Kids, Play and Risk

Last week, an audience of more than 50 people gathered at the Children’s Museum for a thought-provoking conversation about the benefits of risk-taking to kids' healthy physical and emotional development – a topic inspired by discussion on the PlayWatch listerv.

Conversation "instigators" Amy Dickinson, training and education manager for KaBOOM!, a national non-profit dedicated to saving play for America's children; Julia Steiny, columnist for Education News and director of the Youth Restoration Project; Angelica Almlid Barrows, who raised her kids in Norway and the US; and Museum director Janice O’Donnell sparked a rich and lively audience exchange. Following is a summary of the evening’s themes and great moments, plus resources shared and some of the lingering questions.

On play and risk in other cultures

• During her Peace Corps service in Paraguay, Amy Dickinson noticed that kids played differently, and that the culture had a more common sense attitude toward kids’ play.
• Angelica Barrows talked about the outdoor preschool that three of her children attended in Norway and shared beautiful images of children climbing, building, playing in the mud, and outdoors in all weather. “Perhaps because of those experiences, my kids are rarely bored and take on mental and physical challenges – learning a new skill is something they have patience with, and confidence they will succeed.” She noted that there are fewer liability issues in planning playgrounds in Europe.

On perception of risk

• In raising her now-grown kids, Julia Steiny said her philosophy was to “calculate the medical damage and let them fall…. How else are they going to learn balance?”
• “There’s a need for conversations about real vs. perceived risks,” and the role of the media in confusing the two.

On barriers to allowing kids to play and take risks

• Strict safety regulations for designing playgrounds
• Rules and restricted time in school: recess is being cut and curriculum doesn’t allow for play
• “Part of the problem is no eyes on the street… people don’t know their neighbors,” and we’re creating danger for ourselves by keeping kids inside instead of getting to know people. One solution: programming parks and public spaces – community gardens, classes, cleaning up trash and getting the neighborhood invested and willing to take ownership.

On adventure playgrounds

• It's important to recognize that kids actually play more safely when they understand there are risks. “At adventure playgrounds, kids are learning to deal with risky elements in an environment of controlled risk.”
• There are plenty of liabilities at adventure playgrounds but parents must take responsibility for allowing their kids to play there.

On parenting

• A parks and rec representative shared a story of a parent whose toddler was burned on a hot slide after being placed there and demanded, ‘You should have signs up.’ Her reflection: “With the balance of liability and educating parents, it’s hard to have free play.”
• “The legal system here takes all of the onus of parenting off of us…its someone else’s fault. Who can I blame and what can I get out of it?”
• The result of overprotecting kids, paraphrasing Finding Nemo: “I won’t ever let anything happen to you!” “But if nothing ever happens, then nothing will ever happen.”
• “We live in a society where raising children is almost a science... You almost need to go to school to be a parent.”
• “We’re atomized, very separate, wisdom is not getting passed down the way it used to.” “Parents don’t have others looking out for them.”

On developing emotional intelligence

• “More and more kids are coming to school with anxiety disorders – there’s so much fear back and forth between kids and parents…We need to educate parents about emotional intelligence and learning balance and limits.”
• College counselors are reporting that kids in top tier schools need more and more counseling – “and these are the kids we take care of…we teach resiliency to no one.”

On preparedness for the real world

• “Test scores are dropping. We’re trying to build Algebra I on top of nothing. Kids go in to science class with no real experience.” Julia Steiny cited Susan Linn’s idea of the mitigated world – “kids never encounter the world as it actually is.”
• We have to stop solving problems for kids and “help them figure out how to.”

The lingering questions

• Amidst the obstacles, how do we continue to advocate for free play in our parks? Our schools?
• How do we prepare kids to take risks and challenges?
• What does it take to raise a free range kid, while living your life and getting things done?

The evening closed with a reminder about how important it is to keep talking to one another and sharing resources and ideas. Join the conversation on the PlayWatch listserv to tackle these and other big questions, and see the Kids, Play and Risk resource sheet (pdf) we prepared for this event for TONS of great articles, books and websites.

Please contact Megan Fischer if you have ideas for future community conversation topics, or if you're interested in presenting a screening of “Where Do the Children Play?”

"In the real world, life is filled with risks... and reasonable risks are essential for children’s healthy development."
– Dr. Joe Frost

Announcing Nina's House!

The Families Together program at Providence Children's Museum is growing!

Created in collaboration with RI Department of Children, Youth and Families in 1992, Families Together provides therapeutic visitation and permanency planning for children in foster care and their families.  In 2010, the program served more than 500 children and parents in 175 families.  

Thanks to The Nina Foundation, Families Together will extend its services to court-separated families with a homelike setting for family healing.  Opening this fall, "Nina's House" will provide a warm, welcoming environment for therapeutic visitation for children, their parents, siblings and extended family.  Take a peek at some of the work to get Nina's House ready to serve families:

 

We're celebrating the opening of Nina's House with a virtual shower!  If you would like to contribute a gift from the Nina's House registry, you can do so by November 15.  All donations will benefit children in foster care and their families as they work to strengthen relationships and parenting skills.

Thank you!

Play and Back to School

Back-to-school time often means leaving behind the carefree, active, unstructured play that kids enjoy during the summer months. How can we ensure kids have plenty of imaginative, self-directed playtime during the school year? Here are some ideas from Museum staff and friends:

• A great list of resources that the Museum's educators put together for Kidoinfo. There are some good blogs to read but also inspiration for fun activities for kids to do on their own or with their families.

• See the play resources page on our website. The ones listed are websites and online articles but you can also download our Play Power resource sheet, which includes books and films.

• From our friends at KaBOOM!, 5 reasons children need to play in school. Also take their Pledge to Save Play in Our Schools! 

• Join us on Tuesday, October 4 from 6:30 - 8:00 PM for Kids, Play and Risk: a community conversation, about the importance of children's unstructured, self-directed play and the benefits of risk-taking to their healthy development.

• And if we don't encourage unstructured play now, what might the future hold? Here's an idea.

Happy Playing!

Scenes of Summer

As summer officially drew to a close, Museum staff shared some of their favorite moments seen and heard this summer:

"Mine was definitely when I took a photo of a group of 11 or so children sitting on Estrella's lap. All of the children were cousins. Their moms and dads chose the Museum as the meeting ground for their family reunion. I was touched that our Museum was the special spot for this moment in their lives, and I was thrilled to see so many related and smiling faces fitting comfortable in 'the chair lady's' lap."

–Leiana Hawkins, Visitor Services & Volunteer Manager

"The happy intensity of the bright summer sun beaming into the atrium ramp way seemed to be reflected by a family - two parents and three children - coming down the ramp: hand in hand, with wide smiles, bobbing steps, swinging arms and laughter. Natural joy inside and out!"

–Jennifer Laurelli, Director of Development

"A young man who seemed to have developmental challenges and visual impairments sat in the sand pit for a long time, scooping up sand and slowly pouring it out over his outstretched hand, over and over again. He looked so completely content, lost in the calming sensuous experience."

–Janice O’Donnell, Executive Director

And some other favorite fun included creating colorful chalk art:

A rollicking visit from a local marching band:

And, of course, the opening of our new Discovery Studio. What a summer!

Kids, Play & Risk – join the conversation!

RSVP to Megan Fischer


This conversation was inspired by discussion 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.


Click here to download a flyer (PDF).

 

Let's Move, Let's Play!

Providence Children’s Museum is a proud new member of Let’s Move! a comprehensive national initiative launched by First Lady Michelle Obama that is dedicated to solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation by encouraging healthy eating and physical activity. Active play is an important part of children’s healthy growth and development and the Museum is committed to offering interactive play and learning experiences that promote physical activity, and to providing parents with resources about nurturing kids’ growth through play.

Many kids have plenty of opportunities for active play – especially outdoors – during the summer.  To ensure they keep moving during the school year, here are some playful ideas contributed by the Museum’s educators:

• Strike a pose.  With a friend, take turns forming funny positions and different shapes with your bodies.  Trace each other’s outlines (with chalk on pavement, marker on paper, or a stick in the sand or dirt).
• Follow the leader – as animals!  The leader hops like a frog, crawls like a crab or slithers like a snake.  Everyone else does the same and tries to guess what kind of animal they have become.
• Create an obstacle course in your house or backyard, with things to hop or climb over and tunnels to wriggle through.  Or build a fort with sheets, furniture and cardboard boxes.  Or make a mini-golf course with objects found around the house.
• Have crazy challenge races – playful competitions where the object is to complete a challenge in the shortest time possible.  For example, run to the other side of the room or yard, put on all the clothes in a box and run back.  Make challenges more difficult by running backward or hopping on one leg.
• Don’t put the beach ball away just yet!  See how long you can keep it bouncing in the air before it hits the ground.  Also find out how many times you can hula hoop or jump rope without stopping.
• Play balloon volleyball (with or without a net) or make rackets using paper plates and rulers for a game of balloon badminton.  Try each game outside or in a roomy indoor space.
• Strreeettch!  Stretching feels good and it can be done standing, sitting or lying down.  Start small with wriggling fingers and toes or with simple reaches and twists.  Make sound effects or sing a song to accompany each stretch.
• Move to the music.  Play several styles and make up different dances.  Or try games of freeze dance or musical chairs.
• Take a hike!  If it’s close enough, walk to school together instead of driving.

There are more great ways to keep kids moving this fall.  Look for “Let’s Move, Let’s Play!” programs on the calendar plus explore the Museum’s play and learning environments (and learn some fun facts) with a new Let’s Move! physical activity sheet. Here's a selection:

Happy playing!

A version of this article was originally posted on Kidoinfo.

Traffic Report!

This post was contributed by Museum Executive Director Janice O’Donnell. 

A rainy day in August. Vacations are winding down, camp is over, school hasn’t started, the beach isn’t an option = the busiest day at the Children’s Museum all summer. Almost 1,500 visitors converged at the same place on the same day. A lot like highway rush hour (only it’s more like six hours) – we need traffic reports!

They might go something like this:

"Movement through the time tunnel is sluggish due to a twin-sized stroller blocking the way near the packet ship... A collapsed block tower is impeding traffic in Shape Space, where construction is underway... There's a long line at the Littlewoods slide due to a toddler at the top who isn’t sure he wants to slide down, but Play Guides have arrived at the scene... There is also considerable congestion on the stairs, due to a recently arrived camp group. Please seek an alternative route if you’re headed to the first floor. 

It’s smooth sailing in Water Ways; that accident we told you about earlier has been mopped up... Looking at conditions in The Children’s Garden: traffic is flowing freely in The Climber as well as in the Underland burrows... Use caution, however, near the sand pit. Residue from an earlier mishap involving an overturned bucket is causing slippery conditions and Play Guides are sweeping the area." 

Editor's note: This playful post appears on the third anniversary of this blog. Three years and nearly 25,000 visits – thanks, everyone!