The Art of Having Fun with Anything, Anywhere

Muddy kids are happy kids. If children don’t decide, it’s not play. There are no educational toys or didactic games. Play is learning, and we learn through play. We forget sometimes, but watching a marble roll downhill is thrilling. Three chairs in a row become a train. They’ll clean up later (but let them do it). Learning something new is immensely rewarding. Whistling, tying knots, playing yo-yo—when it suddenly clicks, it’s priceless. No rule says you can only play with kids your own age or gender. They’ll manage.