“Boys and girls come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day,
Leave your supper and leave your sleep,
And join your playfellows in the street.”
Play is the Work of Children
There’s no doubt that play is the work of children. It’s what they live for, and rightly so. Yet the last couple of generations have seen a change in what is considered play by children themselves. Ask a child what they played today; it’s unlikely they’ll say “cowboys” or “skipping rope” – two of the most likely answers when I was growing up.
Kids Need to Run
This loss of outdoor play is bad for kids. Kids need to run, they need to get dirty, and they need to connect with nature. But who wants to be the one child outside while all the other kids are indoors in front of the screen? In an effort to bring back outdoor play KaBOOM! are inviting you to plan a Play Day for your community the week of September 19-27th.
KaBOOM! to the Rescue
Let’s say you’re now thinking, “What a great idea? But how do I plan a Play Day?” This is where KaBOOM! comes in. They will help you with planning guides. If you need ideas for what to do with your Play Day, want to register your play day, and even want to pick up a Play Day Kit for FREE pop on over to their website to plan a Play Day. If you’re concerned about the environment though you just might want to skip that kit of brightly colored stuff.
Who Knows What Will Come of Playing Outside
You might make new friends, learn about your neighbors, discover a new outdoor treasure in your neighborhood. You very well might decide to start a new moms group, or a new weekly or monthly play group. Before you know it your kids might be putting down the video games and playing outside until dark. Unless of course they do that already…
What would be your idea of a great Play Day outdoors? How many people would you want involved and what activities would be fun for you and your kids? I say “go for it!”
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We live on a block where the kids still just run across the street, knock on the door and play outside until they are called in for dinner or bedtime. However, even with the strict limits we set on tv time and video game time, sometimes it’s still tough to get them out the door. Once I shove them out (and I will do it if necessary), they always have a great time.
Planning a play day may be necessary for some areas, but I’m really glad that it’s not necessary to get my boys and their friends outside. I’m glad that there are adults and organizations that are helping to organize play if it’s necessary, though.
I like that Robin – “shove them out”. More parents need to do that. A one-off playdate is great, but only if it leads to the start of something more. Once a year isn’t enough to send kids out to play! There really is a large variation amongst neighborhoods in this respect. Increasing awareness, and increasing discussion on the need for play outdoors, including things like this current initiative by KaBOOM! are bound to make a difference in neighborhoods where a kid outside would currently be by alone.