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When You See Children Play, Do You Ever Feel Envy?

We adults work so hard, we sure could use more playtime, more leisure... more recreation!

It seems like kids have all the fun...

Well, "play for young children is not recreation activity,... It is not leisure-time activity nor escape activity.... Play is thinking time for young children. It is language time. Problem-solving time. It is memory time, planning time, investigating time. It is organization-of-ideas time, when the young child uses his mind and body and his social skills and all his powers in response to the stimuli he has met."

― James L. Hymes, Jr.

So next time you see children playing, keep in mind how fundamental it is to their development.

They're actually working!

As adults, kids can have a way of reminding us of the range of ways to extract recreation from even the simplest things.

Consider playing with kids - whether your own, baby-sitting or tossing a ball with random kids at the park.

When was the last time you had fun 'playing'?

Please share with us any times you've found yourself playing with children... and winding up having fun yourself.

Dr. Julie Hartman is a licensed clinical psychologist and Founder of the Mindful Resource Center (MRC): www.mindfulresourcecenter.com. She is a professional writer and speaker as well as leading and supporting programs that enhance brains and communities on topics such as Parenting Today, Communicating with Peace and Presence, Quieting the Stressed-out Mind and Raising Digitally-wise Kids.

(c) December 2013 Julie Hartman, PhD. All rights reserved.

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