‘Where Do the Children Play?’ October Screenings

Providence Children's Museum is partnering to present two free public screenings of "Where Do the Children Play?" in October. This provocative documentary examines an issue of growing concern among pediatricians, mental health experts, educators and environmentalists: more and more children are growing up with limited time and opportunities for unstructured play, especially outdoors. An audience discussion will follow each screening, led by Museum director Janice O'Donnell and other panelists. The film will be shown:

Wednesday, October 3 • 6:30 - 8:30 PM 

The Providence Athenaeum 

251 Benefit Street • Providence, RI 02903

Space is limited. RSVP to Lindsay Shaw at lshaw@provath.org or (401) 421-6970 ext. 17. 

Other panelists include Linda Atamian, co-founder of The Mariposa Center; Dr. Jane Dennison, pediatrician; and Julia Steiny, education columnist and director of the Youth Restoration Project. Presented by the Providence Athenaeum, Providence Children's Museum and the Partnership for Providence Parks.

Thursday, October 11 • 6:30 - 8:30 PM 

Blackstone Valley Visitor Center 

175 Main Street • Pawtucket, RI 02860

Space is limited. RSVP to Jane Blanchette at blanchettej@psdri.net or (401) 729-6293. 

Other panelists include John Blais, Pawtucket Parks and Recreation director; Dr. Elizabeth Lange, pediatrician and former RI American Academy of Pediatrics chapter president; and Cindy Larson, LISC senior program officer. Presented by Pawtucket Child Opportunity Zone (COZ), Pawtucket Citizens Development Corporation, Pawtucket Parks and Recreation Department, and Providence Children’s Museum.



Also join the conversation about the importance of play on the Museum's community discussion listserv, "PlayWatch: Connecting the Community to Promote Children's Play."  To read the PlayWatch archives or to join the list, visit www.PlayWatch.org.

Where Do the Children Play? – URI

Last week was our 10th screening and discussion of the documentary “Where Do the Children Play?,” this time at the University of Rhode Island. The conversations are always so rich, but this time we heard some interesting new comments and perspectives. Some highlights:

• Museum director Janice O’Donnell talked about how, with our new play spaces, “We’ve been noticing kids’ self-directed play, especially outside. Kids still do know how to play, we just have to let them.”

• Sue Warford, URI Child Development Center director, said she views the film through a lens of what happens in classrooms: “The amount of time for play in classrooms has diminished … why are we taking this away from kids?”

• Jeanine Silversmith started RI Families in Nature 2 years ago, inspired by Richard Louv’s “Last Child in the Woods,” and it’s grown to 74 people on the last hike. The easy monthly hikes “give parents a break because everyone is looking out for everyone else’s kids – it takes the pressure off.”

• Su Rubinoff of Meadowbrook Waldorf School talked about how important it is for kids to connect with nature and shared a story of 7 kids (ages 3-7) who spent a long time working together to make a pool for a frog – showing cooperation and social navigating. “Kids are entitled today – they don’t have to wait, to share. There’s not just one computer, one car, one phone … Society is teaching kids to be isolated and entitled, so we have to work extra hard to put them in situations where they’re working together.”

• A professor of Human Development echoed that idea: “We’re raising a population of adults who are egocentric – not kind and patient.” Sue: “There’s a direct relationship to the way expectations are being delivered in schools right now … we’re expecting too much think-in-a-box mentality, too much conformity – we need to nurture compassionate collaboration and problem solving.”

• Janice offered a counter argument: schools were also regimented in the 50s “but we had a real life – after school, on Saturdays, in the summer, outside.” She expressed concern that out-of-school-time is regimented too much now, too.

• Jeanine: “Kids are not being allowed to see their shortcomings and what they’re good at, which means they have no compensation technique later on … As a parent, I need to let them mess up and fall.”

• On structure and too many activities: audience members talked about the prevalence of summer camps – often weeks of structured activities – and giving parents the message that it’s what they’re supposed to do. “Parents have to not do it – just get together and let the kids play.”

• A preschool director said she grew up in 50s and is struck by the fear factor now: “Parents drive kids to the bus stop … it used to be kids felt ‘I’m safe with any adult.’” Jeanine: We need to keep walking to the bus, talking about it to others.

• A home school parent said her kids only have 3 hours of structured academic time per week and they’re ahead of public schools. They’re free to go off and explore the rest of the time. Janice: We need to give kids responsibility.

• Two preschool teachers: Parents don’t want their kids outside – “they’ll get sick, they’re afraid” – they come late so they don’t have to go outside.

• A URI student shared that she was raised by parents who thought it was important to get outside but they weren’t in a good area for that – no other kids were out. “How can I balance that as a parent later on?”

• A teacher and parent of 3 elementary school boys: “We need to be careful about parental education, be empathetic to their fears.”
  

• Another preschool teacher mentioned the scene in the film where a parent was driving and all of the kids were in the backseat, absorbed in their individual screens. “I remember having conversations [during car rides], kids noticing things, playing games, singing songs – all of that is play, is creative. Now we’re given all kinds of conveniences and kids go from inside the house to another inside environment without noticing anything.”

Resources mentioned:

• "The Blessing of a Skinned Knee" – about helping kids figure out their limits
• "Protecting the Gift" – book empowers parents to let their kids outside
• Free-Range Kids blog and book – about raising safe, self-reliant kids – without going nuts with worry

Read more about the lively conversation in URI’s student paper. And join the conversation about the importance of play on the Museum's PlayWatch listserv!

The Whys & Hows of “Where Do the Children Play?”

Carly Loeper (exhibit & program developer), Cathy Saunders (director of education) and I (Megan Fischer, marketing & public relations manager) just got back from St. Paul, Minnesota, from the Association of Children’s Museums’ (ACM) annual conference. We always look forward to this opportunity to be with our fun and creative colleagues, hear what they’re up to at their museums, and just be inspired by lots of new ideas and great conversations. We know we’ll leave with our heads buzzing with thoughts and visions, eager to get back home to share with the rest of the staff and put our new ideas in to play.

On Thursday, Carly and I were excited to present about the work we’ve done to raise awareness of the critical importance of children’s unstructured play in our community. We talked about the creation of our Play Power exhibit and the outreach efforts we’ve taken on, including community screenings and discussions of the documentary “Where Do the Children Play?,” which explores why children’s opportunities for unstructured play are increasingly limited, especially outdoors.

And Friday, during a “Nature, Nurture and Play” salon, Dr. Gil Leaf (husband of Dr. Elizabeth Goodenough, originator and outreach coordinator of “Where Do the Children Play?”) shared a 7-minute clip of the documentary. It was fun for us to see the film we know so well (well enough to quote extensively, in fact!) in this context. He spoke about how children’s museums can “become the locus in your community of getting the dialogue going” about the need for play and used US as an example for using the film for community organizing and to inspire conversation about play.

So because of that, I thought we should share a quick overview of why and how we’ve used the film to involve the community in advocating for children's free play:

The Decision
A few years ago, we took a newly directed approach to play, deciding to be much more deliberate about why children’s self-directed play is important, especially with our message to parents and caregivers. In addition to our new play exhibit and play-focused public programs, we also felt it was absolutely necessary to advocate beyond the Museum’s walls. We first screened “Where Do the Children Play?” for our staff and immediately saw that it was provocative, would inspire conversation, and decided it was an ideal tool to convey our message. We also knew it was important to screen the film with community partners to reach a broader audience than we would just at the Museum, to ensure that this movement was shared.
The Screenings
We began showing “Where Do the Children Play?” in winter 2009 and have since hosted eight community screenings and discussions with partners including schools, libraries, PTAs and other community groups – our ninth is coming up next week! Each time we’ve followed the hour-long film with an audience conversation, moderated by Museum director Janice O’Donnell and panelists that we call conversation “instigators” because it’s their job to spark the discussion and keep it going. We’ve had a wide range of panelists – educators from preschool through college, pediatricians, developmental psychologists, children’s policy advocates, urban planners, and environmentalists. Panelists have looked at the issues affecting children’s play from many different angles and have drawn audiences of parents, teachers, after-school program providers, parks and recreation and planning personnel, and other community members into incredibly lively, thought-provoking discussions about the importance of giving kids more opportunities for free play and outdoor play during the school day and in out-of-school-time activities.

The Follow Up
Each screening has been so different, powerful, inspiring that we’ve had to share the highlights on our blog to make the conversation more visible and keep it going:
• Temple Beth-El, Providence (March 2010)
• St. Michael's Country Day School, Newport (January 2010)
• Pennfield School, Portsmouth (October 2009)
• Audubon Environmental Education Center, Bristol (June 2009)
• Highlander Charter School, Providence (May 2009)
• Lincoln School, Providence (February 2009)

From these discussions, it was apparent that many people are concerned about the lack of time and space for children's play – and that they were eager to keep talking. We wanted to find a way to continue the rich conversations electronically, to continue to connect people and grow the dialogue, and we launched a community discussion listserv called “PlayWatch: Connecting the Community to Promote Children’s Play” last summer. The listserv now has more than 330 members and has fostered an active, enthusiastic exchange of ideas about a variety of topics. We’ve passed the tipping point in our community’s awareness of the importance of play and the conversation is growing!

Please contact me at fischer@childrenmuseum.org or (401) 273-5437 ext. 126 if you’d like to know more about our use of “Where Do the Children Play?” and our other play outreach and advocacy efforts.

And stay tuned for another conference-inspired post!

"Where Do the Children Play?" - Providence

Last week we hosted our 7th (!) community screening and discussion of the powerful documentary "Where Do the Children Play?" at Temple Beth-El in Providence. After having done this so many times over the last year, it amazes me that the conversations continue to be so rich – and so different each time. I also continue to notice new things about the film, even after more than a dozen viewings. A thought that struck me this time, from Dr. Kenneth Ginsberg, lead author of the 2007 American Academy of Pediatrics report about the importance of play: Childhood is becoming parent and adult driven, no longer child driven.

From our conversation:

Museum director Janice O’Donnell: “Kids are not playing the ways they used to, they’re not outside. Saying kids need to play is like saying ‘you should eat food.’ It’s important that we’re convening a community of people who care about these issues.”

Panelist Renee Rudnick, assistant head of the Jewish Community Day School (JCDSRI) talked about the impact of the film and the community screenings: “Colleagues went to a previous screening and were struck by the film. We showed it to our faculty and silence fell over the room. They reflected on their own childhoods, nostalgic for being outside.”
She spoke about how the film affected thinking about what goes on at the school, inside and out. “We saw the film in January and made a commitment to having outside recess as much as possible, and teachers thought about how they could bring education outside.” They created a garden – classes have their own plots, parents come in to work, even in the summer, and the school uses some of the vegetables in hot lunch. Teachers also agreed there was a decline in creativity in kids, in being self-starters and are thinking about how they can overcome that in their classrooms. “This documentary gives us the courage to look for a way out, to be able to talk about these issues in a different way to parents.”

Panelist Scott Wolf, executive director of Grow Smart RI presented another layer to the conversation: “There’s not enough attention to how we design our communities, how our kids grow up, how we live our lives. Grow Smart is interested in designing communities that work for people and is working to break down barriers, to have more mixed use, more walkable communities, to change zoning codes, redevelop existing buildings and communities.”

Panelist Dr. W. George Scarlett of Tufts University said he shares the values of the film but he also questioned it on a few points: “This generation of kids is growing up to be just as good as us. We always think the next generation is going to hell. Think about racism in the 50s, when I was growing up. We trade problems but we also trade compensations.” He also questioned the “mistaken idea that organized sports are harmful, and video games,” and commented, “there’s a lack of appreciation for the diversity of the ways kids play.”

A professor of graphic design spoke about changes she’s seen being an educator and in a creative industry: “Kids miss out on unpredictability [because of the] predetermined outcomes of video games, although there are benefits to hand-eye coordination. Students are not that resourceful, which I attribute to lack of play, or too much organized play. They want to be told what to do, to have their hands held.”

A kindergarten teacher: “Adults – parents, teachers, grandparents – have to evaluate their roles, the balance of getting involved in kids' play and of stepping back.”

George: “Play, nature and educational issues get lumped together in the film. We need to think about them independently and need to get back to a constructivist, progressive approach – kids generating rules of the classroom." Scott: “But there’s pressure on teachers not to take an overly unstructured approach.”

A parent of a kindergartner said her child’s biggest complaint is "I don’t like school, I don’t get to play." She added her concerns that kids with behavior problems are punished with sitting out of recess, kids have too much homework, their day is too scheduled because of testing.

A pediatric physical therapist shared reflections she’s heard from occupational therapists: “They’re seeing more kids with regulation problems, kids having trouble attending to tasks, ‘sensory seekers’ who are not getting enough sensory experiences, which is integral to development.” Janice: “Studies show that kids who have unstructured time actually have an easier time attending.”

A child life specialist shared, “I’m a different parent than I wanted to be.” She ended up sending her son to preschool early because his friends had gone and the playgrounds were empty. After growing up in the woods herself, “it’s hard to be a parent in an urban environment because you can’t walk to school or much else” though her son “craves being outside – even taking out the recycling, being outside by himself.”

Naomi Stein from JCDSRI said she grew up in the Bronx and “In New York City, there’s incredible communal space. Everyone is on the playground. Here, everyone has their own swing set. It’s not a matter of an urban or rural setting but the function of a community.”

Lauri Lee from JCDSRI: “If giving kids a cell phone makes you comfortable to let them go outside, give them a phone. I gave my son one at a much younger age than I intended just to be able to let him go.”

And there were also plenty of conversations and connections after the discussion, about childhood play memories, shared Little League teams, getting kids together to play - while enjoying snacks generously provided by Whole Foods.

Disappointed that you missed it? We’re doing it again next week:

Tuesday, March 30 | 7:00 - 9:00 PM
University of Rhode Island
Flagg Road • Kingston, RI 02881
(click here to download a flyer)

And again on April 28 at St. Luke’s School in Barrington and May 18 at William Hall Library in Cranston. Stay tuned for details. You can also join the conversation about the need for play on the Museum’s PlayWatch listserv.

Meet the Staff. ALL of Them!

This post about our most recent all staff meeting was contributed by Carole Ann Penney, assistant to the director of education.

Last Thursday, Museum staff, AmeriCorps members and volunteers gathered for an All Staff Meeting. Staff meetings may be dreary at other places, but here at Providence Children's Museum they are a special treat!

It’s surprisingly tricky to get us all in the same room at the same time - with AmeriCorps members serving at after school programs across Providence and neighboring cities, staff members working on different projects with different schedules and always needing to keep the exhibits staffed by Experience Coordinators and Play Guides, we are certainly a busy bunch! Three or four times every year we gather together at 7:30am (before the Museum opens to the public) to share our successes, update each other on what we’re working on and look ahead at what’s to come.
At last week’s meeting, we had a lot to celebrate! Here are some highlights:

• Breaking all attendance records! Janice, Executive Director, shared that in 2009 we had 167,264 visitors – 20% more than have ever visited before. Over a third of those visitors came to the Museum at no cost.

• Expansion of our PLAY message! We’ve been spreading the message that play is important through our PlayWatch listserv, this blog, and community events around Rhode Island. The New England Museum Association awarded us with its first ever “Leaders in Innovation Award” for our work to share “The Power of Play.” And the message continues to spread! Megan, PR & Marketing Manager, informed us that our 9th and 10th community screenings of the film “Where Do the Children Play” are in the works for the upcoming months.

• Families Together is growing! Heidi, Director of Families Together, introduced some new members of the Families Together staff as they expand their support to children and families through the “Fostering Connections” federal grant. The award was made to a coalition of 10 RI social service agencies and will help our staff connect kids whose parents aren’t able to take care of them with extended family members.

• New exhibits are coming! Chris, Exhibit Developer & Fabricator, warned that there will be lots of excitement to see in The Children’s Garden in the coming months – cranes and work trucks as The Climber is assembled, and furniture and exhibit components coming together in the new Underland exhibit. He said the best view will be from the ramp to the second floor!

• And many more! Take a peek at our wall of things to celebrate…

Want to know more about the Museum staff? See them in their playful natural habitat in our new staff Facebook album, created by AmeriCorps member Turenne. She did a terrific job collecting interesting facts and silly photos - check it out and let us know what you think!

Where Do the Children Play? - Newport

In January, a crowd of nearly 60 parents, teachers, childcare workers and environmental educators joined us at St. Michael’s Country Day School in Newport for our sixth community screening of "Where Do the Children Play?" – we’ve been doing this for a year now! We had yet another lively, fascinating discussion – one of the best yet.

The panelists responded to the film first:

Susan Cooper, Director of the Newport Recreation Department, said it was her third time seeing film. “Bottom line: play is valuable. And we have to set the example, to play too.” She talked about the Healthy Newport 2010 initiative, to encourage the community to play more and support healthy bodies, minds, imaginations.

Dr. Keivan Ettefagh, pediatrician with Aquidneck Medical Associates, evoked the image of kids climbing trees – “How many parents want padding and a helmet? We’re so safety conscious… Let kids solve their own problems. If adults solve them, they’ll never learn to do it themselves.” He spoke about the fear factor: “Who will be watching our kids play?” We have to let go, trust that they’ll be ok – and teach them safety.

David Forrest (Physical Education teacher, St. Michael's) started with a math problem: School is 8 hours, kids average 4.5 hours screen time, 9 hours of sleep, 1.5 hours dining/commuting = 23 hours (during the school year). “It doesn’t leave much time for play – kids are overstructured.” He described a fixed up park across from his house, but there aren’t kids unless there’s a coach or umpire – “they’re not on their own, and that’s where true skills come in.” Kids don’t play for the sake of playing, they have a purpose.

Mimi Carrellas (Physical Education/Science teacher at St. Michael's) spoke about getting back to basics – teaching kids to jump rope, hula hoop – and helping kids have fun with phys ed because they’re in so many organized sports. “Play is where kids develop passion.” Kids need to learn that “it’s ok to make mistakes – some are afraid to take risks. Free play helps with locomotor skills.” Museum director Janice O’Donnell commented that, “It’s funny that adults are teaching kids to play.”

Bernadette Griffin (Pre-Kindergarten teacher, St. Michael's) has seen a shift in ways kids play, to using books as laptops and pretending they’re video game characters. “Parents have to make a conscious effort to give kids unstructured time.”

Some highlights from the audience conversation:

• A parent said it’s a problem in Newport that you don’t see kids in neighborhoods, they’re not outside
• Dr. Ettefagh: The problem of our neighborhoods – they’re pods that don’t connect, with only one entrance
• Mimi: “Do our kids have the memories we had as children, of play and fun?” Janice: “With no grown-ups. Those were my best memories.”
• A father spoke about fear and the example set by parents: “We do not go out and meet our neighbors.”
• A parent who moved to Newport from outside Cambridge because everything was too structured there said that Newport feels freer, easier. Her family changed their entire lives to come there but “you have to find the community you feel comfortable in.”
• A speech pathologist and parent of young children noted that, “all toys talk, make noise or are from TV shows or movies. Kids have very specific ways to play with those toys and don’t use their imaginations.” (And we LOVE that she mentioned she’d read David Elkind’s The Power of Play while visiting the Museum, in our Play Power exhibit!)
• The panelists on toys: “The ones kids like are blocks, legos, dress up – those last forever.” “Let kids use toys in unconventional ways – it’s better and requires using their imaginations.”
• A staff person from a childcare center questioned whether the school system is part of the problem. Parents ask, “Why is my preschooler playing all day? When’s he going to learn something, get ready for kindergarten?”
• And a parent responded that her kindergarten son complains about no time for recess.
  

We ended with an excited crowd with so much left to say. And the conversation about the importance of kids’ unstructured play continues on the Museum’s PlayWatch listserv, and during two upcoming film screenings/discussions:

Tuesday, March 16 | 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Temple Beth-El
70 Orchard Avenue • Providence, RI 02906
(click here to download a flyer)

Tuesday, March 30 | 7:00 - 9:00 PM
University of Rhode Island

Flagg Road • Kingston, RI 02881

Spread the word and stay tuned for more details.

Where Do the Children Play?

The Museum is presenting another free public screening of "Where Do the Children Play?," this time in partnership with St. Michael's Country Day School in Newport. This provocative documentary examines an issue of growing concern among pediatricians, mental health experts, educators and environmentalists: more and more children are growing up with few opportunities for unstructured play, especially outdoors.

Following the screening, a panel including Newport Director of Recreation Susan Cooper; Aquidneck Medical Associates pediatrician Keivan Ettefagh; Children’s Museum director Janice O’Donnell; and St. Michael's Country Day School faculty members Mimi Carrellas, Bernadette Griffin and David Forrest will lead an audience discussion about the issues – some disturbing, some inspiring – explored in the film.

The film will be shown
Thursday, January 14
7:00 - 9:00 PM
St. Michael's Country Day School
180 Rhode Island Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
(401) 849-5970

Snow date: Wednesday, January 20

Please join us! Click here to download a flyer. Click here to learn about the lively discussion at our previous screenings. For more information, contact Megan Fischer at fischer@childrenmuseum.org.

ALSO mark your calendars for the next screening, Tuesday, March 16, 7:00 - 9:00 PM at Temple Beth-El in Providence. Stay tuned for more details. Interested in hosting a screening in your community or at your organization? Please let us know by emailing the address above - we'd be happy to help you organize it!

The conversations about the importance of play continue on the Museum's listserv,
"PlayWatch: Connecting the Community to Promote Children's Play."
To read the PlayWatch archives or to join the list, visit www.playwatch.org.

Talking About Play in Portsmouth

Last week, we had yet another fascinating discussing following our 4th screening of “Where Do the Children Play?,” this time at the Pennfield School in Portsmouth. Each has been different, and we're amazed to see how many layers there are to this conversation.

This screening drew an interesting mix of educator/parents, people representing nature organizations, and folks working in sports and recreation – and the discussion kept leading right back to powerful moments from the film. Many people were struck by a scene that showed vast differences in the way city kids and suburban kids constructed their neighborhoods from cardboard boxes – the city full of smiling people and open doors, the suburbs full of parking lots, big box stores, and not a person in sight.

The conversation:

• Panelist & pediatrician Beth Lange, president of the RI chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, remarked that “play happens anywhere.” She encouraged parents to encourage imaginative play anywhere, using anything and to talk to their child’s pediatrician about their kids’ play.
• Panelist Andy Arkway from Aquidneck Land Trust talked about the importance of giving people meaningful experiences in the outdoors to encourage a more profound connection to nature and responded to the part of the film where experts lament the decline in creativity that follows reduced playtime: “it’s not just who will be the free thinkers, but who will be the next generation of environmentalists if we don’t teach kids to care?”

• Panelist Rob Cardeiro from Norman Bird Sanctuary talked about how he sees Richard Louv’s idea of “no child left inside” entering the collective consciousness and that, regarding kids’ play, “the important thing as a parent is to take a step back, hold yourself back, see it happen.”

• Will Glennon, athletic director at Pennfield: “What I see working with kids in a playful environment – in gym class and on the athletic fields – is a dampening of creativity” because organized sports & other activities constitute so much of playtime. “I want kids to make choices about what sports and activities they do.”

• A 2nd grade teacher at Pennfield said she felt sorry for young parents who feel the need to enroll their kids in activities and don’t want to miss any opportunities. She supervises recess and said, “it’s the only time in the day when kids can just play – free play – and even older kids let go,” that it’s their time to be creative.

• A reminder that children do better in school if there’s ample time for recess!
• During a discussion about the amount and impact of technology in kids’ lives, Dr. Lange said that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time before the age of 2 and to limit to 2 hours a day after that – which several parents said still seems like a lot. She said that kids are getting used to “sound bites,” that technology is affecting their attention spans and “you lose them after 30 seconds, the next commercial break.” She talked about attention and obesity being major problems and that, when a child walks into her office, she can tell right away how much screen time he has.

• Several parents talked about the importance of talking to other parents, of kids’ friends, about how much screen time they’re allowed.

• A Pre-K teacher at Pennfield: “The challenge for the educator today is that parents have high expectations for technology in the classroom” (although hers is a technology-free environment) and that, because of parent expectations, “there’s no room to play. We’ve gone from learning through play to…'What are they learning?’”
• A mother of 3 who recently moved from Norway agreed about parents’ expectations and said it’s different here. “Other parents expect me to have a plan for ‘play dates.’ The culture is so efficient”… but to play and get in touch with nature takes time.

• “I hate the word play date… it sounds like play has to be scheduled.”

• Andy: A lot of adults are not comfortable outside, so it’s important to provide opportunities for them to feel comfortable. More about the role of adults: “Where do the adults play? We’re such a selfish society now, everyone doing individualized things.” “When kids don’t see their parents playing or enjoying the little things or learning – how do they learn to?”

• A teacher suggested: “Organize a game and teach them basic rules, but within that, allow them space to create.”
• A parent said parts of the film made him feel guilty – other parents and teachers agreed – but moderation is the important thing, to “do the best that you can.” Another said “even if it’s 60/40, look at what you are doing, not what you aren’t.”

• Susan Cooper, director of Newport’s Dept. of Recreation, said she’s trying to “connect the disconnected” and would like to create a website that lists all of the island’s activities and free play opportunities in one place. “We have to look at the example we’re setting… if parents are on cell phones, texting their friends… then we say ‘go out and play’” – it’s hypocritical. She’s pushing to get more funds for parks and urban spaces – and to get the “no child left inside” bill passed.

• A woman who was struck by the city vs. suburbs scenario described above said she could relate. She grew up the city and had to negotiate constantly – with people, public transportation. She was always with people and, when she moved away from the city, at first felt isolated and uncomfortable being alone. She didn’t know her neighbors and they didn’t introduce themselves.

• Museum director Janice O’Donnell said that it’s important to meet neighbors and for grown-ups to be outside, too – “it’s how we can make our communities more family friendly and kid friendly.”

• Rob: “In suburbia, each ‘enclave’ can be so different” because you don’t know what sort of neighborhood or neighbors you’ll end up with, but it seems like the urban experience is somewhat more uniform.

• Beth: Dr. Kenneth Ginsberg has a book where he describes “the buoyancy and resiliency of childhood” – we may live in isolated neighborhoods but can learn to adapt. She also talked about the medical ramifications of kids not being outside, such as vitamin D deficiency and lack of physical activity.

• We need to give kids confidence by entrusting them with responsibility – and we need to challenge our children.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whew…. What a conversation! If you missed it, don't worry - we have another coming up in just two weeks:

"Where Do the Children Play?" documentary screening

Tuesday, November 10
6:30 - 8:30 PM
Friends Academy
1088 Tucker Road, North Dartmouth, MA 02747

Panelists include Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust director Dexter Mead; Children’s Museum director Janice O’Donnell; Friends Academy director of outdoor education Charley Pelissier; and developmental psychologist Dr. Richard Rende.

Click here to download a flyer. For more information, contact Megan Fischer at fischer@childrenmuseum.org or visit the film’s website.

Presented by Friends Academy, Providence Children’s Museum, Children's Circle Nursery School and Smith Mills Weekday Nursery and with assistance from Michigan Television.

Play Documentary Screening

It's been months, but it's finally time for our next screening of "Where Do the Children Play?" This time, the Children's Museum is partnering with The Pennfield School to present a free public screening of this provocative documentary, which examines an issue of growing concern among pediatricians, mental health experts, educators and environmentalists: more and more children are growing up with few opportunities for unstructured play, especially outdoors.

An audience discussion about the ideas explored in the film will follow, led by Museum director Janice O'Donnell; Aquidneck Land Trust stewardship director Andy Arkway; Norman Bird Sanctuary executive director Robert Cardeiro; Pennfield School athletic director Will Glennon; and pediatrician and RI American Academy of Pediatrics chapter president Dr. Elizabeth Lange.

The film will be shown

Wednesday, October 21
6:30 - 8:30 PM at

The Pennfield School

110 Sandy Point Avenue
Portsmouth, RI 02871

Click here to download a flyer.
Click here to learn about our last screening in June.

For more information, contact Megan Fischer at fischer@childrenmuseum.org.

The Children's Museum hopes to schedule more screenings of this thought-provoking film in communities across the state. Interested in hosting a screening in your community or at your organization? Please let us know by emailing the address above - we'd be happy to help you organize it!

A community conversation about the need for play

We had yet another fascinating conversation following our third screening of “Where Do the Children Play?” last Thursday at Audubon’s Environmental Education Center – perhaps the liveliest yet! We drew a diverse crowd who approached the issue of children’s play from many different angles. Here’s a recap of some interesting points. Bear with me, people had A LOT to say!

• Museum director Janice O’Donnell talked about the need for public places like the Museum, Audubon and schools to encourage the important conversation about children’s play.
• Panelist Scott Wolf, director of Grow Smart RI approached the film from the framework of his concern about our pattern of growth and development and suburban sprawl. He shared that RI is the 2nd most densely populated and 2nd most urbanized state, yet the 15th most forested – “we have an incredible urban/rural balance.” Grow Smart promotes patterns of development that are good for the environment and for human beings; if we design communities differently – denser, mixed use, more walkable, more access to transit – we can open them up to more unstructured activity.
• Panelist Kristen Swanberg of Audubon spoke about the organization’s desire to provide opportunities for people to get outside and engage with nature and talked about the No Child Left Inside initiative to encourage environmental curriculum in classrooms and provide training for teachers about how to get their kids outside.
• A mother shared that her family moved from a rural area to the east side of Providence and says her son is now able to walk to school and has more desire to be outside. “Play and being outdoors are important, it’s in the research - but that’s not what’s happening in schools.”
• Parents talked about reduced recess – only 15 minutes at many schools and no recess at others – and the desire to build better playgrounds.
• The grandmother of an 11 month old said that we just need a little green space and a spoon, to get away from plastic, and “to not be afraid to let them crawl on the grass and dig in the dirt.”
• Dr. Bill Strader of the New England Symposium on Play talked about how there’s no room for play in current school curriculum and mentioned some important resources: Playing for Keeps; a recent article that advocates for including recess as one of the “4 Rs”; and the International Association Promoting the Child’s Right to Play.
• A Bristol resident lives just a few blocks from her son’s school but there are no crosswalks, so he rides the bus for 5 minutes. In response, Scott Wolf mentioned a call for proposals this fall for grant money to be used by schools & communities for improved infrastructure and consciousness-raising.
• Janice said, “be vocal!” and directed the audience to the many resources available through the Alliance for Childhood’s website.
• A Parks and Recreation director pleaded for more money to go to recreation, that they’re a better vehicle than schools for unstructured play, that it can happen after the school day more easily than during.
• A daycare owner talked about getting their young children outside every day, that their teachers’ only responsibility is to interact with kids - not direct them - and encouraged everyone to “take 10 minutes to watch kids” to see what they’re interested in.
• A college professor talked about the consequences of the reduction of unstructured play: “Students are not independent thinkers, not creative – and it gets worse every year.” She also shared, “We have to get over the fact that we don’t trust anyone else to watch our kids. There are two issues here - unstructured and outdoor activities. We need more unstructured activities and we need to talk to one another as a community, to trust one another.”
• Janice responded that not only do we need trust, we need to “collectively share responsibility for our children. We need a different consciousness in our community.”
  

Stay tuned for information about joining the conversation. In the meantime, leave us a comment with your thoughts and ideas!

Next "Where Do the Children Play?" Screening

The Children's Museum is gearing up for the next in our series of screenings of the provocative documentary Where Do the Children Play?, to be followed once again by an audience conversation about what we as a community can do to safeguard time and space for children’s play.

The film will be shown
Thursday, June 4
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Audubon's Environmental Education Center
1401 Hope Street (Rte 114)
Bristol, RI 02809

Panelists Janice O’Donnell, executive director of Providence Children’s Museum; Kristen Swanberg, Audubon’s senior director of education; and Scott Wolf, executive director of Grow Smart Rhode Island, will kick off the discussion.Our most recent screening was at the Highlander Charter School at the beginning of this month and fostered another lively conversation among the audience of 70 parents, educator and other community members, much like our first event in February.

The audience talked at length about the importance of advocating for free play and outdoor play during the school day and in out-of-school-time activities and shared tips about how to give kids more opportunities to play outdoors – including joining a group like RI Families in Nature. It was energizing and inspiring to be in a room full of people who are passionate about play, who are thinking and talking about the same things as we are at the Museum.

And so we’re ready to do it again! Please join us on June 4 – and join this critical community conversation.

For more information, contact Megan Fischer at (401) 273-5437 ext. 126 or fischer@childrenmuseum.org.