Boys and girls, come out to play!

It may be time to pack up the batteries and break out the blocks. The New York Times had an article the other day about restoring real play to our children's lives. Old fashioned, non-computerized toys and games teach a lot of life skills that all the fancy make-your-baby-a-genius gadgets can't. Dolls, balls, blocks, furniture cushions, pots and pans, sturdy cardboard boxes, and the like give children a chance to figure things out for themselves, create magical worlds, and just be silly.

And remember the active games you used to play with friends - Red Rover, Red Light/Green Light, Mother May I, Simon Says? If our kids are missing out on these, they're missing out on lots of fun, plus (for all of you who simply must have some educational value attached) real-life experiences that will carry them through adulthood. And, c'mon, how many toddlers would prefer watching a video to a rousing game of Duck-Duck-Goose, eh? All the squeals of delight. All the sense of accomplishment. All the quick-decision-making. Why, I'm up for a hard-core game of Red Rover right now!

GrandBoy and I spend a lot of time with blocks. I stack them up, and he knocks them down. He rarely loses interest in knocking down something I've built. He may wander off to try something else, but the minute he spies two or four or seven blocks stacked up, he's on it - bam! - and down it comes. I can't wait until the roles are reversed, where he builds something that I can knock down. Turnabout's fair play, after all.

Yeah, it's messy and time-consuming. And sometimes work has to get done, and those videos really come in handy. But a child's imagination is priceless. We will have to spend time teaching them the songs and the rules to the games. And don't be so quick to throw out that big box.

Then, just stand back and see what happens.

Boys and girls, come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day;
Leave your supper, and leave your sleep,
And come with your playfellows into the street.
Come with a whoop, come with a call,
Come with a good will or not at all.
Up the ladder and down the wall,
A halfpenny roll will serve us all.
You find milk, and I'll find flour,
And we'll have a pudding in half an hour.