Parenthood is awash with immense pressure to do right by our kids. We’re told that children need certain (expensive) gadgets and experiences, but here’s the truth: What our kids need is so much simpler. Our children need white space!
Downtime — also known as white space on the calendar — is essential for resting and recharging. White space offers freedom to explore, create, and discover without predetermined rules or guidelines. Even better? It fosters cognitive development, boosts creativity and imagination, and encourages self-directed learning.
Despite all these benefits, kids these days aren’t getting enough downtime. Independent activities that were once essential parts of childhood have gradually diminished over the years, and a decline in unstructured time is:
Bad for fun. Structured classes and sports in which adults evaluate kids’ performances can often feel more like work than play.
Bad for learning. It’s downtime — and particularly downtime outside — that positively impacts the hippocampus and improves memory, attention span, and working memory capabilities.
Bad for mental health. Some researchers argue that our culture’s diminishing emphasis on downtime is one reason teenagers report skyrocketing levels of anxiety, depression, and sadness.
I’m a parent, and the pressure to sign my daughters up for all the activities is strong, especially when I notice my parenting peers investing heavily in every extracurricular under the sun. And while it’s natural to want to give my children every opportunity available, I have to constantly remind myself that childhood is not a time for resume-building. It’s a time for exploring, for memory-making, for discovering passions, and for holding onto them tightly.
Remember:
Most children don’t have the ability to verbalize their need for downtime so it’s on us parents to preemptively give it to them.
Perhaps it’s time to not sign up for that latest extracurricular. Recent research suggests that children should experience twice as much unstructured time as structured enrichment.
If you really want some bang for your buck, give your children unstructured time outside. Fresh air is good for all of us, and nature is the best toy (it also happens to be free!). And yet these days time outdoors is becoming alarmingly infrequent.
Of course, I’ve got plenty more tips, tricks, and actionable steps in the full podcast episode, which you can find à la your favorite podcast player:
Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify
Your minimalist friend,
Stephanie
This is great! It's so easy to fall into the trap of "go go go" but being intentional about unstructured time benefits everyone!
I appreciate this because we can afford extracurriculars and I've been feeling like my kids are missing out.