So, do kids in Maine play outside? (Portland, Calais: apartment complex, skateboarding)

[frogcreekwoods]

Originally Posted by elston

Where I live I dont see many kids out playing.....except my neighbor....a single Dad with 5 kids.....his kids know how to play.....the older one has access to the snow mobile...but the little kids go sliding, build snowmen and other outdoor stuff....and in the summer bikes and catching turtles, fireflies and exploring and running around.

Where do you live? I want to move next door to this guy!

[BoundtofindME]

In the winter, there is a place in my town where the kids go sledding overlooking the ocean. But it is the summer when their presence is really noticed. They are out camping overnight on the adjacent islands, playing tennis, sailing, swimming, boating, exploring, beachcombing, walking, running and riding bikes right in our village. Granted most of these kids only summer here, but the local ones actually work with their parents on lobster boats and often are seen after their chores joining in with the other kids in a game of tag or a cold dip in the harbor. History here has shown they form many close ties with each other that last well into their adult lives. What is refreshing is, I have never once seen any of them with a cell phone or ipod or a skateboard. On rainy days I've see them hanging around at the library or up on a covered porch reading a book or just hanging out with their friends. All kids should be so lucky.

[Submariner]

Maybe half the properties around here are vacant, owned by non-residents. So someone might be there one weekend each year, or once every few years.

Some of the houses have no children visible.

Some of them have children outside all summer long.

We moved here as our youngest was a teen. He is not interested in outdoor activities. But then for the most part he grew up in cities with very high crime and gangs.

One of our 'nicest' homes, we lived 3 years in was a 'gated' apartment complex that had 12 foot concrete perimeter walls with barbed wire wrapped around the top of the perimeter walls. Any time that we stepped outside of that complex there were prostitutes standing around, we commonly heard shootings, sirens, and smoke drifted into our complex every day from firebombed automobiles burning. But the apartment was very nice inside, and we were very near wonderful site-seeing and tourist locations.



Looking around our town in Maine it seems like this would be an ideal locaiton for raising children.

[Siobjuan]

In my neck of the woods, there are kids out ALL THE TIME! We live on the edge of an actual town and one of the nicest things we noticed when we moved is that there are actual children all over the place here! We've put the word out that our yard is up for grabs as far as playing in it, climbing trees or even using the hose as long as they respect the buildings and gardens. In 2 years, we've not had a single incident and some of the kids live in apartments or the nearest trailer park, so they appreciate having a yard at their disposal.

One of my favorite things is in the summer is when we get a pick up game of frisbee going and little by little, the neighborhood comes together and we end up with 15-25 people in the yard. Folks know they can bring their dogs to chase the little kids. We open the garage and soda flows freely.....

[juststoppinby]

I see less and less kids outside playing. I do think some of it is video games and television. But I think there are other factors also. Some of those have been mentioned here. You used to be able to get pick up games of softball or frisbee fairly easy but now it seems as though parents worry so much about their kids being out of their sight that this does not seem to happen as much. I am glad to see from the post above that it does still happen somewhere. Parents worry because of the bad things that we see and hear happening. People also worry about being legally responsible if someone gets hurt. How I wish times were simpler again. Remember playing for hours and hours at each others houses? If someone got hurt they got bandaged up and sent back out to play. If it was serious they were treated by the local doctor or taken to the emergency room. People did not sue because of this. I miss the simpler times.

[mainerwoman]

My girls love to play outside. Right now their favorite thing to do is spend fourty minutes to build a ramp of snow and then slide down it and start all over again. They can't wait until good weather comes and they can use the rail trail again. The little one received a scooter from Santa and has been riding it indoors since December. (God help my wood floors) I really enjoy being outdoors with them, even if it's only reading a book while they play. Times have changed though. During the 70/80's my parents let me roam every where, I left in the morning and came back at night. Their only word of warning was, watch out when crossing the street. I would never dream of letting my 8 year old walk down the street without me, let alone give her money to use at the store like my dad did.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by mainerwoman

My girls love to play outside. Right now their favorite thing to do is spend fourty minutes to build a ramp of snow and then slide down it and start all over again. They can't wait until good weather comes and they can use the rail trail again. The little one received a scooter from Santa and has been riding it indoors since December. (God help my wood floors) I really enjoy being outdoors with them, even if it's only reading a book while they play. Times have changed though. During the 70/80's my parents let me roam every where, I left in the morning and came back at night. Their only word of warning was, watch out when crossing the street. I would never dream of letting my 8 year old walk down the street without me, let alone give her money to use at the store like my dad did.

when i was very young, we lived up on sand hill,(augusta) and there were kids everywhere!! we walked to patenaudes, and clems (store) we even walked to the new school (gilbert) think it opened in 1971
went ice skating at the park on northern ave....

we always played outside, no matter the cold or weather

[tankratt]

Originally Posted by tcrackly

When I was a kid growing up in the city we had a small town kind of neighborhood. We were kicked out of the house and were not back in until mealtimes or inclement weather. We had street games, ball games, and games we invented ourselves. Sometimes at night, well actually evening, we had hide and seek games that the parents would watch from their porches because we were so entertaining.

sounds like my childhood also, we would play until mom blew the whistle for dinner and we always wanted to go back out when we were done eating

[mainerwoman]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

when i was very young, we lived up on sand hill,(augusta) and there were kids everywhere!! we walked to patenaudes, and clems (store) we even walked to the new school (gilbert) think it opened in 1971
went ice skating at the park on northern ave....

we always played outside, no matter the cold or weather

I remember those days. I grew up off of eastern Ave.(Augusta) and there was a farm there with a corn field. We spent whole days roaming through the field, playing in the woods, running through the Piggery, now the Piggery is sports fields. My girls have a good life, but there was something special about my childhood when I look back at it. Maybe a sense of innocence or something like that. I now think my dad must have been crazy to allow a 8-10 year old girl to leave the dooryard without an adult.

[mainegirl]

Originally Posted by elston

I have noticed that there seem to be fewer kids playing outside, than when I was a kid (in the 1950's) and when my sons were kids (1970's).

You know, I think that is happening all over America, due to video games. Kids just don't get outside and play like they used to, and I am frequently seeing reports on tv that more American children are over weight and even obese compared to when I was a kid.

Then you have the problem of dangers in society. When I was growing up in the late 60's-early 70's, we used to be able to ride our bikes as far as we wanted to and play outside as much as we wanted, as long as our mother knew where we were, and we came home for dinner. Now, it seems that people can't let their kids out of their sight. It's very sad.