could be?

But, wait! There is risk!
A wrong step I might take.
And with a slip from up here
one of my bones I could break.

I might get dust in my eye
or a bruise on my shin
or fall in the dirt
with a scrape on my chin.

And if you say "Don't!" 
I won't risk, I won't dare.
I won't learn what I'm made of
while I'm climbing up there.

I won't build my muscles
or learn how to balance
or find out if climbing 
is one of my talents.

Say yes and I'll grin.
Oh, how I will climb.
I will stretch and I'll pull
And be up in no time.


Above the heights I once feared
On high limbs I'll sit.
I will shout from the branches
"Hey world! look at me! I did it!' 

I ask all you grownups,
please, please don't hover.
How can a girl grow
with helicopters above her?

Please don't tell me "Be careful!"
"Don't take risks or get dirty!" 
Should I also stay home
at least till I'm thirty?

Let me make choices,
I need room to be free.
Let me stand up and say
To the world "I am me!"

Pizza Made by Little Hands

Some of the best recipes are the kinds our kids came make with little to no help from a grown up. Or that we could make as poor college students with no money and just a few things left in the refrigerator. This recipe fits the bill. Both toddlers and college kids can feel a certain sense of accomplishment after creating their very own pizza.

* One of the top rules for cooking on a budget is to use the same ingredient for multiple meals. 

  

The Ingredients

1. Pizza or pasta sauce. We're a pasta-loving family, so either in a full jar in the cabinet or a half of one in the fridge, red sauce is almost always around.
2. Mozzarella cheese. Whether for salads or lasagna, shredded cheese usually here. 
3. Tortilla wraps. Tacos, peanut butter sandwiches, fajitas, salad wraps. The possibilities are endless.

Of course you can add any topping you'd like. For a bit of a different taste you can use salsa instead of red sauce and switch to cheddar cheese.  

 Here's How it Went

I poured some pasta sauce into a bowl and did the same with a large handful of shredded cheese. I gave these to Norah, along with the tortilla on a plate. 

She was free to spread the sauce around on her own... 

 ...sprinkle the cheese all over...
















...steal some tastes...





 
 







...watch me slide it carefully into the 450 degree oven... 






 










...and gobble up the finished pizza.

Enjoy!

Natural Play in the Suburbs, Part II

This post is all about loose parts.





And no, I don't mean the nuts and bolts you have left over after putting together that new play set.

In the realm of child development--more specifically that pertaining to natural play--loose parts are items kids can play with that have no set use. For example, a keyboard is not a loose part. It's meant for music. The same thing goes for slides, bikes, rocking horses, the list goes on. A lot of these toys are great, wonderful for a child's development, and worth the time and money to get--they just usually have a set use.

Loose parts do a better job of encouraging imagination and creativity. The outdoors is full of loose parts. In my opinion, sticks are the ultimate example. They can be magic wands, hiking sticks, writing utensils, swords, guns, building materials for forts and rafts, and something to use to play with the dogs (and more). Grass, flowers, leaves, rocks--they can all be loose parts.


If you try, you can find loose parts inside. In our experience, tupperware is a good one. It can be used for building, for music, for sorting. The colander proved to be a favorite. I'm glad we had two, because Norah was always using the other as a stool, a hat, a drum, a basket, or something to scoot across the floor on. And then there's a box. Need I say more? Getting together a small collection of loose parts inside does wonders on a rainy day. Some other possibilities: wrapping paper tubes, couch cushions, legos (sort of), a sand tray with different items inside. Can you think of any others?

 

Another Gray Hair

Anyone who has worked with groups of kids knows they learn from watching each other. Whether for good or bad, it's there. Norah takes this watching to the next level.

Norah, this sort of defeats the whole run and play reason for coming to the park...

She can hardly take her eyes off the other kids or parents on the playground. It doesn't matter if she's walking up stairs, running on the pavement, or standing right at the top of some fun thing like a slide or wobbly bridge, completely oblivious to the children behind her wanting their turn, she's watching. Sometimes it does get a little weird...

Norah, watch where you're going, you're going to fall off the steps.

  I worry she's going to hurt herself, either from not paying attention to what she's doing (which almost happened today--well, everyday) or trying something the big kids were doing (which also almost happened earlier this week). It was a very steep corkscrew slide with a low side that went around twice before leveling out at the bottom. She saw a little boy going down and thought she would too.

That isn't creepy at all, Norah Grace.

Now, I usually don't go up on the playground equipment with Norah unless it's still too dangerous with me following her along on the ground where she's usually within reach. I was standing next to the slide.

Had she sat on the farthest side, it would have been fine. Fast, only slightly dangerous, but fine. However, she sat on the inside, which would have given her a near-vertical drop about as far as I am tall.

"I think she's about to take a tumble," said a guy whose son was playing on the same slide. Apparently, we were on the same train of thought. I climbed the slide and we slid down together, safe and sound.

Norah, just because you saw the four year old boy doing that doesn't mean you need to.
You seem to forget he fell halfway down the slide. 

I can't take my eyes off this little girl. She has no fear. She gives me more and more gray (and white) hairs every day. 

Natural Play in the Suburbs, Part I

Believe it or not, playing outside isn't just fun for kids and relief time for parents. The fields we ran through, the trees we climbed, the streams we played in--they all helped out our development in essential ways without our realization. Kids that enjoy unstructured/semi structured natural play outside on a regular basis can focus better in school, are more creative, have better balance, and are more physically fit than their video game playing, tv watching counterparts. Don't just take my word for it, read The Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv. It's a great book that will change the way you approach working with children and even raise your own kids.

Children need that natural play, even if they're either too young to go running on their own through the forest or simply don't have a forest near them to go running through. Once I found out I would be moving into a subdivision (suburbs) I started planning how Norah could get that natural play without leaving our yard. Here's the first of (hopefully) quite a few play elements to come over the next few years.

This is something to help Norah Grace out on the balance, strength and focus categories. How to do this: find a longish, straight log and cut it into varying lengths (or find yourself a willing father-in-law with a chainsaw to help you out). Keep the cuts straight and the pieces short enough that you don't have to worry too much about them falling over. 

The log sections are close enough so Norah can step from one to the other. She isn't quite ready to do it on her own, so
I hold her hand while she walks on the log sections.

Once you you've gathered a small collection of log sections find a clear, level area to arrange them in. Make sure they don't wobble and send the little ones in for some fun. Once we're into our new house I'm thinking I might lay out some sand and bury the bases of the logs so they're extra steady and Norah will have a safer place to land if/when she falls.

Just watch a little kid while they play outside--there's more going on than meets the eye. In this picture, Norah is learning
 about nature by examining a mushroom growing on the log, working on her balance by standing on this small area, and
 is building leg strength by squatting and standing and keeping balanced. It gets better! Just think of all the ways
playing outside is benefiting her different senses. 

Something I should mention: if done right, childhood carries with it a certain amount of risk. It is up to our judgement as parents and childcare/education professionals to decide how much risk the child is ready for. On my blog I'll be sharing projects I've created for my own daughter and take responsibility for her safety. It would be great if others took my ideas and made them their own, but in doing so you are assuming responsibility for the safety of the kids who use it. 

Have fun!