Free Range Kids » Because Logs, Leaves and Branches are SO HARD TO FIND???


I would have to a disagree with Lenore on this one. It is a life or death issue. A style of life, and a death of nature issue. If we don't allow our children to discover nature (which underpins everything including us) and assume a more benevolent stewardship than their predecessors then future children better get use to plastic logs and leaves as they will be the only ones they'll ever see.

Full article can be read from the link above.   

" Hey Readers! Here’s what every school needs: A $249 set of fake logs to make a fake nature trail with fake leaves to remind kids of the great wide world of plastic!

I know this is hardly a life-or-death Free-Range issue, but come on. The company insists that its “balance beam…looks like a real nature trail! Our rugged plastic set features everything from logs and leaves to branches and stumps—each with a nonskid surface on bottom to keep children safe as they play.”

Because they’re so unsafe on tree stumps that don’t have non-skid surfacing? Does the very idea of playing beyond the reading rug send safety shivers down school administrators’ spines? And by the way, the notion that this set bears any resemblance to “nature” rings about as true as Barney teaching kids the basics of paleontology. So here’s a radical alternative: Send kids OUTSIDE.There are plenty of logs out there. Act now and we’ll throw the bugs, free! - L