Have Our Children Forgotten How to Play Outdoors?

AlbertMohler.com ^ | July 16, 2012 | Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr

[buffaloguy]

“Actually the kids ARE safe but the way the press plays things up we think they aren’t. The truth is a kid is more likely to be hit by lightning than attacked by a predator, and if they are a victim of a predator it’s almost always going to be someone known to the family. But 2 generations have had “stranger danger” drilled into their heads and every time there is an abduction it’s massive national news so that just reinforces it.”

Get a black lab for your kids to hang out with. If you have ever seen a lab go after an animal that it thinks is a threat to their loved ones....man, it is awesome. I call it the “The Wall of Teeth”.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Blue Oyster Cult

[Tax-chick]

I can relate. My 3-year-old wants to “bring me flowers” by pulling up the vegetable plants. I love you, too, Frank, but I wanted those pretty purple flowers to turn into eggplants, and the tiny yellow ones were going to be tomatoes ...

[Svartalfiar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF0-ydSWQ08

Trent Tomlinson - That’s How It Still Oughta Be

[Iron Munro]

Your post made me think of this song:

The Jamies - Summertime, Summertime

[windcliff]

ping

[Lou L]

Anyone else remember automatic pass numbers or was that a uniquely southern Indiana thing?

Coming from PA, but now living in IN, I can say we used to do the same thing. The best passer would stand in as "official QB" and would play offense for both teams.

[Arrowhead1952]

We have several neighbors with children that are from Kindergarten - middle school. It is not unusual to see three or four playing on the golf course behind the tee box. Believe me, they all have a low BMI, and love to play together. Most ride scooters, skate boards or bikes.

[SevenofNine]

I remember back in da day I used go to park across the street play on monkey bars and swing in 1970s in my neighorhood it was safe

I think start change in 1980s when gang members was shooting each other at the park that got so bad that they even advise don’t allow the kids play in the park themselves

I used go in late morning hour go home for lunch then come back come home in time of dinnertime for me it was 5pm

[SevenofNine]

I remember back in da day I used go to park across the street play on monkey bars and swing in 1970s in my neighorhood it was safe

I think start change in 1980s when gang members was shooting each other at the park that got so bad that they even advise don’t allow the kids play in the park themselves

I used go in late morning hour go home for lunch then come back come home in time of dinnertime for me it was 5pm

[dfwgator]

I remember back in da day I used go to park across the street play on monkey bars

Whenever I hear Monkey Bars, I think of the old Bill Cosby routine:

"As kids we knew the grownups were trying to murder us, to bump us off. We had a perfectly good playground....and then the grownups moved in......the monkey bars. The monkey bars came in....we lost 124 kids in one day."

[sergeantdave]

“spent most of our playing time outdoors, building forts in the woods, exploring every nook and cranny of our yards..”

This child activity created the 1st Marine Division fighters who took Mt Suribachi on Iwo Jima, the 101st Airborne soldiers who fought the Nazis on Normandy, the Special Forces who kicked ass in Nam, and the Navy Seals who took down Osama.

Hooray for forts built of old boards, string and childhood memories.

[dsutah]

I know, playing Swing the Statue, Kickball, Red Light-Green Light, Mother, May I?, look for toads in woods, frogs, lizards, catching Lightning bugs at twilight in the summer, etc..

[steve86]

I notice in our trailer park that kids still play out of doors a lot. There is a playground but they find places to play everywhere. It is possible that some more affluent kids may have a disadvantage here: too many indoor and electronic pastimes.

[steve86]

Telephone: This game is one in which most people end up laughing quite a bit, so if you’re in the mood for silliness, give it a go. Players sit in a circle.

They tried to get us to do that at a retreat. I walked out and took the bus home.

[dsutah]

I remember Spud! I also remember Red light-Green light, Swing the Statue Or did (have you ever heard of that one, or remember playing it?), One Potato-Two Potato, Engine, Engine No. Nine, (both played in groups with one player going around circle, hitting other fists with their own (not roughly)), going through the jingle until all players both fists are hit and they’re out! Then there was the jump-rope games, some jingles were “Charlie Chaplin went to France”, “Rich Man, Poor Man, Begger-man, Thief...”. There were so many fun games then! I try to remember them to teach my grand-kids!

[Stand Watch Listen]

1. Big Foot Relay. Have the children bring two shoeboxes with them. Tape the lids onto the boxes, then cut a one-inch-wide and four-inch long slit in each top. Have the contestants slip their feet into the slits in the boxes and race.

2. Batty Bowling. Find a number of silly or odd items that can be knocked over by a ball, such as a plastic milk carton, a candlestick, a stand-up doll, a plastic vase of flowers, a pizza box, a tower of empty cans, an umbrella stand, an empty oatmeal container, and a book. Line them up like bowling pins and let the bowlers try to knock them over with volleyballs, tennis balls, or golf balls.

3. Name-It Ball. Have players form a circle. Give one player a rubber ball. That player selects a category, such as "candy bars." He or she then bounces the ball to another player in the circle, who must catch the ball, state an item from the category, such as "Snickers," and keep the ball moving to the next player. If the player can't name an item, holds the ball too long, or repeats an item, he or she is out.

4. Frisbee Tower. Purchase a bunch of mini Frisbees and place them in a pile in the middle of the yard. Have the guests divide the Frisbees among themselves. The first player begins the activity by placing one of his or her Frisbees on the ground. Each of the following players places his or her Frisbee on top of the first Frisbee, and the action continues until someone causes the growing tower to topple.

5. Blind Walk. Create an obstacle path from one end of the yard to the other. Line up the contestants and let them have a good look at the path. One at a time, blindfold the children and have them walk the path without looking. Note each player's time on the scoreboard.

6. Cross Step. Draw a ten-by-ten grid on the sidewalk or patio with chalk. Have each player stand on a different square. One at a time, each player must move to a new square after crossing out the square she or he was formerly standing in. The trick is that players cannot step into a square that is occupied or crossed out. If a player cannot move to a new square, he or she is out. The game continues until one player is left.

7. Pick Pocket Tag. Put a strip of cloth in each player's back pocket. Have the players try to grab each other's strips without having their own strip taken. The player with the most cloth strips wins the game.

8. Kill the Cockroach. Divide the players into two teams. Line them up, one in front of the other and set an odd object in front of the first players in line. They must kick the object across the yard and the across the finish line to win a point for their team. Kick things like a pillow, empty can, a sock, and so on.

9. Drag the Body. Divide the group into two teams. Give each team a blanket. Have one player from each team lie down on the blanket. The teams must drag the body on the blanket from one end of the yard to the other. Whoever crosses the finish line first, wins.

10. Blind Snakes. Set up a number of sprinklers in between a starting line and a finish line. Have the kids try to run from one end to the other without getting sprayed. Have one of the kids control the faucet, turning it on and off at random. Award ribbons to the kids who play the longest without getting wet.

• Roman Ball.What You Need
  • Chalk
  • A soft inflatable ball or high-density foam ball
  • Setup: Draw two large circles on the driveway to create the court. Our inner circle was 5 feet in diameter; our outer circle was 20 feet in diameter. • Players take up positions around the outer circle. Whoever has the ball tries to throw it so it bounces first inside the center circle and then outside the outer circle. The other players try to catch it before the second bounce. If the ball is caught, the catcher becomes the new thrower. If it bounces first, the thrower gets a point and throws again. If it lands off the driveway, the thrower loses a point but throws again. The first person to score 11 points wins.

• Water Balloon Toss.
  • This game calls for four or more children and five water balloons for each pair. Pair each child with a partner and give each pair five water balloons. Have the children stand 5 feet apart from their partners. The goal is to toss the water balloons back and forth to each other without popping them. The team with the last remaining water balloon wins. To make this game more challenging, have partners move 1 foot farther away from each other after each round.

• Money Dig Party Game.
  Hide pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters in the sand box. Empty out all of the sand toys first. Give kids one minute to dig through the sand and find as much money as they can. For some messy fun, instead of sand, you could also hide the coins in a large container filled with Jell-O.

• Water Obstacle Course Games for Outdoor Parties.
  If it’s a hot summer day and the kids are in their bathing suits, create a water obstacle course for the children to race each other. They have to crawl through a tube as they are being sprayed by a garden hose, jump over a small kiddy pool, throw a wet sponge through a hoop and finally slide across the finish line (a 12 foot long plastic tarp that has been hosed down).

• Banana Bowl.
  Form two groups for this relay race. Have all the players line up with a banana on a string dangling from their waists and almost touching the ground. As the whistle blows, the first two try to hit a ping-pong ball with the banana, hands-free, to a finish line (about 15 to 20 feet away from the start). The first to the line is the winner.