Articles for Grown-Ups
Want to know more about what Let Grow is all about? Here you go!
Kids can do it themselves.
When adults step back, kids step up. Trust kids to do more and they will blossom.
- Is Free-Range Parenting the Secret to Raising Happier, Healthier Kids (The Guardian)
- How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Four Generations (Daily Mail)
- What Does Free-Range Parenting Really Mean?
- Germany is Making Its Playgrounds Riskier, To Help Kids Grow Up Safer
- Should I Let My Child Cross the Street Alone?
- Kids Need Free Time & Free Play in Kindergarten & Beyond
- Accommodating a Child’s Anxiety Makes It Worse
- Other cultures don’t make kids the focus of life
- Young Adults are Struggling with Mental Health: Is More Independence the Answer?
Free play is fundamental.
Kids are born with the drive to play. When we let them organize their own games and solve the inevitable spats, they build the social-emotional skills they’ll need for life.
- Open Source Literature of Published Research on Effects of Free Play on Mental Health (Curated by Jonanthan Haidt and Yaneev Bentov)
- The Importance of Free Play: TED Talk by Let Grow Co-founder Dr. Peter Gray
- Evidence-Backed Answers to FAQ About Free Play
- Study: The More Kids Played During COVID, The More They Thrived (Bigger Impact than Race, Income or Location) See also this.
- What Is Unstructured Play?
- Study: Adventurous Play Protects Against Anxiety, Effect Strongest in Low Income Families
- An Anthropologist Discusses the Benefits of Unstructured Play
- Some Lessons Taught by Informal Sports, But Not by Formal Sports (Psychology Today)
- All Work and No Play: Why Your Kids Are Anxious and Depressed (The Atlantic)
- Why So Many Kids Can’t Sit Still in School Today (Washington Post)
- The Decline of American Playtime and How to Resurrect it (Vox)
- Play Doesn’t Go On a Resume, But Maybe It Should (By Melissa of Melissa and Doug)
Children are resilient by nature.
Kids are smarter, safer and stronger than our culture gives them credit for. Let them make the most of their childhood.
- Taking Risks Helps Kids Learn to Cope
- I Tried to Get My Boys to Stop Roughhousing, But That Was a Mistake
- How Can I Let Go If I’m Constantly Worried About My Kids Getting Hurt?
- Why Kids Need Risk, Fear, and Excitement in Play (National Post)
- The Role of Risk in Play and Learning (Community Playthings)
Physical activity boosts child development.
Letting go is an act of bravery.
It takes courage to resist the pressure to overprotect your kids. Understand why it’s so important to try:
Our future depends on how we raise our kids now.
The world needs a generation of bold and adaptive thinkers. Find out how to raise independent kids to become resilient adults.
