Making our own rules

Remember the game kick the can, when neighborhood kids got together to play ball? No coaches, no parents, no supervision. The children decided the rules of playing together and the consequences of not following those rules.

Now children's sports are directed by coaches who want to win and parents who get over involved.Adults set the rules, the teams, the schedules, the pressure and the consequences. And it doesnt stop with soccer. How much time do your children spend without adult direction? How often do they go off with friends to create fantasy play and make up their own rules and consequences?

The most valuable aspect of child-initiated play is in enabling children to make choices and decisions, to exercise control over their own learning and , as a result experience a sense of ownership. Play is open-ended. Children make up their own rules, they are highly independent when they are playing freely. We can link ownership directly with self-confidence, motivation, the development of self-esteem and a positive self-concept. this is precisely because play enables children to follow their own ideas that they can achieve a sense of ownership and are motivated to learn.

In this video the boys were playing outside on the turf. They took 1 ball and started to kick, run, hit, bounce and play. They naturally split into teams and they created their own rules. The game lasted longer than if I had directed it. They worked through their issues and had a lot of fun.