3 ms·

Imaginative play makes us better adjusted, smarter and less stressed

18 points by robg 18y ago

wallflower 18y ago
I fondly recall playing in the dirt under a bush with my Star Wars action figures for hours and days in aggregate, lost in an environment of my creation. I observe my over-stimulated (as in classes for music/art and prior to that, Baby Einstein) nephew and wonder if he's missing out on the pleasures of just unscheduled, imaginative play. I think he is; however, I don't think he knows that. I wonder if parents who grew up playing on their own, with their own imaginations have been peer-pressured into the Baby Einstein way of child attention occupation.
- wensing 18y ago
  Generationally-speaking, I think the role of TV in children's lives has increased greatly since I was young (I am 27 now, with a 1 yr old son and 4 yr old daughter). So many people are growing up now believing that TV is the nanny, educator, entertainer, informer, you name it. Sesame Street was just being invented during the Gen-X days of growing up. There weren't as many options. Now, new parents are bombarded with media, and most of them believe what they're told. Take away the TV and see what the child does. And see what the parents do. Fascinating.
  - wallflower 18y ago
    My friend who works at Comcast said the perennial top late night/wee hours of morning Video-on-Demand requests are modern Nickelodeon-era, child pleasing staples like "The Wiggles" I've watched "The Wiggles" several times. How can a tired, full-time parent ever compete (in the entertain-my-kid realm) with the hyper-naturally perky, fun, safe, singing and dancing former punk rock band called "The Wiggles"
    - wensing 18y ago
      That is a really sad factoid. Oh man. Don't get me started. But if you insist, a few high-level thoughts: real life isn't about being entertained, the parent has the advantage of being the parent--wow, a relationship possibility, right before your eyes! Why are you wasting the 12 years you have before adolescence on mindless drivel instead of winning your child's affection? Agh! OK, I'll stop.
      - wallflower 18y ago
        Unfortunately, I think all child raising theory and advice is theoretical until you get to practice it on your own children. "I really didn't like TV-Turnoff Week except that I did notice that my grades went up and I was in a good mood all week." - Second grader Drew Henderson, Donora, PA http://tvturnoff.org/ http://tvturnoff.org/ "In a recent study, two economists at the University of Chicago, Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse Shapiro, came up with a different way to test the long-run impact of television on kids." Yes, but sometimes test scores aren't the defacto measurement of impact on kids.. http://www.slate.com/id/2136372/ http://www.slate.com/id/2136372/
        wensing 18y ago
        Unfortunately, I think all child raising theory and advice is theoretical until you get to practice it on your own children. I know you don't mean to imply otherwise, but that is what I'm doing right now. And I will tell you that I love hearing my daughter say "Anyway, I'm going to go to the couch and read a book now." instead of "Daddy can I watch Wiggles?!?!" :-) Not that my wife and I don't have a long, long way to go. Awesome quotes, by the way. Thanks for sharing.
        wallflower 18y ago
        I think you're on the right track. My sister (of the overactive nephew) has a set of favorite childhood books that she wants to pass her love of reading, when the time comes. And, of course, I was unable to parse whether you were a parent based on the 3rd person subjects you were using.
wensing 18y ago
From the article: "Children learn to be fair and take turns—they cannot always demand to be the fairy queen, or soon they have no playmates. “They want this thing to keep going, so they’re willing to go the extra mile” to accommodate others’ desires, he explains. HA! As the father of two children under five years of age, I reject the idea that children will teach themselves how to share or play fair. Perhaps if I let her, my four year old would eventually feel sorry for bullying her brother away from her keyboard, but I am not going to wait on some evolutionary time scale for that to happen (I personally don't think it will).
speek 18y ago
Yes! I'm glad someone did the research to write this.

18 points by robg 18y ago

I fondly recall playing in the dirt under a bush with my Star Wars action figures for hours and days in aggregate, lost in an environment of my creation. I observe my over-stimulated (as in classes for music/art and prior to that, Baby Einstein) nephew and wonder if he's missing out on the pleasures of just unscheduled, imaginative play. I think he is; however, I don't think he knows that. I wonder if parents who grew up playing on their own, with their own imaginations have been peer-pressured into the Baby Einstein way of child attention occupation.

wensing 18y ago
Generationally-speaking, I think the role of TV in children's lives has increased greatly since I was young (I am 27 now, with a 1 yr old son and 4 yr old daughter). So many people are growing up now believing that TV is the nanny, educator, entertainer, informer, you name it. Sesame Street was just being invented during the Gen-X days of growing up. There weren't as many options. Now, new parents are bombarded with media, and most of them believe what they're told. Take away the TV and see what the child does. And see what the parents do. Fascinating.
- wallflower 18y ago
  My friend who works at Comcast said the perennial top late night/wee hours of morning Video-on-Demand requests are modern Nickelodeon-era, child pleasing staples like "The Wiggles" I've watched "The Wiggles" several times. How can a tired, full-time parent ever compete (in the entertain-my-kid realm) with the hyper-naturally perky, fun, safe, singing and dancing former punk rock band called "The Wiggles"
  - wensing 18y ago
    That is a really sad factoid. Oh man. Don't get me started. But if you insist, a few high-level thoughts: real life isn't about being entertained, the parent has the advantage of being the parent--wow, a relationship possibility, right before your eyes! Why are you wasting the 12 years you have before adolescence on mindless drivel instead of winning your child's affection? Agh! OK, I'll stop.
    - wallflower 18y ago
      Unfortunately, I think all child raising theory and advice is theoretical until you get to practice it on your own children. "I really didn't like TV-Turnoff Week except that I did notice that my grades went up and I was in a good mood all week." - Second grader Drew Henderson, Donora, PA http://tvturnoff.org/ http://tvturnoff.org/ "In a recent study, two economists at the University of Chicago, Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse Shapiro, came up with a different way to test the long-run impact of television on kids." Yes, but sometimes test scores aren't the defacto measurement of impact on kids.. http://www.slate.com/id/2136372/ http://www.slate.com/id/2136372/
      - wensing 18y ago
        Unfortunately, I think all child raising theory and advice is theoretical until you get to practice it on your own children. I know you don't mean to imply otherwise, but that is what I'm doing right now. And I will tell you that I love hearing my daughter say "Anyway, I'm going to go to the couch and read a book now." instead of "Daddy can I watch Wiggles?!?!" :-) Not that my wife and I don't have a long, long way to go. Awesome quotes, by the way. Thanks for sharing.
        wallflower 18y ago
        I think you're on the right track. My sister (of the overactive nephew) has a set of favorite childhood books that she wants to pass her love of reading, when the time comes. And, of course, I was unable to parse whether you were a parent based on the 3rd person subjects you were using.

wensing 18y ago

From the article: "Children learn to be fair and take turns—they cannot always demand to be the fairy queen, or soon they have no playmates. “They want this thing to keep going, so they’re willing to go the extra mile” to accommodate others’ desires, he explains. HA! As the father of two children under five years of age, I reject the idea that children will teach themselves how to share or play fair. Perhaps if I let her, my four year old would eventually feel sorry for bullying her brother away from her keyboard, but I am not going to wait on some evolutionary time scale for that to happen (I personally don't think it will).

speek 18y ago

Yes! I'm glad someone did the research to write this.