My friend Matt pointed me to a story from reveries.com that matches up with his personal “Hoop and a Stick” theory of raising kids which states that all kids need is a hoop and stick — and certainly nothing that requires batteries — for a good healthy upbringing. Here’s a snippet from the article:
It also turns out that the best way to encourage kids to exercise is simply to “give them a ball, jump-rope or hula hoop” — along with more in the way of “active play time.” That’s according to a report due out in next month’s American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
This gets me thinking about Christmas, and how common it is to see a young child sitting amidst an avalanche of recently unwrapped trendy toys and whiz-bang gadgets while playing with the boxes they came in. It’s easy for us grown-ups to get so caught up in the craze for the latest and greatest that we don’t even know we’re in it. And whether it’s providing them with state of the art playground equipment at school or buying them Billy the Battery Operated Wonder Robot, we end up unconsciously dragging our kids into fray with us.
How fortunate are we that we have little guides that can remind us every once in a while that life is not about the “stuff.” It’s about using our brain (an underrated gift in its own right) and being creatively engaged in our world.
Long live hoops and sticks and cardboard boxes!
[tags]childhood obesity, exercise, active play time, Christmas presents[/tags]
The simplicity theory also works with pets. I have several chew toys and balls I have purchased for my 9-month-old puppy, Molly. Her favorite? The one that’s free – an empty plastic water bottle! She loves the noise it makes when she pounces on it and when she bats it around, it makes weird bounces. She will fetch with the other toys but it’s the bottle she goes back to time & again. I’ve had to replace it a few times but it’s not expensive since I already have the bottles!
Ah, it is truly a universal truth, then!
Your post reminds me of the new picture I have my “memory stick.” We had 6 children under the age of six at Christmas. You can imagine the joyful bedlam. After all the wrapping and ribbons were history, my husband set up the power point to show old pictures of the family. With all those toys sitting there, the munchkins loved the lighted blank wall. They hopped up and down on the sofa waving their hands in mystery and wonderment at their shadows. Of course, I had to get in the fun. I got closer to the projector and made a “handimal” in the shape of a giant bird coming down to peck at them. They screeched wondering where the shadow bird came from. Wish I’d had a camera!
May your New Year be filled with fun pics on your memory sticks! Marilyn
We use a projector in our speaking programs and after the presentation, children are always drawn to making shadows. They’re like little moths that can’t help but fly to the light…