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What kinds of meaningful stuff are kids even capable of doing?
by selestify 8y ago
What kinds of meaningful stuff are kids even capable of doing?
- phyzome 8y agoWhat kinds of meaningful stuff are adults even capable of doing? What kinds of meaningful stuff are you even capable of doing?
- selestify 8y agoI don't know. What makes something meaningful?
- photojosh 8y agoNot meaningful to you, meaningful to them. Mine are currently building weird contraptions out of Meccano, take off on their bikes every chance they get, and playing their instruments without being asked (most of the time). They often actively turn down the option to play video games. I take the parenting approach of throwing tons of stuff at them, and let them pursue what they find interesting. It seems to be they find meaning in exploring the limits of what their minds and bodies can do, which I reckon is fine for 8 and 10 year olds.
- selestify 8y agoDo you ever restrict them from doing one thing, such as video games, too much?
- photojosh 8y agoThere was a period when they were 5-7 years old where they did want to play a lot more, and we had to limit it and cut them off. One notable experience: we make them watch their own time limits, and there was a time where they went 20 minutes over, so we banned gaming for 2 weeks, and it hasn't happened again. It arises sometimes during school holidays, but more often than not, they themselves decide it's time to finish up and go get some outdoors time. I acknowledge that this dynamic is likely to change significantly when they get a bit older and particularly getting into teenage years, but I don't think we could have done this initial groundwork any better, IMHO. (And another key component is that all screens are in shared family spaces, not in bedrooms.)
- datagram 8y agoMaking games instead of playing them, for one. That's what got me into computer science when I was a kid.