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The gang at Playbourhood is taking our mission to the streets! I’ve discovered that one of the best ways to help promote the development of our neighbourhoods into playbourhoods is to promote the idea. While I think I’m fortunate to live on a street where there’s lots of playing and interaction with the neighbours, it still amazes me how when I start talking about the Playbourhood idea, it opens eyes and encourages participation. The more we’re all aware, the more it seems people are willing to work together to help the process along. In that light, I’m thrilled that Mike Lanza has come …
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Now that the weather is finally turning warm, it’s about time we all shake off the hibernation blahs and get outside. Around my Playbourhood the number of kids out on the street has certainly grown in the last few weeks and I’m thrilled by all the excitement. One of our neighbours is teaching his daughter how to ride her bike without training wheels. Kids are slowing down traffic with their pick up hockey games and several basketball nets have been moved to the curb. It’s a wonderful time to get outside and spend some quality time with the kids and the neighbours. And to encourage that …
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A recent article posted on the Toronto Star web site addresses a concern for school-aged children who don’t have access to “structured programs” in the hours between the dismissal bell and the dinner-time arrival of parents returning home from work. You can read the article here. This kind of story always catches my interest because it speaks directly to the kinds of things we talk about here at Playbourhood. The difficulty, of course, is reconciling our need to protect and nurture our children with our desire to just “let them be kids”. In other words, what is the problem we’re trying to …
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The National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York recently announced its 2008 inductees into the Toy Hall of Fame, and to the surprise of many (though not to ten-year-old boys the world over), the stick was one of this year’s recognized toys (the others were the Baby Doll and Skateboard). In celebrating the stick as one of the most important toys of all time (and this is a case in which “all time” really means ALL time), the Museum writes, “The stick may be the world’s oldest toy…. When children pretend with sticks, they cultivate their creativity and develop their imagination…. They are …
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Last week, the Community Foundation of Oakville released a report that explored a number of issues deemed important to ensuring a healthy, happy, strong and well-balanced community. Entitled “Vital Signs” the report measures the vitality of our community, identifies significant trends, and assigns grades in 11 areas critical to quality of life. This particular report is part of a series of similar studies coordinated nationally by Community Foundations of Canada. The purpose of these studies is to encourage dialogue, increase awareness and, hopefully, develop a desire to deal with these …
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Sheridan Valley Park reminds me of a little playground I used to frequent when I was a kid. Nestled deeply among the trees and in the heart of the neighbourhood, this little park is wonderful. Located just south of Upper Middle Road at the intersection of Grand Boulevard and Fleetwood Road, the park boasts direct links to a number of other parks, natural spaces and walking trails in the area - Fleetwood Park, Iroquois Shoreline Woods, Lancaster Woods and Valley Brook Park.
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Alfie Kohn is a Boston-based author who regularly speaks about educational and parenting issues. He was in Toronto this week to talk about his belief that homework just doesn’t work. It’s the kind of argument that’s been made here before on Playbourhood. Our contention is that kids need time to just be kids - to play and develop in an unstructured manner. It isn’t necessary to restrict formal learning to the classroom - after all there are all kinds of educational toys, games and activities that reinforce and benefit the academic foundations. But they also need a healthy dose of social …
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A Club for Active Kids. Outdoors! Clearly the kind of thing that we’ve been promoting here at Playbourhood is not an isolated concern. The folks over at Active Kids Club have taken up the challenge and are putting the concept into action. Here’s a quote from their web site expressing the importance of playing outdoors starting at a young age: “Increasing your child’s exposure at an early age to outdoor play doesn’t just benefit their physical development. It enriches all aspect of early childhood development, mind and body. By exposing your child to both structured activities and …
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Here at Playbourhood, we talk a lot about kids playing outdoors, doing things on their own in an unstructured environment and putting away their GameBoys. There’s nothing wrong with television, computers or organized sports - they all have a valuable role to play in our kid’s development. But it’s only one part of the bigger picture. Providing a good balance is what it’s really all about. Mike Lanza talks a little bit about this over on the Playborhood site in this great post about “shunning technology” in favour of more “face time” with family and friends.
Martindale Park is located in a wonderful spot. It’s smack dab in the middle of a thriving and well-established residential part of town just south and east of the Trafalgar and Upper Middle intersection. The park is large and backs onto the main campus of Sheridan College. That means the area has a great mix of people of all ages which makes for a healthy Playbourhood atmosphere.
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This week I’ve found myself wondering if I’ve become a hypocrite. It stems from a struggle between a sincere belief that a living in a Playbourhood is both desirable and vital for our children’s healthy development and the natural instinct as a parent to protect my kids.
Looking around my own neighbourhood, I see plenty of kids interacting with each other, playing in the street and having a great time just being kids. Recently the kids a few houses down invented a game of tag played on their scooters. They race up and down, back and forth, around and around. They’ve found a way to …
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Yet again, reports and studies show that a rising number of children are becoming obese because they are not active enough. They are spending far too much time in front of television screens, at computer terminals and with game consoles in their chubby little hands. Here’s an article from Parentcentral.ca which talks about this very problem.
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When we first arrived at Glenashton Park, I was struck by the quiet silence. Despite being located next door to the busy Iroquois Ridge Community Centre, there wasn’t a soul on the playground. That’s a shame, because it’s a great park. Lots to do for all ages with both low and high slides, tons of swings, and a variety of things to climb including two low rock walls. The only drawbacks are the pea-stone play surface and the liberal use of metal used for construction. The problem is that the park is far in off the road and in the middle of a large green space. Homes area a bit of a walk …
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