About the Book
Like many of us, Silken Laumann’s fondest childhood memories are of play: stay outside until that final call for dinner, neighbourhood-wide games of Capture-the-Flag and road hockey that went on for hours.
But as a parent, Silken knows that our perception of the world has changed. Our streets and parks don’t feel as safe as we’d like and we don’t know our neighbours as we used to. While we recognize the need for our kids to be active, our fears, along with our busy lives and the enormous societal pressure to (simultaneously) make athletes, academics and artists out of our children, have led us to schedule their every activity, driving them to and from soccer practice, piano lessons, tutorials.
Our children are missing out on the greatest joy of childhood – unstructured play – and this loss of physical movement has led to some staggering statistics: 36% of Canadian children are overweight and 10% of them are obese. Type II diabetes among children is on the rise, and more and more children are becoming depressed and disengaged.
We have forgotten just how important unstructured play is for our children’s development and well-being: It keeps kids healthy, creative and active; it teaches them valuable life skills and, most importantly, it lets our kids be kids, worry-free and joyful.
It’s up to us to create a better world for our kids. Child’s Play is a call for action, an inspirational guide to reconnecting with our kids, and an introduction to inspiring examples for building safe, supportive communities and healthy schools. Above all, it’s a book of simple ideas for parents looking for change.
Child’s Play is available wherever books are sold April 2006