You Can't Say You Can't Play

Elizabeth Gusson Paley worked as a kindergarten teacher and author of children's books. To read her book You Can't Say You Can't Play, is to be returned to the mind of a child, as understood by the heart of an artist. The author weaves a children's story into the account of an almost painfully democratic attempt to make children's play more inclusive.

Paley discovers the power of rules on children's play. She noted how children responded to being excluded from games - which, at the time, was a rule of play. She saw how profoundly negative, and how long-lasting the pain of rejection could be. And yet, it was almost taken for granted that, even in kindregarten, the unpopular aren't welcome, and that the kids who started the game could keep other kids out. Respecting children and their rules as deeply as her own, Paley authors a new rule, knowing that a rule that seems just and clear and sufficiently universal can actually change the way children play. The rule: "you can't say you can't play."

If you don't appreciate children's stories and being invited to listen in to the rush of interweaving streams of fantasy and actuality, and if you need research results and suggestions for next steps, you're reading the wrong book. For the rest of us, it is a journey through remarkably pure expressions of love and wisdom, fantasy and truth, growth and play - a journey that will teach us and touch us, and all those young lives we learn from and are touched by.

Intergenerational Kickball

Funscout Kris Bordessa sent me this link from today's West Hawaii Today. If you're not already a member, you have to join (name, email address). I'm not really much of a joiner, but if Kris, author of Team Challenges (you can listen to my interview here), tells me to look at something, it's gotta be worth the price of membership. So I click. And I look. And look! It's about Intergenerational Kickball!

And I read more. And I'm so moved. And so encouraged. Almost to the level of thinking "my job here on your planet is done," if you know what I mean. Not to prejudice you. Here. Read this. And you tell me.

"'You can tell we don't have any rules here,' joked mother and game coordinator Lani Bowman. 'We had one of the dad's come who's a baseball coach and he couldn't handle it.'

"Actually, there were quite a few rules that were announced as the game went on. First, and most important for the mature players in the game, was no beaning anyone over 40. But feel free to wallop anyone else with the ball as they run wildly past.

"Everyone gets to kick twice before the sides switch and you can start running when the pitcher releases the ball. Plus, someone has to run for 85-year-old Auntie Rose after she kicks.

"These are the types of things childhood memories are made of -- cool and clear Sunday afternoons with kids and "grown-up" kids screaming, running, laughing and getting dirty with little structure attached. For the group of 10 participating in this intergenerational kickball game at Kamehameha Park in Kohala this Sunday afternoon, the only thing they needed to worry about was the occasional rock in their shoe....

"'I love to mingle with the children,' said Rose Ramos, who at 85 was the veteran player of the group. 'The children are having fun so to be a part of it is fun.'"

Intergenerational Kickball. Organized for the fun of it. And because people were looking for "a way for the keiki [kids] in the area to interact with their elders and each other to build a stronger sense of community in an area that struggles with poverty, broken homes and drugs."

And they sure found a good one!

(see also my collection of Intergenerational Games.)

One Billion Mazes

Exactly One Billion Mazes to Solve "This site contains one billion mazes in high-quality printable PDF format. You may view, print and solve these mazes... and yes, there are exactly one billion mazes!"

Actually, according to my count, clicking on any one of the exact billion of these mouse-run-like classic mazes (amazing, really, to think we can navigate through one billion choices so easily) gets you two images - one image of the maze and the other of the maze solved - both in completely printoutable form. So it's like 2 billion mazes, half of which are already solved. If you want to look at it that way.

One Billion. Two billion. Your basic imagination-staggering number. And there it is for you to play with.

Stunning, and yet an intrinsically very silly achievement.



Thanks in4mador.