My sister is 15 months younger than I am, and although we had our moments of getting along like the young girls you often saw sweetly passing the syrup to one another in pancake commercials, our more typical interactions involved some sort of screaming, hairbrush throwing, name calling, or all of the above.  Our weary mother was consistent in trying to make sure we treated each other with respect, and insisted that someday we would be the best of friends, but I could tell that we really wore her down.  When I became a mother of two, I prided myself that my boys seemed to generally respect each other and get along flawlessly – oh, what a parenting professional I thought I was – at least until my youngest realized he could take toys from my oldest, and my oldest thought it was a fun game to try to convince my youngest to give up the toys with which he was playing.  I conceded that I was not the parenting pro that I thought I was, but I was also relieved to know that sibling conflicts were quite normal, and could be managed in such a way that it would not have to drain every ounce of energy I had.

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 If you or your children have wonderful memories of fabulous summer camp counselors and games and canoes and hikes and campfires and s’mores and more, chances are, the first thing on your summer calendar are those perfect camp dates.

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Does your child play in dirt and puddles (this is different from playing in germs!) As long as they’re in play clothes, evidence suggests such play increases creativity and immunity to germs.

Can your child safely build a campfire for roasting marshmallows (this is different from playing with fire!) Taught properly, they gain respect for flames and matches.

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Is your child creative? Actually, I can answer, “Yes!” for you without meeting your children, for all of us have a creative bent.

Too often, though, we’re anxiously examining our preschooler’s artwork, piano experimentation, acting skills or storytelling attempts for signs of the next da Vinci, Shirley Temple or Shakespeare while overlooking valuable, yet perhaps less flashy, forms of creativity. The danger is that we might not encourage or even provide opportunities for our children to display other styles.

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Have you been sucked into the world of Pinterest yet?  I personally have been trying to resist, sneaking in only a few minutes here and there, but I’ve been on enough to create a board of cute, inspiring play and activity ideas for my boys.    Sometimes in my few minutes of pinning ecstasy, I’ve found myself thinking, “Do I pin this activity, or not?  It looks so fun, but my boys really don’t like to do that kind of activity.”  Christie Burnett’s article “But My Child Doesn’t Like to Play ____” on childhood101.com  addresses this very scenario.

Read more on New Ways to Play…