My educator friend remarks on the importance of teaching leisure
skills to students.
Learning the skill
of leisure fascinates me. Some children understand how to excel in
leisure; they use free time for pure enjoyment in ways that don't harm
themselves or others. Other children need help learning how.
My friend comments that the default
leisure activity for many children--of all abilities--is television and
video games, so part of her curriculum involves helping students
discover leisure skills that keep them moving and engaged.
Our
conversation raises so many questions for me. Do I have leisure skills?
Do my children? Would they know how to enjoy themselves apart from a
screen?
I'm inspired again to walk in the woods, bake
cakes, paint, read novels, take bubble baths, complete puzzles, build
forts, take photographs, and try out new things I might enjoy. A
therapist once told me I should--at any given moment--be able to list 5
leisure activities I enjoy.
Some folks can't.
There's a skill to leisure, and I want to do it well.
Here are my top five:
1. Reading with a cup a coffee in my rocking chair
2. Photographing very small things
3. Taking a bubble bath
4. Walking around the neighborhood
5. Baking something
____________________________________
Do you have 5 ways you love to enjoy yourself?
2 comments:
TV or video games are such common answers nowadays !
I read this earlier today and wondered if I could come up with 5 leisure activities...here we go:
1. Curled up reading a book of my choice
2. reading the newspaper
3. Walking my dog as sunrise or sunset
4. Baking/cooking
5. Time on the computer reading blogs and checking FB and such.
Three of those are reading and one involves a screen (and is sometimes more escape than leisure...) I'd say I'd practice this more but I work full time and go to grad school part time so practicing may have to wait until after I'm done with school.
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