Children’s health in a computer age

Children today face far more alternatives to playing outdoors than we ever did as children. It has been well documented that the number of hours children spend playing computer games and watching television has rapidly increased from just ten years ago. Children between the ages of eleven and fifteen now spend more than 55% of their waking lives in front of televisions and computers, and half of three year olds have a television in their bedroom (The Telegraph, Feb ‘08). Whilst this development may give parents a useful outlet to get some well earned peace it is also storing up problems for children’s physical, social and emotional growth and development.

The big question is how to entice our children out of their rooms and into the parks and outdoor spaces that become even more useful as summer approaches. The best way to do this is for parents to get involved themselves, introducing your child to the outdoors from as early an age as possible. Children who grow up walking and playing in parks, woodland and our beautiful National Parks are far more likely to continue doing so as they get older. Added benefits of outdoor play include getting more vitamin D (a lack of which is currently causing the alarming return of the bone disease rickets) and that children tire themselves out and sleep better at night (The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy). Surely reason enough for parents to get their trainers on!

In this era of frenzied media coverage of child related crimes, parents have become more nervous about letting their children play out in the way we would have done as children. However, with a small number of precautions and parent participation, this perceived risk can be lowered, allowing children to be more active and develop their social skills. These perceived risks can be reduced by parents taking turns to supervise a local group of children, attending group activities at a secure location such as a tennis club or leisure centre, or putting your child on one of many locally available holiday activity camps.

Structured sport is also on the wane, especially among the traditional team sports such as football and rugby. The reasons for this are numerous and relate to some of the issues discussed above. A typical problem occurs with many children feeling disheartened where they don’t make the school football or netball team. The danger here being that they come to associate sport negatively and this mind-set becomes more entrenched, as they get older. In this scenario it is up to parents and schools to develop alternative play and sport options.

Many schools offer a wide variety of after school clubs, ranging from fencing to street dance. Such clubs offer children a route back to sporting enjoyment and may help them discover talents they weren’t previously aware of.

Where lengthy direct involvement is difficult due to busy work schedules, there are a number of alternatives available. Schools and local authorities offer a wide variety of sports and activities which children can benefit from hugely. All that is required is a small time commitment from parents. The results will mean healthier children, who gain vital experience of how to interact with others and learn the vital lessons that both winning and losing

can provide.

As the London Olympic Games approach in 2012, we face a great opportunity to re-engage our children with sport and play. Children can learn that sport isn’t just running around chasing a ball in the cold and the mud. The full array of sports will be on show for all to see. It is up to us as parents to give our children the opportunity to try new sports and get active, the benefits of which will continue to be felt throughout their young lives and into adulthood.

Mathew Burns, Sports Xtra

07545 568804 matt.burns@sports-xtra.com

What's in it for the parents?

When I was nine, our teacher wore dark glasses, grey nylon trousers and the smell of stale cigarettes. Every morning she instructed us to curtsey to a photograph of the queen and stand alone to recite our times tables. I remember the feeling of pointless repetition and disengagement. This was such a bleak contrast to the quiet embrace of the catholic nuns who had founded our convent. From then on I committed only to my friends and to my duty. I scraped by, doodling and dreaming until the year I went to tutorial college to re-take my A levels. There I discovered the poetry of Hopkins and became alive again to that 'dearest freshness deep down things'.

So when a friend asked me recently, 'what makes us choose the education we give our children? What's in it for the parents?' I sat down to unravel my memories and unpick the fabric of the different types of education I have offered my four children.

Eventually I found the red thread woven through my choices - my hope that my children will feel safe enough to remain present, passionate and curious. Dragged through foreign postings, divorce, remarriage and relocation they have attended international, preparatory, independent and public schools. I have tried to balance disruption by sometimes crippling us financially to find coeducational schools that help me to help my children move through their school years with clarity, integrity and vitality.

Faced with my own limitations and inadequacies, I have looked for schools willing to support me in trying to keep the children's bodies and their spirits strong and alive, encourage them to define their unique rhythm, learn to listen to others without losing themselves and be recognized for their inner drive not just their intelligence.

A friend, Linda, puts it simply, "Education needs to help them discover and remain alive to what really gets them out of bed in the morning."

Perhaps, when we consider where to educate our children, many of us are completing our own search and trying to redress imbalance with which we have struggled. Some of us choose to adhere to the safety of a system that is familiar and others make choices in opposing reaction to the education we were offered. We are fortunate to be in a position to choose.

Sarah, a mother at Lewes New School, recalled how, "It was exhausting being a success at school. I wasn't asked to make decisions about who I was, not encouraged to discover what my passions were - just to get the grades. We were driven by the fear of failure. When I came out at eighteen, the only goal I had was to go to university. We were told, 'keep going and the world will be your oyster'. Nobody told us about creative thinking and about how learning is such an amazing buzz. I want my children to have a thirst for knowledge, to experience a complete way of learning."

Our education system is taut with contradiction and cliché. So many schools, state and private, pay lip service to the importance of developing the whole child but their primary drive is to bolster their place on league tables. With glossy brochures and slick PR they subtly invite us to join an intellectual, social or creative elite. I know that I have made choices that have bolstered my ego and fed my desire to belong. If we were honest, we would admit that, sometimes, it is our own insecurities that shape our choices and fuel our fear that our children might not fit into the adult world or be able to adequately compete.

In his book, The Re-enchantment Of Everyday Life, Thomas Moore says, "Imagine a form of education that does not try to change the child or transform it into an adult, but rather provides a place where the child can flourish as a child....Such an education would ask the adults to be full of faith and trust that the child would discover the world and learn its nature and ways over time."

During the time that I was a single parent of three children, I understood the importance of the presence of the other adults in their lives: their grandparents, my siblings and girlfriends, our neighbours, their friends' parents and their teachers. A sense of belonging and of community is invaluable.

Now I am learning to stitch with the red thread. In Lewes New School, I have discovered a place where there is no uncomfortable seam between home and school, where I can place my trust and our two youngest children in a community where both child and parent experience the value of their unique contribution.

Perhaps it is time for us to learn to slow down enough to contemplate our choices, cease the drive to have and start to be; to listen to ourselves and to our children and allow them to live their own lives. We need to acknowledge what's in it for the parents. It's up to us to help our children find the balance between the person they know themselves to be and our hopes for everything that they can or might become.

Louisa Thomsen Brits

louisathomsen@btinternet.com, www.lewesnewschool.co.uk

Style and Content

By Charlotte Bates - Factory 55

It’s sad but true that most people’s first consideration when choosing a professional photographer is price. Unfortunately, this can often result in disappointing pictures and a waste of the hard-earned money you were so desperate to save.

Once you’ve decided to have professional pictures of your child or family taken, take your time and look around at what’s on offer. Do your homework, and consider more than just the initial price. Consider value, consider experience, and perhaps most of all, consider style.

Professional photographs can be whatever you want them to be; treasured memories, a bit of fun, or personalised wall art. But if you are going to invest in professional photography, you should think about what it means to you, and how the pictures will fit into your home and your personal style. After all, there’s no point spending money on very contemporary pictures and a modern frame when you live in a traditionally decorated cottage, or likewise paying for very formally posed pictures when your child is a bit of a free spirit. Your photos should capture your child’s personality and quirks. Style should reflect character.

Choosing a style is a hard line to follow. You want something fresh and contemporary, but that won’t look dated this time next year, yet alone in 10 years time. Don’t choose a photographer just because they are offering a free studio session, choose one who will work with you to create pictures that you will love to look at year after year. Photographers tend to have their own distinct style, and these days there is a trend for a more candid, photojournalistic style of photography that captures a moment rather than the more traditional formally posed portraits. Alternatively many portrait photographers are heavily influenced by fashion and beauty photography, but whether it’s romantic, conceptual, classic or contemporary, make sure the photographer’s style works for you and your own personal style.

You also need to consider display options. Choosing frames or wall art can be confusing and expensive, and can either make or break a photograph. Remember you want something that will work with your interior design if you intend to display the pictures prominently, and something that compliments the style of the picture.

A professional photographer is (or should be) an expert in their field, and can give you lots of advice on what will and won’t work in a picture from the concept right down to what you wear. They can also advise you on how best to display the picture. After all, it’s in the photographer’s interests to make sure your picture looks its best as their work taking pride of place on your wall is great advertising for them.

Lastly, make sure you choose a photographer who puts you at ease, and who takes the time to get to know you a little and what you hope to achieve from your portrait session. If you feel comfortable in front of the camera then you are already halfway to a fabulous photo that will last you a lifetime.

Why an outside learning environment is so important in the early years

by Kim Streeton, Well Place Day Nursery

The outside learning environment is an extension of our inside learning environment.  Having an 'open door' policy allows children to choose when they access either environment.  Providing an experience rich in learning opportunities in both areas is important for the development of young children.

The outside learning environment is of vital importance to the physical and mental development of young children. Playing outdoors give children the freedom to run, shout, jump, climb, hide, be themselves, express themselves and really let off steam!

The obvious benefit of the outside learning environment is the physical activity children are getting by crawling, running, climbing, shouting, rolling and jumping.  Children experience and enjoy the outside environment have a much higher likelihood of becoming adults who enjoy activities such as jogging, hiking or walking. With excessive use of the TV, games and computers and obesity becoming an ever greater concern, the learning in an outside environment is critical to a child’s healthy physical development.

Playing outside teaches toddlers about their own physical abilities. How fast can I ride a tricycle? How high can I climb? Can I roll down the hill? Lots of fresh air re-charges their batteries, gets their heart pumping faster and lets oxygen surge into their brains. Being out in the fresh air also helps to dissipate infections that are often spread quickly indoors. Physical play should be encouraged by providing climbing equipment, tricycles, scooters, hills and grass where toddlers can run, roll, crawl and lie. It should not be too controlled, and should allow for child initiated activities, as well as adult led activities.

Construction activities outside tend to be toddlers’ favourite, as not only are they fun, but the children control it. Playing with sand and water, wheeled toys, outdoor art and craft, shapes, bricks and beanbags, writing letter sounds in the sand or with chalk on the ground and matching numbered cars to numbered parking bays, using natural materials for mark making like sticks for painting, stones for printing, and grasses, twigs and flowers for collage making all help develop their motor skills and should be encouraged.

Outside activities are also important for social interaction. Although it should always be supervised, there is less adult instruction and involvement when children are playing outside.  They are given more freedom as to who to play with and talk to and how loud they can talk! Activities that encourage the engagement of more than one child help develop good basic social skills like having a picnic, pulling each other in a trailer or carrying a watering can or bucket together.

Outside activities give the child the opportunity for discovery, and to learn about the world. They learn about nature , the seasons, the weather, what flowers smell like, how plants grow, how snow feels, when lambs are born, what noises ducks make and how to make a tricycle go faster. Having a sensory garden and growing herbs and salad vegetables helps develop smell, sight, touch and taste.  When children discover something for themselves in the natural world, it is retained effectively as it was real, meaningful and fun!

Dramatic play should also be encouraged. Playhouses or other structures that allow children to pretend and impose their own meaning, help to expand their imagination. Games with rules such as 'Tag' and 'Simon Says' help children learn about following instructions and are much more fun (and practical) outside!

Providing for the needs of children in the outside learning environment can be challenging. A variety of factors must be considered; the different forms of play, the level of supervision but most importantly, their safety. We need to give children the opportunity to explore the outdoor world but their safety whilst doing so is paramount. Equipment needs regular risk assessments, equipment must be suitable for the age of the child, supervision must be constant although not always invasive and children need to be dressed appropriately with sufficient sun protection.  Of course having a good effective 'safe in the sun' policy, allows parents and practitioners confidence that the children are safe.

Even babies who cannot walk yet should be taken out in their buggies every day and allowed to sit and feel the grass, feel textures of natural materials and experience outdoor sounds, weather and colours. Outdoor play is educational and fun and should form a significant part of each child’s day no matter what the age!

Let the Children Play

By Wendy Dartnell, AD Landscapes Ltd

There is nothing better than fresh air and natural outdoor play to wear your little ones out!

Don’t we all remember the days when we were safe to run around outside climbing trees, without a worry?  Maybe times have changed, but why not bring the “Good Old Days” back in a safe environment, namely your garden with a hand crafted Timber Playhouse for your children to enjoy.

I remember as a child the joy of having my own “Den” – sometimes sneaking the odd table cloth and plastic picnic bits out of the house to have a mid morning snack and adventure with my friends. Every child dreams of the day that they own their own house (especially girls).  Dressing their Play Houses, inviting their friend in for “tea” – gingham curtains drown for the ultimate in “girly privacy”.

But Play Houses aren’t all about the girly thing, what boy doesn’t want to climb the ladder, leading to his secret hide away to indulge in his treasures found in the depths of the greenery below? AKA you’re back garden. Why not add a timber Fort to the adventure that leads to the ultimate Ariel Runway?! Set only for the courageous.

Providing children with a safe Play Area, not only benefits them but you too as parents! 

While they happily play in the safety of the leafy comforts of your garden, you can sit back and relax knowing you don’t have to get behind the wheel, pay entry to an event (and even more for parking.) You can maybe treat yourself to a glass of chilled wine at the weekend – so everyone’s a winner. Even get some friends over to share the day. 

With the summer barmy evenings ahead of us, BBQ’s are going to be on the menu, while you occasionally turn the meat and vegetables on the BBQ let your little ones and their friends run around the garden, climbing around their Play House – working up an appetite.  Once the food is cooked why not set them up to eat “al Fresco” in their “Den” – a real treat from the norm.  You can then sit back and chat to your friends, knowing that the children are happy and content, whilst you enjoy your food and another glass of some chilled, watching the sun set.  Then taking the children up to bed, knowing that they will be dreaming of the adventures of the evening.  The perfect evening!

The summer months really are an excellent time to put the television to bed for a while – getting the children outside from Breakfast till Supper time is the best mental and physical simulation that they can get.  Why not serve Breakfast during the Summer Holidays in their “Den” as a treat.  Leaving you to set nearby and drink your morning brew.   Once they are finished you can all set about harvesting your Organic Vegetable produce that you planted earlier in the season around the base of your Play House, ready for supper.

Then there’s the “Sleep Over” with camping becoming all the more popular during these trying recession times why not go even easier? Set up the sleeping bags and let your children invite a few friends over to have a “Sleep Over” in their Play House so why bother with the weekend away?! And whilst they are snuggled up tight why not invite their parents to stay for supper and drinks? Any excuse for a social event.

A D Landscapes Ltd are a professional Sevenoaks based company that specialise in tailor-made Children’s Playhouses, Forts, Tree Houses with Draw Bridge and many other magical natural timber structures.  Established in 2001, Director Antony Dartnell trained for 7 years before establishing his company.

“It’s my passion” explains Antony. “There is nothing more satisfying for a Designer and parent to design and construct a Playhouse to suit my clients needs” “The look on their children’s faces as they explore the completed project is worth all the meticulous work that goes into each project.

“There is so much pressure for children to perform educationally, I think that sometimes we can forget that active play, with loads of imagination both relaxes the brain whilst stimulates the want to learn”.  Antony adds.

Aren’t we all sometimes stuck for that special presents for our little ones, with a Tailor Made structure, how could that not put a smile on their face, Especially when they see its been customised with their name and inscription above the door for prosperity.

And there’s more, each structure is Tailor Made to stimulate your little ones whilst complimenting your garden, with a unique feature enhancing the existing tranquility of your garden, there is no need for the overpowering equipment that children’s toys can sometimes bring to your garden. Don’t worry if you don’t have a massive garden each Play Area is designed, constructed and personalised to your own specification to sit, within your existing garden whilst set in proportion for all your needs.