The Backyard Play Revolution: How to Engage Kids in Simple, Inexpensive Outdoor Play and Increase Child Health and Motor/Sensory Development

In this eye opening, easy-to-follow, action-oriented book, Jason Runkel Sperling explains how to use screen-free, unstructured outdoor play and toys to increase early-age child learning opportunities and improve happiness for the whole family.You’ll learn:•How to encourage your child to enjoy active, outdoor, screen-free play •How to foster unstructured, child-led playtime •The secret to making risky play work for your child•Practical advice on how to pick the right toys and transform your backyard•How to set up your backyard playspace and not break the bank•And much, much more… Follow one father’s entertaining and informative experiments to find play and toys that inspire his children to play outside, offline, and independently—like children of past generations. Author Jason Runkel Sperling shares his six-year journey discovering the history of play, playgrounds, toys, and the role of adults in their children’s experiences, culminating in a revolutionary approach to backyard play. Full of humor, parenting insight, and in-depth research, Sperling’s book will change how you think about raising children, and how you organize your home.If you’re like the majority of parents today, you may have noticed the differences in modern childhood. Unlike every other generation, your children spend more time indoors, glued to screens, and are less active and free to roam than in any time in history. You likely have come across countless articles on the epidemic of child obesity and behavioral problems today, and perhaps you’ve heard that getting children to play outside is an easy and inexpensive remedy. You may already want to get your children to play outside, but nothing seems to motivate them. Or maybe you’re frozen with fear that they might get hurt if they go out. Plus, your backyard is manicured for adult enjoyment. So instead of heading outside, your children stay indoors, damaging their health, and driving you up the walls.You may have tried lawn games, sports equipment, remote control toys, or backyard arts and crafts, but nothing seems to hold their attention. And when you do spend time in the backyard, you always have to play with them. Or, perhaps you can’t stand the thought of your children not getting ahead—so the children’s schedule is jam-packed with adult-led, goal-based activities outside the home. In other words, you’ve turned into the family chauffeur. Whatever happened to “go outside and play”? Raising children today is harder than ever before, but children haven’t changed all that much.The best way to get children to develop their imagination and creativity, motor and sensory skills, emotional and social intelligence, and every other physical and mental ability, is to get them to “go outside and play” with open-ended, child-led play that can be enjoyed in the backyard. There are proven, evidence-based approaches for the role parents should take in facilitating this kind of play. And you can learn them quickly and apply them tomorrow. This doesn’t mean getting rid of every after-school activity, throwing away every toy in the house, or putting the kibosh on screen time forever. But it does mean making sure that children have active playtime necessary to prevent physical and psychological maladies. It’s vital, especially with early-age children, to give them the environment and support they need to develop. You don’t have to play with children every second, you just need to know the right kind of play and toys to provide and how to gently guide them.The Backyard Play Revolution is for parents from every background, regardless of location or income level, and is appropriate for backyards of any size.This book isn’t hundreds of pages long. You can read the whole thing the day you get it and take action the next day. Are you ready to profoundly impact your child’s life? Scroll up to the top of the page and get your copy of The Backyard Revolution now.