The Importance of Kids' Downtime

Luke has a presentation to give at school today; tomorrow he plays forward for his soccer team. Sunday he'll be traveling alone by plane to spend a week with his father in a neighboring state. Luke is six years old.

So much is expected of children today, and so soon. Not only do their parents expect them to make good grades, but also to be well-liked by classmates, physically adept, computer literate, and to shine in a particular area, such as music or dance. To achieve this, extracurricular activities often begin in the preschool years. It's common for three and four-year-olds to take ballet, gymnastics, and even a martial arts class, frequently going directly from school to after-school appointments, without a rest period and with only a quick snack in the car.

"Fun" Drops 15%

Elaine St. James, author of a number of books on simplifying one's life, wrote in a recent web article: "It's apparent we are passing along to our children one of the most damaging aspects of modern life: its overwhelming busyness."

St. James refers to a study done at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research that tracked the way 3,586 children, ages 12 and under, spent their time in 1997. The participants represented a mix of ethnic backgrounds and types of households -- rich, poor, single parent, two-parent and dual income.

Not many differences were found among the children based on these variables. However, there was one striking similarity among them all: the children were overbooked. Researchers reported that children's leisure time -- defined as time left over after sleeping, eating, personal hygiene, and school or day care -- had dropped from 40% in 1981 to 25% in 1997. Involvement in sports and other structured activities rose 50% in that time period, and kids spent 8 more hours per week in school than they did in 1981. St. James notes: "All of this frantic activity left as little as 3 hours per week for the type of unstructured activity -- formerly known as fun -- that children need."

Benefits of "Down Time"

It's up to us as parents to restore to children the free time they've lost. Perhaps first we need to remind ourselves of the benefits of "down time."

• The physical body requires time to rest and restore itself, and the amount of rest children need varies. One child may require a half hour between activities to feel refreshed; another may require an entire evening.
• Stilling the mind during periods of quiet results in increased ability to focus one's attention and concentrate. Children who are constantly bombarded with input often have difficulty attending in classroom situations, their attention drawn to stimuli that are not relevant to the lesson being presented.
• Most creative individuals -- artists, writers, and inventors -- regularly spend time in meditation or periods of reverie. These periods often precede bursts of creative connections and ideas.
• It's during the quiet times that we are able to reflect and get to know ourselves. What do we think about certain issues? What are our feelings about individuals and situations? It's during times alone we get to know the most important person in our life, our own self.
• Children need time to daydream, to imagine alternate futures for themselves. Daydreaming allows us to fantasize about what we might be without the consequences of actually taking action.

Ways to Restore Quiet

How can parents go about restoring a natural rhythm to our busy days? Here are some immediate things we can do:

• Make a stand. Cut back on at least one weekly commitment even if your child objects at first.
• Refuse to schedule anything that conflicts with the family dinner hour. This should be a sacred time for sharing and support.
• Limit extracurricular activities to one or two during the school year (depending on your child's age) and let your child choose the activities.
• After school, allow your child some down time for talking on the phone with friends, having a snack, or listening to music, before homework is begun.
• Skip the activity -- a soccer game, piano lesson, etc. -- when your child comes home from school tired or has a test to study for.
• Every once in a while, leave a weekend day free with absolutely nothing scheduled.
• Turn off the television set and get out in nature together. Take an unhurried bike ride or hike in the woods.
• Before a family vacation, allow your child plenty of time beforehand to plan and dream about it, and some time off following to reflect and remember.

It's time to get our children off the fast track to burnout.

Dr. Lauren Bradway is the author of How to Maximize Your Child's Learning Ability. She consults online with parents regarding their child's learning style at www.helpingchildrengrow.com. Dr. Bradway is a regular contributor to KidsEdge.

This article brought to you by LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. To find educational toys for every age and stage, visit the LeapFrog online store.