Sunshine and Fresh Air

I was raised into adulthood at the beginning of the video game revolution. I fought with the temptation to lose countless hours saving the princess or destroying as many enemy outposts as possible while running dangerously low on "lives."

In fact, I think if my parents had given me more chances to become a couch potato, I would have.

However, it seemed just when I was getting most comfortable with my position on the couch, my mother would come up and suggest I get some "sunshine and fresh air."

I swear, if my mother were a physician, sunshine and fresh air would be her solution to any problem brought upon a child under the age of ten years old. It is her panacea for a world wasted away.

Perhaps some of this had to do with the fact that she had six kids, four of whom were boys, and the idea of having us all in the house, all of the time, would have driven her crazy.

Since becoming an adult, I have reflected at times on the lessons that I learned while getting "sunshine and fresh air." I thought of when I got that "sunshine and fresh air." Living in the high plains and wintry conditions of Idaho, we had plenty of fresh air, but that sunshine wasn't quite so abundant.

But during the summer months, I would enjoy running outside while playing baseball. I enjoyed riding bikes with friends. I enjoyed playing on playgrounds with kids of all kinds.

In fact, as I think of the entertainment options that many children choose these days- video games, computers, Netflix - I am concerned that many of them are missing great opportunities that have been afforded to generations before.

I am convinced that many video games are designed and created by people who developed that imagination on the playground. The playground enables children to enjoy free play. The lack of structure provides unlimited potential for their imagination to run free. Children can be pirates fighting, kings ruling, or monkeys swinging, all at the same time on the same play structure.

When playing a video game, much of that freedom is curtailed by the goal of obtaining the prize or scoring the most points.

A playground offers children the opportunity to fight the difficulties of childhood obesity. It is a national concern that can be greatly improved if children will go get some "sunshine and fresh air" at the playground. Play structures are designed to challenge children. Although climbing onto a second deck may seem elementary to us as adults, the benefit that experience brings to a child can't be overlooked.

One of the great differences between a child going to a playground and sitting in front of a television is the social interaction that is present at a play structure.

Go near a playground full of children sometime and listen. The sounds of joy chirp from the structure like nowhere else. The only sounds that can be heard while a child is glued to a television are the sounds of the television.

Children learn invaluable social skills while getting "sunshine and fresh air" at the playground. They make new friends. They overcome challenges. For many of them, they get their first true tests of bravery by going down the slide without mom or dad holding on.

It seems that every time I visit a playground with my nephews or nieces, the child I am supervising comes away with two or three new friends. Before I knew it, my niece was off at one end of the structure playing with a child that she had met three minutes earlier. This is from the same niece who gets very shy around adults she doesn't know.

Perhaps one of the greatest aspects of getting "sunshine and fresh air" at a playground is the one-on-one time that it requires from a supervising parent or adult. Children crave attention. They crave acceptance. Taking a child to a playground provides parents with a reason to spend time with their child. Children need supervision while playing on the structure, and a parent is the best person to offer that supervision. Watch a little girl's eyes when she goes down the slide by herself. She will be smiling and looking for her mother.

During the warm summer months, when children are free from the time restraints of a formal recess period, and free from the bitter cold that comes across so many parts of the country during the winter, encourage children you know to visit a playground. I would argue that there is no other place where a child can be so independent while being supervised. There is no other place where a child can learn so much by doing nothing but having fun.

As I look back, I think my mom was suggesting that I do more than get "sunshine and fresh air." I think she realized that with sunshine and fresh air comes independence, quality interaction with her and others, and the chance to grow more than I could in front of a television.