Games

Play is mostly what the little kids do. And I have no problem with that. These are the most poplular activities, as far as I can tell:

Fort building-The construction of the indoor forts has become more complex. they aren't just throwing a couple of blankets over folding chairs. This past week the playroom was totally transformed. There were two secret passages, stairs, a tunnel and a theoretical drawbridge. I was impressed.

Littlest Pet Shop-This is a toy that is very popular with the girls. I hate it and part of the reason that I hate it is because I screwed up and didn't realize how important it was to Amelia. She kept asking me for it and started saving up and I kept trying to talk her into other stuff until it finally came out that she really was the only girl who didn't have any pet shop stuff and she really felt left out. It reminded me that I need to respect the fact that fitting in is really important to Amelia. I was also kind of pissed because I thought "Hey this is exactly the sort of thing I was trying to avoid by sending them to this school!" but Sudbury does not exist in a vacuum. Anyway, they will play with that stuff for hours and they also trade their pets and accessories. Why couldn't they all be really into Playmobil? We looove playmobil.

YuGiOh/Pokemon-The game involves having battles with the cards and each card has different point values. What I love is that the school has a morgue of old cards that kids have grown out of so the little kids can buy 5 or 10 for a quarter. Sweet!

Chasing/Tag- I haven't bothered to ask the kids about the rules. I just like the names of the games:
Werewolf
Vegan Zombies
Ninja XX

Bionicles and Legos-There are huge bins in the playroom.

Board games are in the library. My kids like Clue.

I often see kids in the art room and lately the mom in charge of the craft fair has been holding workshops for kids to make stuff to sell.

People really start to hyperventilate at the thought of young children doing nothing but playing all day at school but I say, let them play. You know why? Because I have seen many young adults work work work through school, go to college, graduate and then basically do nothing for a few years. Because for the first time in their life, nobody is telling them what to do. And they are either burnt out or can't make a decision for themselves. I do not want a 26 year old living in my house, ruminating on what they are going to be when they grow up. No thank you.