The play's the thing

I have a t-shirt that says, “Dodgeball: America’s Twist on Stoning.” I find it quite amusing and from those who were the throwers and those who were the dodgers it usually elicits some type of response.

I share this with you because of a story I heard about a school in New Hampshire that is planning on stopping children from playing tag. Seriously. Tag. The game perhaps every child grew up playing. Tag.

The reasons given by the administration is that while playing Tag kids were not paying attention and were running into things and tripping and falling. Seriously. Tag.

I am still troubled by the fact that schools were doing away with dodgeball and now this!

Ask any person of a certain age what they remember about Dodgeball and you get a response. Some will still cuss-out the jocks without mercy; some will berate the gym teacher who would not allow them to intentionally get out of the game; and some will smile maniacally and tell tales of targeting cheerleaders.

To balance out this narrative, today I heard a story where local researchers here in Pittsburgh celebrate and condone the nature of play and find that children who regularly play and notably play board games show increases in creativity and development.

Play is what kids do. I come from a family of….how to put this...players. We played board games almost every day (please see the above findings of the researchers...smile) anything from Parcheesi to the aptly named Aggravation to “Sorry” to card games to outside games involving a ball and our imagination.

We had frequent game nights and every Christmas someone in the family gets a boardgame of some sort and it’s game on!

Playing games is a very good thing!

I grieve the fact that kids today seem incapable of simply getting together with the neighborhood gang and playing a game. I am saddened when kids tell me they don’t play board games at home.

Sometime soon I beg you to get together and play something!

Break out a board game! Get a bouncey ball and play “7-Up!” Shuffle a deck-of-cards and play “Go Fish!”

Shoot, be a complete radical and get a group of people together and play a game of Tag…..just be sure to wrap the trees and telephone poles in safety padding….please……

sj;