The Lost Art Of Fun

Last Updated on: 12th February 2018, 01:46 pm

And now, Gill is here to remind us of the good old days, A.K.A. that time when children were still allowed to and wanted to do things.

With most traditional activities for kids frowned upon due to safety, kids are shying away from the bigger elements of fun. With the obesity pandemic this will be the first generation where parents will outlive their children. What can we do? We can look to the times when we were kids for inspiration.

• 1 Saturday Morning – After a certain year Saturday morning cartoons were no longer shown on most TV stations. Before that depending on where and when you were a kid you probably got up early, ran out to the living room, and started out with Thom and Jerry or Bugs Bunny. Once your parents came in or down Merry Melodies would be on and you’d go eat breakfast. Following that you would get ready for the day just in time for Speed Racer or Spiderman, and if you lived in the suburbs or city your friends would be knocking.
• 2 Things you probably did – If you lived in the country like I did you would have to be driven places to meet or bring friends over. If, like I said, you lived in the city or suburbs you might go to the neighborhood park, or riding bikes with your friends. If your parents were first generation Canadian, American, British, or Australian you might have been enrolled in cultural schools.
• 3 Rainy Day Stuff – If it rained the night before or that morning you didn’t have to worry, you would find something cool to do. Maybe one of your friends parents was an artist and had all the cool art supplies, or maybe you needed new shoes, so you would go to the shoe store and then for lunch somewhere.
• 4 Winter Fun – Like I said in the things banned from schools article I was lucky enough to live in a school district that allowed students to experience some outdoor activities. If you were not however, and you lived in a place that got winter you would probably have found some fun. E.G. you might have had an uncle who had a pond turned rink on his property.

Question

Did you know tobogganing was banned in the city I now call home? They have now reinstated it, but only on two hills. What fun activity from your childhood would you like to see kids put down the devices and go do?

Gillie telling you to enjoy the sunshine, unless they frown on that