Kids Play the Darndest Things

Today I’m sharing a few short videos that friends have enjoyed in the hope that they will give you pause to smile too. They are moments full of inventiveness, ingenuity, spontaneity and adventure.

Our home video and photo archives are bursting at the digital seams. We’re now firmly committed to terabyte territory for storage and safekeeping. There’s plenty of memory inducing imagery that we revel in as well as short scenes that instill laughter and sometimes tears.

We dive into these treasures intermittently for some full on ‘remember when’ immersion. This past year we’ve been dipping in more frequently. There’s solace, release and hope watching kids at play and occasionally, a measure of hilarity.

For parents, caregivers, neighbourhoods, community groups, schools and kid-focused organizations, it’s important that we create the conditions that will enable kids to play back better as we transition to post-COVID horizons. Let’s ensure that children are invested with trust and have the space, time and freedom to reclaim play.

Many thanks to Mélanie who shot these videos and much more importantly gave our kids a great start along the road to independence and discovery.

On with the show this is it…..

Firemen In Space

 

We’re Giggling in the Rain

 

Welcome to our House

 

Petits Poussins – Little Chicks

 

Home Schooling 101

 

So there you have it, we had about a 10 year head start on the home schooling. It hasn’t made the current experience any easier. Both the teacher and student in the segment above are now somewhat reluctant home schoolees.

In closing I want to reference a recent article in The Guardian by Hannah Jane Parkinson – Don’t show me photos of your kids: read me their poetry. I love the premise (hoping it doesn’t apply to videos :-)) and believe that play itself when kids are left to follow their own inclinations can be a fluid, unrehearsed kind of poetry. Take a peek, Parkinson’s article is a quick, uplifting read.