you have kids okay good lots more than
awkward awkward laughing so it’s
interesting because as parents we love
to brag about our kids rightfully so
they’re good in sports they’re good at
school they’re good at home but we don’t
brag about how while they are and why is
that when wild is such a great thing to
be wild kids are happy they are
independent they’re good problem solvers
wild kids are excited about everything
wild kids love to go aside and we know
how important that is so that’s the kind
of wild that I’m talking about when I
say arch need more of it we need to
increase their playtime we need to let
them get bored we need to make them go
outside we need to release the wild in
our children so I’m going to tell you a
story about my son from last spring
typically I’m a lazy parent meaning I
don’t want to drive back and forth all
day and night to activities but he
wanted to try ball hockey it wasn’t too
far from our house it was only for two
months so okay it was a bit of a more of
a commitment than I had anticipated it
was one hour twice a week instead of
once and there was a tournament at the
end which is a whole weekend of driving
back and forth to hockey games I
survived and at the end i did my due
diligence and did you like it would you
like to do it again and he thought about
it and he said well I liked it but no I
don’t want to do it again I didn’t have
enough time for everything else so this
was actually the exact same way that I
felt about it but I man at all with lots
of really important things to do and
he’s eight so I said what do you need
time for I don’t understand he said I
need time
to play in my room I need time to play
in the basement I need time to play
outside and if at all possible I want to
play with the neighbors I had no idea he
was so busy so luckily I’m a really
understanding good listening kind of a
mom in other words i’m lazy and i have a
lot of really important things to do so
I listened to him and I didn’t push him
into any activities this past fall
something else that we should consider
when we’re debating about our child’s
activities is the difference between
adult driven and child driven so most of
those fabulous extracurricular
activities are adult lead there’s rules
the kids have to conform to the
expectations of the activity compare
that to child driven activities the
child decides what to do the child
decides what to play with the child
decides how long to play it what the
rules are and what happens to the rule
breakers so in other words they are
developing really important skills
they’re developing language skills math
skills problem-solving skills leadership
skills they are actually growing their
brains in really meaningful ways so if
you’re trying to decide if the
activities are a problem you do a self
check and you decide as a parent are you
stripped are you resentful of the
activities are you jealous of lazy
parents like me and then you do a kid
check and is your kids dressed is your
kid unusually tired is your child
resembling a grumpy old man and then you
can also always ask your child and you
might be surprised by their answers like
I was so if you decide to take out some
of the scheduled activities from your
child’s life you might find them for a
little more often it’s okay it’s normal
it’s to be expected and it’s actually a
really good thing boredom is not a
problem that we have to solve for our
children warnham is a wave
them to learn how to interact with the
world around them and boredom is a
really good thing that process of going
from the dull of nothing to do too and I
dia I’m excited about that whole process
that’s called imagination so I want you
to try to think of a time when you were
bored so let’s say all your devices died
and there’s nothing there’s nothing on
TV and there’s no one to talk to and so
you will kind of wander aimlessly around
a little bit nothing to do and then all
of a sudden did you feel it there’s a
jump inside there’s a spark that gets
ignited and it grows and it grows and
you your heartbeat quickens a little bit
and your thoughts speed up and all of a
sudden you’re wildly excited about that
new idea so the next time your kids come
to you and they tell you that they’re
bored I want you to remember that spark
of excitement and and think of that and
instead of solving their problem of
boredom I want you to think of it as a
gift you’re giving your children that
gift of excitement and wildness now it’s
possible that your children won’t want
your gift of boredom
but it’s worth it now those children who
are so constantly scheduled they are
going to have a really hard time sitting
in their boredom and waiting for an idea
to come so you just need to be there for
them smile and hug them and reassure
them that they can and they will find
something to do now if they really can’t
find anything to do that’s when you send
them outside the current recommended
amount of time for kids to spend outside
is one hour so it sounds really doable
right seventy percent of Canadian
children don’t get that there is one
group of people who are guaranteed two
hours of time outside a date inmates
convicted criminals are guaranteed their
time outside every day so when I was a
teenager maybe acting like an inmate my
mom would send me outside if it was
winter I usually had to shovel the
driveway the long driveway and if it was
summer I just had to get out but the
point is by the time I got back inside
my troubles whatever was going on they
were long forgotten and I felt fabulous
so my mom was actually really on to
something not that I ever told her that
why did you use to answer people when
they would say what is your favorite
school subject recess and there’s a
reason for that 15 minutes kids get to
go outside they get to be wild and play
and jump and scream like it to be wild
for the 15 minutes and if you’ve ever
really seriously wondered about the
importance of consistent time outside
you just have to talk to an elementary
school teacher after a week of indoor
being outside in nature is wondrous bugs
and sticks and snow are endless source
of fascination with my kids and we all
know the benefits of being outside the
increased vitamin D the increased
physical activity again that the
important skills the child driven
learning skills those are also important
now you might be sitting in your chair
with your arms crossed you know thinking
Lori my kid gets any more wild they’re
going to end up with a guaranteed two
hours of time and that’s okay some kids
maybe shouldn’t be left to their own
devices so all I asked for you is to
make a conscientious decision about the
way that your children spend their time
once every few months if you can really
think about what they’re doing in their
activities and how you want them to
learn in my opinion something magical
happens when kids get a little wild like
and happy if we increase their playtime
if we give them that gift of boredom if
we let them go outside more they eat
better they sleep better and they’re all
around more content so let your kids get
a little bit wild folks because wild is
a great thing to be thanked [Applause]