Sunday, 4 June 2017

Energetic littlies

Maybe I'm too old to remember much of my past, but little kids in this day and age seem to have far more energy, daring, courage, imagination, inquisitiveness and so on compared with my recollections of my upbringing in post-war Britain, a period of considerable dullness and struggle compared with today.

When visiting our two grand-kids on the other side of the large ditch that separates us, we're astounded by their energy, exploration of opportunities and risk taking. Perhaps this all for the good, given the amazing speed at which our technology laden age is transforming itself at break-neck speed.

And this culture is particularly evident in the various children's playgrounds that we regularly visit. Both Ella and Flynn ride their bikes and scooters with aplomb, climb walls and netting with little fear, use equipment in ways the manufacturers never intended, and so on. This area is crawling with exciting parks and their equipment. Here's a pretend boat at Bothel Landing Park.


And another park on the Kirkland waterfront close to Lake Washington. It had lots of climbing and swinging opportunities, which Ella in particular used creatively.





And here we are on the shores of Lake Sammamish on a beautifully warm day, with Ella and Flynn riding the wires, together with a constellation of climbing opportunities.




I could go on and on. Today, for example, they were in a park at Renton - home to Microsoft - which had an amazing array of climbing and swinging opportunities which both Ella and Flynn used to the full with seemingly little care for their safety - which comes I suppose with constant practice. I cannot imagine myself climbing 20 feet off the ground on a rope ladder at the age of four!

I'll end with another exhibit. Ella received some water guns for her birthday and here she's watering window boxes, while Flynn sends a stream of water into the air. They had a ball! And the tools they were using were much more suave than the water pistols of 25 years ago which our kids had.



AS


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