Where Do The Children Play?Premiering Tuesday, October 23rd at 9 p.m. Michigan TV (PBS)

"Free play is slipping away from children’s lives. Yet time spent building forts or exploring outdoors, caring for animals, pretending or problem-solving with peers are now being shown by a wide body of research to be essential to healthy development, spiritual attunement, and emotional survival. Open-ended play in places that offer access to woods, gullies and gardens, ditches, boulders, and bike paths enhances curiosity and confidence throughout life.Play takes many forms. It may be best defined from within as a spontaneous human expression that relies on imagination and a sense of freedom. Players invent alternative contexts for conversation, visualization, movement, and interactions with real objects. They find release and involvement, stimulation and peace. Although play may arise anywhere, even in a cement cell, children are beckoned by the natural world to enjoy sensations of being alive."(Taken from the Where Do Children Play?" Website)

This is a very serious subject. I believe children should be rolling down hills every day. Has your child rolled, jumped, climbed, swung, and spun today? I know I have because I've taught an Kindermusik Imagine That! today and we did all those things plus pretended to be a tree full of birds, squirrels, bees, a bear and a little girl in the tree house all covered with leaves.....


Here are some interesting sites to inspire....or maybe to distract you so that your little one will play in the cupboards or jump off the couch! Better go outside!

• Alliance of Childhoodwww.allianceforchildhood.org
• The American Association for the Child's Right to Playwww.ipausa.org
• Children and Nature Networkwww.cnaturenet.org
• Childcare Exchangewww.colorado.edu/journals/cye/
• Children's Environmental Research Group (CERG)http://web.gc.cuny.edu/che/cerg/
• Hooked on Naturewww.hookedonnature.org
• National Wildlife Federationwww.greenhour.org
• Natural Learningwww.naturalearning.org
• Playing for Keepswww.playingforkeeps.org
• River of Wordswww.riverofwords.org
• Wild Zoneswww.wild-zone.net
  

Thank you Ashley for giving me this heads up.