11 Old-School Activities For Kids

Remember the good old days when kids broke their arms because they fell out of trees – NOT because they were glued to their phones and walked into a telephone pole? The good old days I refer to hark back to when kids actually played outside – even if it was drizzling; even if it was snowing; even if Gummi Bears was on tv.

My childhood neighbourhood was full of kids – fun ones that enjoyed wreaking havoc, boring ones that always wanted to play a game they invented called “court room” (it’s as boring as it sounds), and bullies that would torment us. I remember sweltering summer nights where gangs of kids would comb the neighbourhood drumming up membership for amazing matches of Man-Hunt.

For better or for worse, things have changed. Now gangs of kids troll online looking to drum up expansive games of Fortnite and the bullies are more conniving than ever – finding ways to worm themselves into the safest of havens to cause their harm.

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Back in the good old days, the fun kid stuff never had to be learned. It wasn’t something that came from a parent. It was just sort of picked up organically from the other kids in the neighbourhood.

But these gangs of kids are dwindling. They’re either inside taking advantage of screen time or being driven from one extra-curricular to the next. So now, it has fallen on us – the parents – to help our kids discover the fun outside the screen. 

Rather than lamenting that there just aren’t any kids playing outside anymore – do something about it. I have – and you can too.

Here are 11 old-school activities to introduce your kids to before they’re too old.

#1 The lost art of climbing a tree

I’m not suggesting you do it yourself. A broken arm in my age group can mean serious hospital time. But I am suggesting that you suggest it to your child. There’s a park nearby my house where the trees have low limbs making it a swift climb to the top. I won’t lie – today when my son waved to me from 30 feet off the ground, I had to bite my tongue from yelling at him to hold on with both hands. But instead I just waved back.

#2 Give a kid a box

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a mattress online. It arrived in a gigantic box. Once the mattress was set up, it was my immediate instinct to break the box down and prepare it for recycling. But just for a laugh, I decided to keep the box intact and leave it on my front porch so it would be the first thing my son would see upon his walk home from school. 

I briefly wondered if I’d missed the window – perhaps he’d be too old to look at a gigantic box and see a space ship or a club house or a race car. But I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try. 

I’m happy to report that upon spying that big old box, he ran straight to it – over the moon that it was ALL HIS – to do with it what he pleased. For the next hour, he painstakingly decorated it with his tupperware full of magic markers. That box has still not made it outside to the curb for recycling – it remains in our basement. Perhaps forgotten for now, maybe even forever. But for a moment there, my son’s imagination ran wild – all because of a big, empty box.

#3 A few cents

There is a small cost involved with this activity – but only a few cents worth. I would never recommend you encourage your kids to play anywhere near train tracks – but in our case, there happens to be train tracks on a designated pedestrian area near my house. So together we walked over them and surreptitiously deposited several pennies on various areas of the tracks. A couple of hours later we returned to find the pennies elongated into copper-coloured oblongs.

#4 Natural Jewellery and Bird Accommodations

Floral jewellery was once all the rage. I enjoyed working with either daisies or dandelions myself. Remember that horrible taste that would fill your mouth if you sucked on your finger after handling a dandelion? I don’t want my kids to be deprived of this! I also remember crafting bird nests out of dried grass and leaves and a bit of mud. I was ecstatic when one day I found my carefully hand-crafted nest (which I had left in the crux of a tree) inhabited by a family of robins.

#5 Car Wash

Remember those stifling summer days when washing the family car was a fun idea? I have news for you – this still stands. Get the kids to don their bathing suits, fill up some buckets, grab a few sponges and put them to work. The kids will have fun and your car will sparkle (or else be covered in water spots).

#6 Make a Bug Jar

Back in the 80s, every kid went through a rite of passage where they’d secure an old margarine tub from their mom, poke a bunch of holes in the lid, fill it with grass, and twigs and then set about to capture some interesting creatures. Once I was lucky enough to find a chrysalis but most of the time it was just run-of-the-mill ladybugs, crickets, worms and potato bugs. 

Use a screw-top glass jar to collect a couple of fireflies – this never fails to be a crowd-pleaser for the tween and younger set. 

Where bug jars are concerned, it was the thrill of the hunt that was the most fun for me. And after inspecting my hard-won catches for a bit, I’d release them back into the wild. 

I see a lot of fancy bug collectors for sale at toy stores – but they are unnecessary. Nothing that an empty margarine container can’t do.

#7 Skipping Stones

Once upon a time, I was able to skip a stone at least twice, sometimes even thrice. But sadly, this talent has faded over time for me. All you need is a body of water and some stones. Come spring and summer, the kids and I try fruitlessly to skip a stone. Apparently, it’s all in the wrist.

#8 Magnifying Fun

Something else I’ve lost the knack for – taking a magnifying glass to a leaf. I remember clear as a bell being able to sizzle a black hole into any leaf or blade of grass back in the day. But sadly, this ability currently eludes me. The good thing about this one is that somewhere in it – there’s a science lesson.

#9 Hunting Pollywogs

We happen to live relatively close to a pond that come spring time is rife with life. Every May, we head there armed with our galoshes and buckets and scoop out water until we are lucky enough to ensnare some tadpoles or frogs. The kids have a grand time examining these creatures in all various stages of their development before slowly releasing them back into the water. A bit too early this year, we saw strings of unhatched eggs floating on the pond’s surface and even caught two frogs in the act!

 

#10 Nature’s Kazoo

Never an athletic type, I was the kid who when assigned to play outfield during my gym class baseball game, would sit cross legged in the grass. I would pass the time by making home made whistles from blades of grass. Anyone else ever do this? The trick is finding one thick enough to lay flat between your two thumbs pressed together – and then blow.

#11 Rock Lifting

Definitely not for the squeamish, this activity is the perfect way to start off your bug jar collection. In my grandparents’ backyard, sat a big, pink-veined rock. When my brother and I played out back, my father would turn the rock over so we could stare in awe at the town of ants, centipedes, potato bugs, spiders and worms wriggling away from our temporary disruption. Typically we would only look and not touch. Then my dad would carefully lower the rock back to its original resting position and we’d go about our day.

In conclusion . . .

Slowly but surely, boredom is becoming a thing of the past. But this is not necessarily a good thing. Because instead of kids straining their brains to come up with creative ways to pass the time (see above), they are simply turning to their screens. 

Every summer when I see kids with scraped and scabby knees and grimy fingernails, I smile to myself with the knowledge that they are doing more than playing on their phones. And when my 9-year-old son gets out of the bath tub and the water is murky, I’m overjoyed. Because what can be more symbolic of a happy childhood during summer – than scraped knees and murky bathwater?

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