Dear Friend,

Cheraw's warmer days bring to mind many happy memories of my own childhood, a time before central air and the internet, video games and Wal-Mart. It was a time of open windows and being lulled off to sleep by the sound of tree frogs, days playing outside with my friends until it was so dark you could no longer see, sitting on someone's front porch scaring each other with ghost stories, and just good ole entertaining ourselves with our imagination and not some kind of electronic gizmo.

Although my sons, both born in the 80's, had more entertainment options than I did growing up, they still spent the majority of their time outside playing army and building forts, riding their bikes and squirting each other with the water hose. So what is going on? Is it my imagination or does today's generation of kids seem to have forgotten how to use their creativity when it comes to play time? In Cheraw, we are blessed to live in a rural environment which means we have many options when it comes to outdoor activities. However, when I'm out in Cheraw's neighborhoods, I just don't see kids riding their bikes, playing Freeze Tag, or simply hanging out in a tree house.

Doing a little research on the internet, I found an article on the National Public Radio website entitled "Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills". Seems like I'm not the only one concerned about how kids spend their time. According to the article, most kids today spend a lot of time doing three things: watching television, playing video games and taking lessons. None of these activities promote self-regulation, and self-regulation is a critical skill for kids.

Researchers Adele Diamond and Deborah Leong have good news: The best kind of play costs nothing and really only has one main requirement — imagination. And while playing outdoors is not a requirement for these activities, to me it's an added bonus. One type of play suggested is where your child plans scenarios and enacts those scenarios for a fair amount of time, a half-hour at a minimum, though longer is better. Sustained play that last for hours is best. Realistic props are good for very young children, but otherwise the article said to encourage kids to use symbolic props that they create and make through their imaginations. For example, a stick becomes a sword. This all reminds me of my own childhood, when we used the resources at hand, and with our imagination, we transformed long afternoons into hours of entertainment.
  
It seems that in the rush to give children every advantage — to protect them, to stimulate them, to enrich them — our culture has unwittingly compromised one of the activities that helped children most.

But it's not too late! Turn off that television, take away those video games for a few hours and forget about organized play. Get those kids outside, and let their imaginations run wild!

David W. Sides, Editor