What are kids missing these days? Cuts, gazes, nature, fresh air, experience, dirt, mud, exercise, positive routines, good food & enough sleep.
My playground was our entire neighbourhood, the public pool and surrounding bush area. I grew up outside Kimberley in the Northern Cape South Africa in an area called Kenilworth. It bordered on an abandoned mining property which stood full of 40 meter high mine dumps that ran quite steep, lots of wild grass, guinea fowl, some buck, a jackal or twenty, snakes, spiders, scorpions, lizards of all kinds including monitor lizards, very tall trees and small dams.
The mine dumps looked similar to the ones below
Here are some of the entertainment I grew up with
Baboon spider
Black widow which is very poisonous and also did put me in hospital after being bitten by one
Monitor lizard
Scorpions
and funny enough, I am alive and well today. My parents gave hidings, grounded us, let us go to bed without supper if we were ungrateful for the food we got and believe me, my mom cooked very healthy meals, balanced meals with a balance of some meat, vegetables and some a little starch, but ungratefulness for what some never even see was not tolerated.
My parents encouraged us to make lots of friends, learn to share things, be polite (like greeting people you passed), play outside, make funtime of sports, say please and thank you, call older people mam & sir, appreciate what we are given and earn what we would like to have and never waste or litter. I think they did a great job.
We were also never just given money, we helped out around the house to earn spending money and toys were given when we did well in school or sport, nothing was just free.
We played in parks and weren't driven there, we went on our bicycles or on foot, we were made to go to church & pray and yet we are still alive.
We also rode to school on our bicycles or went by foot unless you lived extremely far from school.
Parents use the excuse that it is too dangerous for kids to play outside these days, but this is not the case everywhere.
Take some time to guide your kids on a different route in order for them to have a better future, a happier one filled with self confidence and respect both for themselves and others.
I miss my childhood, it was an enormous adventure surrounded by great people.
Some sounds from then
Make memories you can hold in your mind
Improvise Adapt & Overcome