Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Letting kids be kids




I am a believer that kids need the opportunity to be kids. Meaning, that they need to have free time to explore the world around them.  Unstructured time to discover their likes and dislikes, their talents and areas they may be weak in or not enjoy. They need the time with their parents and siblings.

I find that parents are often so intent that their child learn different things, and be GREAT at those things, so they have them way over scheduled - running from activity to activity. Where is the time to sit down and bond? Where is the time for them to just have fun - to lie down on the floor and be silly together? to imagine what the world could be (dinosaurs living in the backyard; unicorns running around the street) Not having to rush through dinner to get out the door to swimming/gymnastics/hockey/karate or whatever it may be?

Kids need time to be free. They need time to run around the neighborhood discovering nature; time to play freely in their room or backyard.  Time with YOU doing stuff YOU enjoy, to see if they like it too (both my boys LOVE to help me bake, and love to help their dad build things and fix things).

That's not to say that I don't put my kids in scheduled activities - I do. But, I try and limit it to 1 activity per "season". Last fall, Julien took skating lessons - 1x Week for 9 weeks. In the winter, he took cooking class - 1x Week for 8 weeks. In the spring, he did a soccer class - it was 5 weeks, introductory soccer class to see if he liked it (he loved it).

This year, I plan on putting both the boys into swimming in the fall, Julien will do the cooking class again if it is offered in the winter, and we will put him in a soccer league in the spring.

Why? because he loves the cooking class, and loved playing soccer. Swimming - he is starting to enjoy, and the lessons are more for my piece of mind than anything.

Kyle, we will do swimming together in the fall; I will probably sign him up for either play classes at the nursery school he will attend next spring, or with the city - I need to see what is offered before making the decision.

I want my kids to LOVE the activities we put them in. If they don't like it, they have to finish the program, but we will try something new the next time.

What about you? Do you have your kids in scheduled, structured activities? Are you like me, and only do them occasionally or do you like the structure of them and have the kids attend frequently?

11 comments:

  1. Ohhh I'm so there with you on this one! I've seen kids be bombarded with activities that they don't get a chance to breathe. I would also rather our kids love what they're doing and have the chance to be kids and have fun at the same time. Great post! :)

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    1. thanks for visiting and leaving your thoughts!

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  2. I'm with you in that we don't like to schedule too many structured activities for the kids. Some of our best family moments were those last minute plans that we were able to do without feeling guilty about wasting money on missed classes.

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    1. totally agree! spur of the moment activities are often the best ones!

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  3. We have the exact same philosophy! 1 class per season! In the fall to spring my daughter chose dance and then for summer we put her in swimming! I heard once that letting kids get 'bored' ignites their imagination at a greater level b/c they have to be resourceful to come up with an idea to entertain themselves! Makes sense to me!

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    1. it's different when they are older and CHOOSE to schedule themselves like that, but when we are making the choices, I just don't think it is fair to them to always be on the run - thanks for visiting!

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  4. Some kids are in too many activities it drives me nuts... they are always so tired from being rushed from one place to another... I try to do one activity at a time... it works best for my daughter.

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  5. Definitely with you here! Too much I see kids being "entertained" with classes of some sort. They have to learn to be independant and interact on their own too. Learning is a great thing but I say let them learn from every aspect.

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  6. We had our oldest in both baseball and soccer this spring. It was insane (pardon the pun) as we had something every night of the week except Friday. Then, our little one was in soccer on Saturday mornings. It was busy. Next year I am hoping that he picks just one sport but DH wants our kids to be occupied and having fun. Plus, our oldest seems to have an affinity towards athletics. It's great but also a struggle. hehe!

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  7. I am like you. I think kids should have time to be kids. At Little One's age (she's only 3.5 years old), I didn't see the need for too many structured activities. She had swimming in the winter and we may put her in ballet in the fall. She does horseback riding...but the main thing is she gets lots of time on the farm, outdoors, on the beach, and she's fine :) Happy as a clam!

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  8. I think once my girls are older I will let them take classes that they choose, but as you said one thing per season. I am really against this whole over-scheduling thing. And I don't think two and three year old kids need to be taking lessons in anything!

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