In decades past, kids were expected to be seen but not heard. They would go to school, then go outside and entertain themselves, as long as they were home for dinner. At other points, they were used almost as fashion accessories, dressed in styles that mimicked their parents, or on fancy outfits that reflected well on their guardians – clean, neat, slicked back, and colour-coordinated. They were still expected to be silent though, at least around grown-ups.
Modern parenting is different. Kids spend a lot of time on their screens, and they have the space to verbally express themselves. It has both upsides and downsides – more grocery store tantrums, but also more entrepreneur-ing minors, and more teenage activism against guns, bullying, sexism, racism, and other social ills. And because our kids are growing up – some would say too fast – we often forget they’re still children who just want to play.
Playing grown-up games
Kids’ playtime has always been a mimicry of the adult behaviour they’ve observed. So they’d play house, school, or shop-based games. Now they pick videogames where they role play as soldiers, animals, or characters with agency – adult characters. Even when their avatar has a child persona, that avatar has the rights and freedoms of a citizen over 21. It’s part of the appeal. And even when these kids get involved in activism and the like, they gamify it.
This in no way minimises their efforts or downplays their results – it’s simply an element of their thought process. And sometimes, this mature behaviour goes to the other extreme. It’s such an intellectual, mental, emotional pursuit that the kids may forget their need for … play. It doesn’t have to be childish, but it does need to be physical. After a day of signing petitions, picketing, and shooting YouTube videos, your hyper tween or angsty teen needs to de-stress.
Working off the angst
Playful physical activity is a good way to release the intensity of their day, and this matters at all ages. For infants and toddlers, it boosts their motor skills, literally helping them develop muscles and coordination to navigate the world. For older kids, it’s about exercising their muscles, but it’s also about regaining presence, focusing on their body instead of their minds. You could build them an outdoor gym like Urban Fit.
They’re designed for older teens, and adults can use them too. They basically consist of gym equipment reformatted for the outdoors. Your kids can practice their resistance training and get some weights work in, but because it’s playfully built and located in the open air, it feels light and relaxing rather than intense and punishing. It takes off the pressure of a conventional gym, but can be just as effective – maybe moreso – because of the access to sunshine and fresh air, and the absence of sweaty gym grunts.
Hanging out with friends
Playsets serve a motor function, training muscle coordination and improving physical ability. It gives kids something to do when you take away their screens, and reminds them there’s a wide, beautiful, non-digital world out there. But being ‘outside’ can be scary because it involves dealing with other human beings, and there’s no screen buffer. Making friends is hard at any age. Playsets can help with this. It’s an organic gathering place.
Mobile phones and tablets are a communication medium, and playsets are too, just a different kind. Children can learn to communicate and negotiate as they share a playset. Initially, they can use different parts of the playset, being near each other but not ‘with’ each other. They get comfortable non-verbally, absorbing lessons about body language and personal space. Then they can get into rudimentary exchanges as they bargain turns at the swing or slide. They acquire negotiation tactics and emotional intelligence.
It engages their bodies
Todays’ world – both for adults and kids – is relying increasingly on technology. Electric toothbrushes, self-driving cars, virtual musical instruments, stationary gym equipment, the internet of things. We’re using our bodies less and less, trying to substitute everything with its mental equivalent. Adults might prefer this, but kids still need to use their bodies. It’s part of the wonder of childhood – they enjoy moving their limbs and actively applying physicality. Playsets allow children to stay young. We often inadvertently impose maturity on them.
We make them babysit younger siblings, dress up ‘properly’, and take structured sports and hobbies for their (future) resumes and college applications. We also impose adult worries on them. It’s not deliberate, but our desire to keep them safe exposes their thinking to the evils of the world. Playsets are a space they can keep being kids. Their parents are watching, so they’re less worried about stranger-danger and playground accidents. With their parents feeling secure, the kids are free to stop worrying and just play.
