I remember when I was a kid, my mom would always tell us to "go play". That usually meant get outside and stay outside until she told us it was time to come in. Back then, parents didn't have to worry about us kids as much as today's parents worry about their kids. We would run around the neighborhood, hang out at our friends houses, and most of the time, our parents weren't exactly sure where we were. But, we always ended up safe at home by the end of the day. And it was fun!
I find myself telling my kids to "go play", but they don't have the freedom that I did. They are restricted to our yard, unless I know exactly where they are going to be. That doesn't mean that they don't know how to play. Yesterday, my kids were outside with a couple of the neighborhood kids, and they were playing hard. I could hear them laughing and screaming as they made up games and enjoyed the beautiful Fall weather.
A couple of weeks ago, Growing Tree Toys (the people who sell the best learning toys) asked me to review some Shout products, and to let my readers know about the Shout
Go Play initiative. Simply put, this is an initiative to help parents encourage their kids to play.
Along with the Shout products, I also received a deck of
52 Nature Activities Cards, each one having an activity on it that kids can do outside. The kids and I have done a bunch of the cards recently, and they were pretty fun activities. One of the cards said to sit quietly and just listen to the sounds around you. Then describe what you are hearing to your friends, and have them guess what you are describing. Another card said to find a rainbow in nature, and the kids had a ball finding all the different colors. Their favorite so far, though, was the card that said to write their names using objects found in nature, like sticks and rocks. I wish I had remembered to take a picture of what Brandi created.
After my kids get done playing outside, they always come in covered in dirt. Seriously, I have no idea how they get so dirty! Luckily, I was able to put the Shout products I received to the test.
The first product I used was the Shout Color Catcher sheets. I simply threw one in the washer when I started a load, and it "catches" all the colors that bleed into the water, stopping them from depositing on the other clothes in the load. Now, I will admit, that I am not very good at separating the laundry before I wash it. I have two piles; clothes and towels. I am bad about washing my whites with my colors, so these sheets are perfect for me.
The next product I tried was the Shout Stain Remover Spray. Ryan had some grass stains on the knees of his jeans from playing football with the neighborhood kids. These were his play jeans (I have "school clothes" and "play clothes" for my kids) but I still want him to have the best looking clothes, no matter what he is doing. The Shout Spray took out the stain, and left his jeans looking great. I am looking forward to seeing what other messes my kids will get into so I can use the spray more often.
My favorite product, though, is the Shout Advanced Ultra Concentrated Gel because it is fun to use. Laundry itself is not a fun activity, so anything that can make it more enjoyable is awesome in my book. I love the way you squeeze out the gel, and then use the little brush to work the gel into the stain. I used this on a pair of my pants that had a little grease stain on them from riding in my friends truck. I simply used the gel, then washed the pants like I normally do after letting the gel sit for five minutes. When the pants came out of the dryer, you couldn't tell where the stain had been.
After seeing what these products can do, I can now encourage my kids to not only go play, but to get dirty, knowing that whatever they get into, Shout can get it out.
***I received these products free from Shout to facilitate my review. No other compensation was given.
6 comments:
I remember those days... back before you had to check the National Sex Registry before buying or renting a house and entire neighborhoods had BBQ's on Saturday nights. I sure wish my kids could experience those same things.
I remember. I guess I'm getting old. Mom would send us out to play. Regardless of where we were, when she called we would have to run home. Man! Her voice seem to carry everywhere when she called. The whole neighborhood knew when it was time to go home.
I remember my Mother sewing an old towel to one of my T-shirts. Then she took a crayon and put a big S on it. I was Superman! Remember him? You can't do that with kids today. Today they want bling and pretend to be drug dealers.
Today when you tell kids to play they jump in front of the computer, WII or Xbox. They just don't know what good old time fun is.
Jennie ~ we recently moved into a community where i thought the kids would have lots of kids to play with. The first week, I tried to speak to all the neighbors I ran into, but they were all cold and distant, even the moms at the bus stop. Thankfully, there are a few who have since become friends of mine, but my hopes for my kids went down the toilet. At least they have each other to play with, and the few kids who have friendly parents.
DaDude ~ most years for Halloween, my mom would cut holes in a sheet and I would be a ghost. Then those holes were sewn back up, and used on the beds. My kids have a $10 budget for Halloween, so they need to get creative. I also save the costumes every year so they have a sort of "pool" to pick items out of. I think it sparks their imaginations, and they have a lot of fun "creating" their costumes.
I often tell my kids to go up to their playroom and play with their toys together. They can end up there forever just playing nicely, or they can be up there for 10 minutes and start fighting. Now that the weather is cooler, playing outside any time of day is much more reasonable, so I'll let them go in the backyard where there's no access from the outside and I know they're safe...and I can see them. If we go out front to ride bikes or something, I have to go out with them and supervise.
I am surprised that some kids as young as 3 and 4 are running around our neighborhood unsupervised. I don't think that would've been acceptable when I was a kid either.
Jennifer ~ my girls are 4 1/2 years apart, and some days they get along like best friends, and other days they can not be within twenty feet of each other without fighting.
When my youngest, who is almost 9, is outside, either I or one of her siblings (who are 13 and 15) have to be out there with her. There are little kids running around in here, too, and like you, I am shocked. It amazes me how some parents just don't care.
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