Old Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills - my kind of play

Matacuane, in Beira, Mozambique was my childhood playground. My sisters and I played outside, with many of the kids in the neighborhood. We were always inventing games that had very little to do with toys. My favorite memories involve building a cabana in our back yard, out of palm tree leaves. We had to dismantle it because we later found a snake inthere. We collected fish from the rice fields during the rainy season. The water level reached our waist. We always had to figure out a way to dry off before going home. Or the time we sucked on sugar cane, leaving our side walk full of that fiber. I was a regular tree climber. We were risk takers, and our days were rich with activity and friendship.

Listen here for an NPR report.

Play on people!!