Five Dangerous Things For Kids to Do

September 2nd, 2008 Posted in General Parenting

When I saw this video, I instantly realized how great of a job my parents did with my sister, brother and me. We grew up in a rural area where my grandfather gave me my first pocket knife when I was barely in school, had a bb gun and played outside. What I didn’t realize was that I was learning all kinds of great life lessons that would help shape me into who I was going to become. I found this article on Digg and was immediately drawn in by the title, 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do. After watching, I think I’m going to go get my 21-month daugher her first swiss army knife, but that’s a job for a grandfather.

I GUARANTEE that this video is the best thing that you will watch today, perhaps this week…

Check out the rest of the great videos from TED here.

Now, let’s talk about things I did when I was a kid and what I learned in result.

Building a Fort in the Woods: Yeah, my brother and I probably didn’t build the most structurally sound structures out there, but we did learn a heck of a lot about construction, architecture and materials. We also learned that nails are sharp, hammers hurt, trees can snap back violently when cut and a bunch of other stuff.

Making a Camp Fire: If you’re looking to teach your kid a life lesson, build a fire. Aside from learning that fire can be really hot and hurt we learned about life. When you build a fire you need to make sure you start from a strong base, plan ahead, prepare your materials, consider what may go wrong and most importantly, be patient. This probably warrants a full blog post, stay tuned.

Climbing a Tree: A kid can learn a great deal climbing up a tree. You learn about spacial awareness of where branches are and how to get to them. You learn the strength of materials (branches are stronger the closer they are to the trunk). Oh yeah, you’re also acutely aware of gravity.

Mowing the Grass: This is where a kid can feel like a big kid, especially if you’ve got a riding mower. Aside from feeling cool, you’re learning about patterns, how to drive, operate equipment and responsibility.

That’s just a little bit of what a kid can learn when they’re out of the house and testing their limits. Know some more? Add a comment below.