Kids today have so many fun and educational activities available to them. Soccer, ballet, gymnastics, martial arts, little league, 4-H, Scouting, pottery, music lessons, theater productions…and the list goes on and on. Certainly a lot different than the limited number of activities I could choose from as a kid growing up in rural Idaho.  I love that there are so many wonderful learning opportunities in our community.

However, I wonder if we as a society have over-emphasized the need for our children to participate in so many structured activities.  Yes, each of these pursuits can help our kids develop great skills and character.  Unfortunately, many of our kiddos are simply over-scheduled.  It happens quite easily.  Just add a couple of these activities to the family schedule, along with school and possibly church activities, and life has suddenly become incredibly complicated.
When our kids do have some free time, many of them spend it interacting with educational toys or using a computer.  Again, there are some amazing learning tools available to parents and children today.  But whatever happened to just playing?   

So, go ahead and sign your child up for that great activity.  But make sure you leave plenty of time in the schedule for everyone (even you) to play.  You won’t regret it!