My wife and I are den leaders for Cub Scouts, specifically the nine-year-olds, or Bears. It’s interesting to spend an hour with these boys each week and find out what’s on the minds of kids these days. It’s even more interesting to see what grabs their interest. It’s not what I would have thought. In this advanced age I would expect them to be bored by anything non-digital. While it’s true they like their video games, they seem just as easily entertained by “analog” pursuits.
Last night, for example, we had them make a craft project involving a mini-flowerpot turned upside down with a wooden ball glued to the bottom (now top) to make a snowman body. We had them paint the pot-n-ball with white paint, attach wire and little pom-poms to make ear muffs, add a strip of cloth around the “neck” to make a scarf, and then decorate with pipe-cleaner arms and drawn-on features. When my wife first displayed the model for what they would do one of the boys immediately declared them “cute!” They enthusiastically set to work.
Between coats of paint, in order to give it time to dry, we went into the living room and played a memory game where we choose a dozen or so small items from around the house and place them together on the floor. One boy leaves the room and the others select one item to remove. The boy who is “it” returns and tries to identify what was taken, based on his memory. The boys love this game! We’ve played it with pretty much every group we’ve had over the last four years, and quite often they request it.
Another favorite is “find the hedgehog”. My wife has a little hedgehog figurine she volunteered for this. We start in another room while one boy goes in and hides the hedgehog somewhere in the room where it can still be seen (it can’t be completely covered, for example). Then the other boys come in and look for it. The minute one of them spots the hedgehog they are to sit down and not say a word until all the others have found it. The boy who hid it can give hints if he wishes. Once everyone is sitting down the game starts over with a new boy hiding the hedgehog. They could play this game for the entire hour if we let them.
This fall we introduced them to the game “spud”, which we learned from some friends of ours years ago, but were surprised to discover was in the new cub scout manuals. This one is played outside and requires a playground ball (something not too hard). One person starts with the ball while everyone else gathers around him. The person with the ball throws the ball straight up in the air and calls out a name. He and everyone else then start running away while the person called has to catch the ball. As soon as they have it in their hands they yell “SPUD!” and everyone has to freeze wherever they are. The person with the ball then gets three steps (how this is measured, of course, becomes more and more loose as the game progresses) toward someone of their choice, who they then try to hit with the ball. The target can’t move his feet, but can otherwise attempt to dodge. If the target gets hit they become the new person with the ball who throws it and picks a new name. If the thrower misses, they become the person with the ball to start off the next round.
The night we taught the boys Spud we thought they’d get bored quickly. Not so. They wanted to keep playing long after the time was up. Boys from other Cub Scout groups and even the teenage scouts coming for their meeting wanted to join in. No one wanted to stop!
Based on these and other experiences I’ve decided that kids are not that different from kids when I was one. The difference, perhaps, is that they need someone to show them that there are other options to digital entertainment and to lead the way. “Old fashioned” and “simple” doesn’t necessarily mean “obsolete.” This gives me hope.
And so does this: Siblings collect police patches, hope to become officers. The vast majority of police are doing a tough job under tough circumstances, and being expected to make extremely tough calls under pressure. Here’s to the Benedettos for their support. And my thanks also goes out to police all across the country and around the world who make a difference.
There are few children who will pass up a grown up sanctioned opportunity to hurl an object at a fellow child.
Oddly enough, there are also few who would pass on the chance to have the object hurled at them, either, so long as there’s a decent chance they’ll get a chance to be on the delivery end of that process at some point.