I wired all the boys houses for two blocks so that we could have our own private telephones. I climbed the trees and ran the wires across the street repeatedly, it was a pretty impressive communications system and the entire time we did stuff like that, it seemed like the grownups were totally oblivious to our sub world of projects and activities.
So true. They gave us space to be kids and to learn by doing. My parents both had a lot of freedom during their childhoods in Czechoslovakia (between the wars), so letting us entertain ourselves came naturally. My mother grew up with grand-dad's lumber mill in her backyard. They had a pond, tennis court, and mounds of lumber just outside the back door. She always reminisced about the fun times and freedom of her childhood. Dad grew up in a village, near a trout stream. He rode his bike or walked everywhere - mostly to the stream to fish. (He's 89 now, and still fishes whenever he can.)