RS Vacations – Big Bear Lake, CA

When I was a kid in the 70’s and early 80’s (yikes! did I just say that out loud?!), my parents would make us go play outside and not come home until dinnertime. We rode bikes and ran loose around our Big Bear neighborhood for hours at a time. We didn’t have video games yet (well, there was Pong, but you can only bounce a pixelated, square ball back and forth so many times before it becomes boring!) and we had only 13 channels on TV, so most of my childhood was spent outside. Not only were we getting lots of exercise, we were learning how to interact with other kids, and often times practicing problem solving and conflict resolution without even knowing it. We didn’t have ‘helicopter’ parents who were constantly watching over us. If we had an issue with another kid, we just worked it out between us, got over it and went back to playing.

Fast-forward to the late 90’s when I have a kid of my own. It is no longer safe to just send your kids out the door to play unsupervised. I arranged play-dates and had him in recreational sports, but much of the time he just wanted to play video games (I have to admit, video games are WAY cooler now) or see what was on one of the 200 channels of TV. I’ll admit it, when my son was younger I did use TV or video games as an ‘electronic babysitter’ on occasion. We all have to get things done and sometimes just need the kids out from underfoot. Keeping them occupied with electronics is often times the best way to do that, but it is not necessarily what is best for them.

Nowadays, most every kid has their own smart phone and the only thing getting a workout are their fingers! They just are not getting the physical exercise and team-building experience that we did as kids. The arrival of Pokemon GO has gotten kids off the couch and walking around their neighborhoods, which is great, but they are still not directly interacting with one another and playing hard. I think physical play is really missing in our society and that is sad because our kids need it!

This coming weekend in Big Bear Lake, Snow Summit Mountain Resort is hosting the ‘Kids Adventure Games’. It is a kid-sized adventure race where teams of two navigate a natural terrain inspired obstacle course. It gives kids an opportunity to work together and push themselves physically and mentally to achieve a goal. In tomorrow’s ‘Tuesday’s Topic’ post, I will give complete details about the games and how to sign your kid up.

We still have several cabins available for the coming Labor Day Weekend, but they are starting to fill up. Head over to RSVacations.net and reserve your cabin now, then come on up and cheer your kid on as they take part in something that will stay with them and hopefully encourage a love of adventure and physical activity!