Kids have it right because they haven’t enough civilization and experience to do what isn’t natural. Let’s face it, we are animals, in the species timescale just a blink away from striding the plains and bashing each other with clubs.…
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Couch Forts
Small children are like mice. They utilize at-hand materials to create little nests, cozy spots just big enough for a bed and a lookout. If left in the forest I think children would do better making shelter and staying dry…
Getting’ Clippy With It
This is what you end up with when you play “ponies” with your five-year old daughter. I never figured out the rules of this game, but the outcome was fun just for the sake of fun. Everyone should get to…
Oh No, Not Again
You’d think I would’ve learned my lesson. You’d be wrong. This weekend on a beautiful sunny day I brought Number Two out into the yard for some afternoon frivolity and nature communion. I smiled as I saw some birds wriggling…
Setting Priorities
Here’s a bombshell: playing princess Yahtzee is more important than spending extra time at work. See Child Harbat below, with the game pieces ready. Why is this more important than work? Or more importantly, why is this more important to…
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: child harbat, economics, parenting, play, working, working parents
“Fresh” Water
It’s amazing what you can get for free in the neighborhood. My wife, with her bargain radar always dialed up to “Maximum Intensity”, spotted a free water play table in someone’s yard recently. At least I hope it was labeled…
The Value of Individual Play
I’ve often written about my daughter’s extroverted nature. From her earliest days we could see her joy was in interaction with others, often exhausting my wife and I with her unquenchable thirst for talking, playing, and roughhousing when we really…
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: child harbat, imagination, individual, parenting, play, stuffies
Tree Houses, Giant Pencils, and a Stream
The Hamilton Children’s Garden at the Quail Botanical Gardens is a magical place for young and old. In the spirit of those creepy 1980s ads for sugar cereal, the grown-up in me marveled at the design and engineering, the kid…
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