Play Today

There are lots of reasons why you should send your kids outside to play, and here's another: You might be giving them five more years to live.

It may sound like hyperbole, but with one in three kids being overweight or obese, today's children are on track to be the first generation with a shorter life expectancy than their parents. A recent study published in Pediatrics found that surprisingly, older overweight children actually consume fewer calories than their slimmer peers. It concludes that low levels of physical activity "may contribute more to maintaining obese/overweight status through adolescence."

Clearly, establishing healthy eating habits is vital to our children's health. But kids also need to move and play. It's not just about their health as kids but throughout their adult lives. This great video from Designed to Move says it best:

Every neighborhood should have at least one good playground, and every neighborhood should have at least one good pub.

Having had the opportunity to observe both of them within our block, I find myself advocating for both playgrounds and pubs because all humans need more opportunities for play and social interaction. When we consider pubs as more than bars and parks as more than playground equipment, we appreciate their real value as what urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg calls “third places”—those gathering spots that are neither home nor work nor school.

To be clear, I am not talking about specialty bars that are targeted to specific audiences and propped by alcohol specials. Successful pubs and taverns are less about alcohol consumption and more about conversational word play with others. Neighborhood playgrounds, accessible by walkers, focused on individual interactions and exploration, are also different from mega parks, with multiple fields primarily for organized group activities. 

We all need a place in our neighborhood where everybody knows our name.

As someone who was single well into her 30s, I spent plenty of time observing life in pubs. Now, with two children and a home office in a window-filled corner, I find my attention turning to life in the small playground behind our house.

We have a big yard, with plenty of space to run around. There is even a beloved rope swing hanging from the canopy of a live oak tree, but playing in a yard is different than playing in a park. A yard comes with boundaries that require invitations to cross. Parks, like all good third places, are accessible to all who want to use them.

It can be hard to start a conversation with someone walking by a fence, but it’s easy to strike up a conversation while swinging on a swing, or waiting for the slide. A stranger in a yard could be an intruder, but a stranger in a park could be a friend. That’s precisely why one of my sons, upon spotting a potential playmate, yells to the other, “Someone is in the park, someone is in the park!” before running out the door.

Oldenburg writes about the role of regulars play in third places, and I see it out my window. When a tether ball was added to the park, it attracted older kids, including a 12-year-old neighbor. Some days she comes by herself. Some days she brings friends and newcomers.

Before long, she became known as a regular and started to model park behavior for others. Her willingness to play with kids of all ages and her approachability has set a tone for the park that is better than any list of rules or adult monitor could establish. 

In much the same way that I eventually moved on from the pub, in time this tether-ball-playing, benevolent park regular will want to move onto another third place. But when regulars have established a stable, welcoming, home-like spirit, such a void can be easily filled by others who have been mentored to continue the community.

If we want adults to “play nicely,” positively contribute to a community, and interact with a variety of people at pubs and other adult gathering spots, we need good playgrounds and other child-friendly gathering spots where kids can practice these skills.

Whether inventing a recipe, building a club house, or sewing a rag doll, kids love to make things. Not only do they get to learn for themselves what works (and what doesn't!), but they get to enjoy and show off a tangible product at the end of it.

The Maker Movement, which has been gaining ground in recent years, is as much for kids as for adults. In fact, Phillip Torrone of Make Magazine believes that "the Maker Movement belongs to the kids now." He says that for the kids he meets these days:

...the idea of making things, taking things apart and sharing has not been something new, it’s something that’s always been there for them. The average maker isn’t just a 35 year old guy, it’s becoming a 10 year old girl or boy with a 3D printer.

Get your kids started at one of the many family festivals geared toward hammer-wielding children. This Saturday, Sept 22 in Washington, DC, the National Building Museum is hosting The Big Build, where kids can build a brick wall, construct a log cabin, carve stone, compete in a nail driving contest, and play with huge foam blocks in Imagination Playground (provided by yours truly!).

See photos from previous Big Builds:

Next weekend, September 29-30, is the World Maker Faire, a "family-friendly festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness" in New York City. Mini Maker Faires are happening all over the country (and globe!) -- find one near you here. The National Building Museum is also hosting a Discover Engineering Family Day in February.

It's time to break out the toolbox, open the craft drawer, rummage through the pantry, and start making!

Top photo via National Building Museum.