I believe kids barely play outside anymore

I believe kids rarely go outside to play anymore. While I was growing up I spent most of my days outside. Many of my activities included riding my bike, swimming, taking hikes in the woods, building forts, sledding and having snowball fights with my friends in the neighborhood. My biggest worry in life, at the time was if I was going to be stuck inside because of the rain.

I lived in a neighborhood full of a bunch of kids who were only a few years apart. All of the children and their parents were very good friends. There is one day in particular which sticks out in my memory and I recall it as if it were yesterday. While at a friends’ house, there were about 10 of us who had decided we wanted to make boats out of things we could find at home and have a race with them in the creek in my friend Mikeys’ backyard. There was an obstacle at the end of the course where your boat had to make it through a shallow tunnel that went under the road and came out into a pool of still water on the other side.

At home, my brother and I found Capri-sun boxes that seemed as though they would be perfect for our homemade boats. First we cut it in half, and covered the whole thing in packing tape to make it waterproof and able to float better. We then wrapped it in saran-wrap for extra protection. Next, we made masts out of straws and used paper to construct sails.

After finishing, it was time for the race! We filled the boats with some army men and loaded them into the water and sent them on their way. Some of the boats did not make it because they became very water-logged and sank. Others were not able to make it through the tunnel on the other side of the road, but ours did, thus, we won! We spent the rest of the afternoon barbequing, swimming, and enjoying the sun.

I loved playing outside as a child, letting my imagination run wild while getting a lot of exercise, all while having a lot of fun. Today if you see kids, they are seldom playing outside. Often you will find them too busy paying attention to their technological devices such as cell phones, computers, televisions and video games. Because of media and technology it has caused children to be less active, stay indoors while leaving the playgrounds, baseball fields, football fields and swing-sets empty.