Unless the success of future generations relies on having dexterous thumbs, it is probably more important than ever that today’s connected kids learn to make their own fun.
Fifty years ago, if you gave a couple of kids two empty soup cans and some string, you would be giving them an hour’s amusement certain to spark their imagination.
Whatever a child might do with those objects today, it’s almost a sure bet they wouldn’t be transformed into phones. There’s no screen, no buttons and what would be the point of that string, anyway?
For all the benefits of living in a connected world, we wonder if today’s children have the opportunity or inclination to make their own fun the way previous generations did. Today’s kids, more often than not, play games. Previous generations invented games. There is, we believe, an important and valuable distinction to be drawn there.
That is why we were particularly pleased with Tuesday evening’s program at the Emerson Family Resource Center in Starkville. Each month, the staff at Emerson puts together programs designed to bring families with young children together.
Tuesday’s showed that children can go off script a bit and create an inner work of imagination that can still transform common objects into adventures. Judging by the enthusiasm on display, it affirms that children are every bit as creative and imaginative as ever, given the opportunity.
In this case, we are talking slime, which has become something of a phenomenon recently.
For those without children, slime is, a low-level chemistry experiment created when sodium borate is added to water and glue. That’s all that is required, although any number of other ingredients can be added to give the slime different colors, textures and properties.
It is not only an introduction into basic chemistry, for some kids making and playing with slime seems almost therapeutic. There is something calming about stretching and kneading the formless blob.
But let’s not put too fine a point on the matter. Mostly, it’s fun to play with. Once a kid has made her slime, it’s entirely up to her what to do with it. There are no instructions, no rules. It’s only limits are the child’s imagination.
We fear there may be too little of that in today’s world.
When a child is encouraged to make his own fun, when a little girl is encouraged to explore the boundaries of her own imagination, when a little boy is inspired to create, they are learning skills and disciplines that are timeless and, we suspect, essential no matter what the future holds.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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