Teach Your Children How to Play Outdoors

One beautiful sunny day last summer, we were house hunting in a lovely neighborhood in the suburbs of Scranton, Pennsylvania. We had the windows down and I was concentrating on finding "for sale" signs. When we passed a picturesque playground, my fiancé asked, "Where are all the kids"?

There were no children riding bikes, dribbling basketballs, hanging from the monkey bars, swinging on swings, or just running around. In fact, the playground was completely empty except for an older gentleman walking his little dog. It was a beautiful summer day. Yet the park was deserted. It seemed to us like a good backdrop for an episode of the Twilight Zone or some other eerie show or movie. It was a pretty strange scene for people our age, who remember that playing outside took up most of our time when we were not in school.

Some of my favorite childhood memories involve playing at Recreation Park which is near my childhood home in Binghamton, New York. Recreation Park was a great park to play in as a kid because it had everything: swings, teeter-totters, jungle gyms, a wading pool for little kids, a swimming pool for older kids, a basketball court, and tennis courts. Then there was my personal favorite: the merry-go-round. I can remember Rec. Park overflowing with kids when I was young. There was always a line to get on the merry-go round, but it was well worth the wait. The price of admission was a piece of garbage that you found out in the park. I used to ride every horse on that merry-go-round in one day!

We didn't just have fun outdoors at the park. I can remember visiting relatives or my mothers' friends when my sister and I were young. We were always told to go outside and play. Even if there were no toys to play with, there was no need to panic like many children of today do when it is suggested that they go outdoors and play. My sister and I would play hide and seek, Simon says, I spy, hopscotch, tic tac toe and other games for hours. When those games got boring, we would play house, pretend ants were little people and build villages out of leaves and sticks for them, and catch fireflies at dusk.

This type of earnest childhood play seems to be becoming a lost art. Outdoor play will become a documented museum relic if we don't actively reintroduce the art to our children. With all of our technical innovations, kids of all ages are becoming home bodies. Unless you allow your child to bring his or her laptop, ipod, video game or other electronic device, the thought of "playing outdoors" probably is unbearable to them.

I hope these kids at least sit by open windows as they click the keys of communication that have replaced face to face interaction and earnest outdoor play.

I'm not sure at what age this need to communicate constantly by texting or email or social media site occurs. But before its onset, teach your children how to play outdoors-they may need to know how someday! Play Simon says or I spy with them. Catch fireflies in clear jars with them at dusk. Perhaps there is a silver lining in this cloud of harsh economic times presently hanging over us. As we have no choice but to cut back on all the electronic toys of the age, we are being given an opportunity to teach our children the almost lost art of playing outdoors.