Esther Rantzen thinks that children don't have enough time to 'just play' - how often do yours 'just play'?

[Enid]

Mine muck about around the house and garden every day after school (7 year old finishes at 3, 4 year old finishes at 1.30), except Tuesdays (7 year old - riding) and Fridays (both ballet, 7 year old swimming). Saturday mornings the 4 year old goes swimming and the 7 year old sees her reading tutor. No other organised activities except playdates.

Both mine do swimming on Thursday and on Sat, drama/dance thing.

The end.

Issy - you are definitely on the swimming thing. My stepsons and my nephew learnt to swim in the summer on one-week swimming courses - a succession of them for different strokes/styles - interspersed with summer holiday swimming.

I used to go swimming once a week with school at the local swimming baths and occasionally with a parent at weekends. I remember it being tortuously cold and unpleasant and making very slow progress.

definitely right

My daughter (2.7) plays most of the time. I tried music and baby gym with her (one trial session each) last year and thought it was horrible and didn't sign up.

But we do go out and about a lot.

My kids do no clubs and just play.

I confess to knowing some children that do something organised every day after school - sometimes more than one activity. The mother of one girl in DS's class always makes a big deal about how hard it is for her to get her DD to all these things on time .I have sometimes wanted to suggest that perhaps she doesn't do so much but she is convinced her child is a genius so I think she'd be shocked at the mere suggestion...

I think that Ms Rantzen was implying that too many kids are either at organised activities or stuck in front of a computer/TV/PS2. And let's face it there are some of them out there.

I did try to encourage my kids to go to things. But neither were that keen. DD has tried several things but gave them all up...usually just after I'd bought uniform/kit and paid as joining fee.... . DS stuck it out with karate and cricket and is beginning to get results. I don't know how some parents manage to do so much more - do they have whips or just very big bribes?

Mine just plays all day. I do very little with him apart from Mucky Pups once a week. I really do believe that many children are over-stimulated these days.

Mucking about is great because it means they learn to play themselves and Not Bother Me

Mine do it a lot, and it is Just Marvellous

I am not really concerned with their own development, I just want to have a cup of tea and perhaps sort out the saucepan cupboard

Do you have a link Enid or was it on the radio?

mp! i find my son does find his own fun when i do clean up the cupboard or paint etc. if i'm sitting watching tv or reading he bugs me more

Oh God you are making me feel so much better. Of my 3 only the eldest boy does 1 hour of footie on a Sat.

Rest of time (let eldest, 6 play out (cue sharp intake of breath, never thought I would admit that one). I hover. They play, annoy me, watch telly, go to grannies, few play date things.

I constantly feel guilty I don't do more.

Dd2 resolutely refuses to be organised into activities. She goes to one afterschool art club and that's it. She won't countenance doing anything else, she likes being at home mucking about. I don't know how she'll cope next year when she moves school. Pupils are required to do at least two afterschool activities a week as well as two hours homework a night. She won't have time to breathe let alone muck asbout.

Dd is very much in the minority here in Nigeria in that she has time to play. She's the only child in her class that doesn't have a personal tutor; some of the children are tutored until 9 o'clock at night. Dd's teacher comes from NZ and has been horrified at children not being allowed to be children.

Bananabump - echo the "attention craving boredom monsters" - so true! I have a friend whose DDs have one or two activities/clubs every day after school and also once or twice at the weekends. When they have nothing organised, they mope about demanding to be entertained or being BORED at everything (except TV or PS2).

DD does nothing except school. We do things en famille at the weekend - swimming or cinema or walks/picnics and I really must organise some friends over for tea. I would like her to do a sport at some point, but she is so tired after school every day, I don't see the point and aggravation of forcing her into something...

My DS has tons of toys and time enough to play. So what does he do? As often as he is allowed he kicks a football around our smallish garden. If we don't let him do this (thick snow on the ground, white washing on the line etc) he kicks either a balloon or a bouncy ball up and down the hall. Interspersed with nipping off to read his match of the day annual.

lucyjones - if enid is referring to the same thing as me it was on radio four this morning at about 8am

Today programme.

Phew, and I thought all MNers had complicated, colour-coded schedules taped to their SMEG fridge doors. I however, do not.

I play with ds for most of his awake time in the day as he, erm, demands it

we don't have any activities at all except a bloke comes to do give ds1 and then dh some tennis coaching every other saturday

otherwise they are basically feral. collect huge jars of worms for the chickens, and make revolting "potions" in the garden which we then have to smell once they've fermented for weeks

bleugh

My dd just plays all the time, she used to do lots of activties and I used to be the timetable queen but all of this had to stop when I went back to work and to be honest I think I was trying to live my life through my child which is very very sad.

She does miss all her classes and I might let one creep back in.

dd2 might start gymnastics in the autumn

but seeing as she is only 1 and a bit I don't think she'll need a leotard and a bun or anything

Ds (aged 6) does swimming one evening, and has just started Beavers. Other than that, just playing, sometimes has a friend round or goes to a friend's house. At weekends we tend not to do very much of an organized nature either. But he is very good at entertaining himself with his Lego, Playmobil etc, and sometimes draws for hours.

He does have a couple of friends at school who do activities four nights out of five during the week. But I think he would get too tired doing that, and would miss having his "messing about" time.

My dd goes ballet and tap Monday
Tuesdays - football
Weds - free
Thursday - Rainbows
Friday - Swimming
Sat/Sun - she's often running around my parent's holiday home in the summer. doing more swimming/running/playing/sightseeing.

I think she has a good mixture of stuff - I did 3 activities a week myself as a child. It's better than having her at home bored and trashing the house .

Btw this is all stuff that she asked to do with the exception of the swimming - that was my idea as it's a life-skill.

I took her to ballroom classes for a bit but she wanted ballet classes instead so we swopped (and added tap!).

Nothing.
Except at school they both have a music lesson. I suppose what we did with the older ones was send them to schools where things could be done in school. They used to have a riding lesson at weekends and at one stage swimming lessons. Then we had all 3 learning to drive and passing their tests age 17.

It's varied over the years but not a lot because we both work and I like them to be bored and play.

Esther R has a point however as some children after school every day almost to bed time are over organised. Someone asked who she was - she's been wonderful for children in this country. She was hugely responsible for setting up Childline. She's possibly helped more children in the UK than anyone else.