Dear readers, this contest is closed. We will contact the winner offline. Peace out.
Did you see the post last month where Whitney showed how her kids used the summer fun kit from GoGo SqueeZ? It cracked me up. Our children — born at the same hospital and living only 2 miles apart — could not be more different sometimes. Her kids corralled their stuffed animals with chalk circles and balanced bean bag pouches on their bellies.
My sons prefer to run all over the place throwing things at one another. In fact, one of my favorite pregnant games to play with them is a modified version of “fetch” where they chase after what I kick or throw. Stomp rockets, playground balls, and Frisbees are the tools in my arsenal for getting them to go-go-go while I sit-sit-sit.
About that giveaway:
The prize will be a “GoGo Time in the Summertime” kit valued at about $225 like this one pictured including Flip UltraHD Video Camera – White, 8 GB, 2 Hours; play gear like throwing discs and those cherished bean bags; tasty GoGo SqueeZ applesauce; and a large canvas tote bag to carry it all.
To enter: Answer how your childhood memories of playing outside are different from what your child experiences today. We’ll choose one random commenter on August 25, 2011.
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Note: GoGo squeeZ compensated us for participation in this project.We hope you like the outdoor toys and video camera so that you can capture your family’s own special brand of outdoor fun.
We biked without helmets (never hit our heads but definitely got a lot of scrapes!) and were allowed to walk to the park and cross a busy street by ourselves.
My grandparents watched us in the summer (in Florida) and we had to be outside ALL DAY with NO supervision. We were allowed inside at lunchtime to eat and watch one soap opera. My grandpa built an entire 40 ft sailboat in the backyard over the course of 15 years and that was the world’s best playground.
Now my kids are rarely outside of my sight and the idea that anyone would let them “dig a hole to China” with a shovel one afternoon seems crazy to me!
Well when I was a kid I grew up in suburbia and could run and play everywhere. We now live in an urban area in an apartment. My kids have a lot less freedom than I had as a result. On a positive note, they are exposed to a lot more diversity than I was exposed to!
There were kids of all ages playing together in the middle of the street with no parents anywhere.
Now I do not see children outside in my neighborhood unless they are with an adult.
Sad.
Oh my, big big difference. I was allowed to wander and just told not to go “too far into the woods.” My kid is not allowed to leave my line of vision. Ever. But, then, he’s only two. I plan to turn my back on him while he’s playing … one day.
I was always outside when I was a kid from just after breakfast until dusk. We had full run of the neighborhood and once we were over 8, could pretty much go anywhere our feet or bikes could take us. Now my poor kid is lucky to go outside for an hour or two every day. But the good stuff remains; throwing rocks into the creek, digging for worms, playing wiffle ball and riding bikes up and down the street.
My childhood memories consist of riding bicycles, climbing trees, eating homemade popsicles, reading books, catching fireflies, playing hide and seek… aaaah.. Today’s child memories – video games, water parks, roller coasters, shopping malls. I hope to introduce my child to the things I experienced.
Most of my outdoor memories with my younger siblings involved the tree in our backyard. We climbed it, we jumped out of it, we built a zip-line from my brother’s window and zip-lined into it…
Alas, my kids are used to constructed structures and parks, not trees and a backyard. It’s sad, but part of moving from small-town, USA, to Chicagoland.
I remember playing in the neighborhood and woods for hours on end with no supervision. I came home crying one day telling my mom we were going to Disney World. She gave me a hug and pushed me back outside to start my journey. Told me to be home in time for dinner!
One set of my grandparents had a farm in upstate New York – so while I was in the suburbs, we had trips all the time to the farm where we would play outside literally all day long. We built “forts”, picked wild berries, and never worried about being in any danger.
My daughter definitely won’t have that experience…both sets of grandparents don’t even have backyards, and my husband has allergies to most outdoor plants. Poor kiddo!!!
I used to play on playgrounds where the equipment was made of metal and wood – not plastic! The metal on the slides was so hot it would burn your legs and the slides were really steep! Now it seems like playrounds offer no risks or fear factor for kids, which I think is part of process of growing up!
i was outside from dawn till dusk in the summertime, i think my mom actually locked the door between lunch and dinnertime! we live in a loft so the outside time is a lot more structured!
Like others have said, I remember playing for hours at a time outside without ever seeing an adult!
I never ever remember wearing sunscreen and only very rarely mosquito repellant, I would never let my kids outside without sunscreen. And if the mosquitoes are too thick, we tend to stay inside. Lame, I know.
We played for endless hours in the front yard without ever seeing adults! It boggles my mind!
My brother and I would play in the yard until it was dark- we had a great big yard and would climb rocks, make forts, mix “secret potions”, play pretend and hide from mom and dad so we could stay out longer. Despite the popularity of video games and other “inside” toys, tv and the internet- the kids in our neighborhood are still out on their bikes. I have to admit, even when we get grazed with a rogue water balloon or wake up to see our driveway covered in sidewalk chalk from a neighbor’s child- I have to smile, because it means that no matter what, the power of imagination beats the tv every time… if we give kids the chance to see what fun it is.
I think I was outside a lot more than the kids I know. I rode my bike, played in the woods, used a swingset, used chalk, etc. It just seems like a lot more of the fun comes from electronics now.
Seasons! I grew up in the northeast and now we live in southern California – my 19 month old has never worn a coat!
i remember actually spending time OUTSIDE (gasp!) rather than in front of a tv!
Riding my bike at what seemed to be top speeds with no helmet whatsoever, and spending hours at a time out playing with no parents in sight.
I remember playing outside all of the time without much parent supervision, helmets, bug spray, or sunscreen. My daughter does not leave the house without me and a healthy dose of sunscreen and bug spray. The helmets will come when she is older.
We just went outside, no supervision for the most part. That meant many afternoons exploring the creek in the neighbor’s backyard!
The biggest difference I’ve noticed is that when I was a kid it was “See ya later! Be back before it gets dark!” Now my kids are supervised all the time. We do live in a more urban area than when I was a kid but I would never dream of doing what my parents did then!
When I was a kid my brother and I had to play outside all day long. My mother even discontinued our cable service in the summer so we would have no reason to stay inside. We were allowed inside for meals and snack time. Also, the play grounds were more dangerous and made out of a lot of metal but alas more fun. My sons are allowed to spend more time indoors, mostly because I cannot stand the heat to watch them outdoors and their playgrounds are all made out plastic, with metal only for the support system. Their playgrounds are more safe but quite a bit more boring.
We used to play outside from the time we got up until the time the street lights came on. We roamed the neighborhood sans cell phone and just had to check in every few hours. My daughter isn’t allowed outside without adult supervision. I’m hoping that will change as she gets older and we find a better neighborhood to live in.
It’s funny, my kid is growing up in the same neighborhood with the same babysitter that I had when I was little. The biggest difference I can think of: helmets and sunscreen. They are a much bigger deal than when I was little (and the sunscreen is so much nicer!).
I grew up in the suburbs, so we were outside in the yard pretty much all summer. We live in a big city now, with no yard, so we spend more time at parks and get to do fun museums.
We were outside ALL THE TIME. We rode bikes without helmets, and could walk to the park on our own. All the kids came out at the same time after dinner and we played together until the street lights turned off!
I’m desperately trying to grow some nice grass in my yard because I remember lots of days of playing in the sprinkler or on the slip and slide. My kids just have a lot of dirt with sporadic weeds. Gotta work on that!
We rode our bike all over the neighborhood without supervision or helmets. Our favorite summer game was spending all morning making toothpick forts and then in the afternoon we played cowboys and indians and lit the forts on fire.
I was allowed to walk to friends and be farther away than my kids are. Not because I feel they can’t handle it, but I’m afraid of the police visiting. Unfortunately, it seems like parents today have to parent defensively against others instead of cooperatively.
Thanks for the giveaway!
I was a day care kid, so playing outside happened a lot less frequently for me than it did my kids. Thanks for hosting!
I grew up on ten acres with sheep, chicken goats, and rabbits to tend. We played outside all day every day, and we had a lot of exploring to do! My child, which is due in December, will grow up in the city of Flint, MI, which is very different from where I grew up. However, there are many parks and nature outlets around here which I plan on using heavily so that they will fancy the outdoors as much as I!
Well, when I was my son’s age, I spent most of my outside time riding a pony next to my mom, who was riding her horse. I was grooming and saddling, too. Now I realize how big horses are, and I don’t have one anymore. so, my son isn’t getting that experience.
We used to run around with no hats, no sunscreen and barely any clothes in the summer heat! Now we lather the babies up with sunscreen and put hats and t-shirts and little sunglasses on them.
We also used to play throughout the neighborhood and just ‘be home by dinner’. Nowadays, I want to know where the kids are AT ALL TIMES. I’m not sure if it’s necessarily more dangerous or if we were scared by the abductions through the 80′s and 90′s and are not just extra vigilant.
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When I was a kid our parents kicked us out of the house after breakfast and we’d roam the neighborhood until we got hungry enough to come home for lunch. I can barely handle letting my son play in the front yard unsupervised let alone let him wander the neighborhood for hours!
We got to ride our bikes without helmets!
Amount of unsupervised outside playtime is what jumped to mind first for me (and others too, I see..), so I’ll go with the ever-presence of computers/internet/iPad/iPhone now vs my youth. Some upsides and some downsides to the technology explosion…but oh so different.
We lived in the country and had acreage to roam. My kids are confined to the back yard, so encouraging running is important! We love GoGoSqueeze!!!
We only had 3 channels (pbs, cbs, abc) so once the PBS morning shows were over, there wasn’t much on for kids until the after school hours. Definitely encouraged us to get outside or read!
When I was younger I remember riding my bike the 2 blocks to my grandparents with just my twin sister, and playing outside all day long in our yard, playing baseball, shooting hoops, casting fishing poles… endless things to do.
We live in the city right now, so we don’t have a yard. We spend a lot of time at the parks and the beaches (something I never did), but I am also not as trusting… so I don’t know if my children will ever ride a few blocks at the age I did by themselves. It’s unfortunate that things are so different. I look forward to the day we move back up to the mountains where life tends to move a little slower and we have more yard for our children to experience life in a different way.
Unsupervised play outside. Taking a walk with my best friend and collecting toads in a bucket and letting them go in our yard. Watching the Muppet Show on friday nights.
Oh pax. Would so love that. He is the boy who likes to
fetch and throw.
We grew up having a bit of “free reign” in our neighborhood. We didn’t really have to be accountable until dark/supper time. We weren’t troublemakers; we had amazing parents; life was just different. These days I’d never allow my son (and future children) to go so freely. It’s just too dangerous!
I’ll tell you about my dad, who was born in 1918. When he was young, around 9, he used to get up before the rest of the family, grab a shotgun, and go out and hunt birds or squirrels for food. By himself. In the dark. It cracks me up because I think you’d be arrested for letting your kid do that today.
Like so many have already said, I remember hours of playing outside with different kids from the neighborhood with no adults around. My daughter is only two right now, but I don’t see this as an option for her in the future:(
Growing up, the neighborhood kids played outside all summer. Tag, hide and seek, regular kid stuff. Now all the neighborhood kids are inside playing video games.
I took the bus to school, but can’t imagine my kids doing that.
Oh man… I think it will be SO different for my baby than it was for me. I lived in a bunch of cities growing up and we used to walk around the block to friends’ houses, run in and out of the neighbors’ houses to play (including crossing streets), walk to the bus stop that was over half a mile away (in middle school), walk to school which was half a mile away (when I was in second grade!), etc. I don’t think I’d let my kids do that now. Maybe because some of that was in a different state where we felt much safer… but it’s just a different time!
my kids practically know where every urban blackberry bush is in the city and seem to be able to harvest them without prickers. even though i grew up in the same city, i don’t remember daily blackberry picking as part of my summers.