Community Kids Brainstorming
Mar. 15th, 2010 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
windinthemaplesSo I'm reading this book about how modern children don't interact much with other children. There isn't the neighborhood playtime that I experienced as a child where we all got together, impromptu, for summer evening games of kick the can or whiffle ball. Children are more likely to be indoors watching television and playing computer games than playing with a friend. It is just the way we operate now. This, combined with my dawning "commerce is at the heart of our troubles" realizations and I had this sudden vision for what I'd love to see in my own community.
I'd love to start a non-profit and rent out a large storefront somewhere. My motto would be something like, "Don't buy toys--borrow ours!". So to reduce toy purchase/manufacture, I'd operate a free toy library. There'd be a laminated photo 'card catalog' in the front that kids and their parents could flip through to find the toys they were interested in borrowing. Those toys'd be stored in a back room, out of sight. The large portion of the space would be for community gatherings, playgroups, arts and crafts, and other free activities for children and their parents. So it would be a space where parents and their children could meet and interact with other parents and their children under some friendly supervision and direction. The available toys could be unabashedly hand picked to emphasize imaginative play, non-violence, education, and sustainable materials. We could also, as a non-profit, accept donations of used toys from families that have outgrown what they purchased or just want to share what they have with others. There could be activity areas--like an arts and crafts corner where the activities and supplies/materials laid out change frequently, where getting messy is encouraged, and communal play areas with toys from our rental collection that we'd change out regularly to make each visit feel different and fresh. Every couple weeks or month, we could center activities and open toy play on a different theme. So like, you could walk in one month and be surprised to find colorful scarves and tents suspended from the ceiling forming a fairy court or a jungle of potted ferns and dinosaurs out to play with. I'd also have shelves of board games available to check out for family game nights and a safe area for infants to crawl and kick. Volunteer specialists could come teach classes, like children's yoga or pottery, and we could have regular times for age-specific playdates. Parents like me, with children underfoot, could come volunteer their time and/or work with their children at their side.
I spent some time talking it over with Daniel and he's super supportive. It fuses a lot of my desires and ideals. Daniel says it also utilizes my skill at being non-profitable. ;) Ha! (He also, not-quite-jokingly said my biggest expense would be in disinfectant.)
Why doesn't something like this already exist? Does it? Has anyone encountered a free family community space and toy lending library? I know of the concept but have never seen it in action outside of small grassroots mom groups getting together. Clearly, I need to do some research. Edited to Add: Who knew? There is an entire Toy Librarian's Association here in the States? Wow. How cool. Still, not much, if anything, is as ambitious as what I have in mind but it is nice to not have to reinvent the wheel for some of the functional considerations.
This isn't a matter of "if" but really a matter of "when". If I build it, will families come out of their homes and get together? Will people borrow expensive toys instead of feeling the need to purchase them? Could it even the playing field, so to speak, across socioeconomic lines and encourage a sense of community belonging and family fun?
I'm willing to take the risk to see. It won't be this year and it probably won't be next year, but I feel confident saying within five years one will exist and it will be a spectacular experiment in trust and idealism and togetherness.
I'd love to start a non-profit and rent out a large storefront somewhere. My motto would be something like, "Don't buy toys--borrow ours!". So to reduce toy purchase/manufacture, I'd operate a free toy library. There'd be a laminated photo 'card catalog' in the front that kids and their parents could flip through to find the toys they were interested in borrowing. Those toys'd be stored in a back room, out of sight. The large portion of the space would be for community gatherings, playgroups, arts and crafts, and other free activities for children and their parents. So it would be a space where parents and their children could meet and interact with other parents and their children under some friendly supervision and direction. The available toys could be unabashedly hand picked to emphasize imaginative play, non-violence, education, and sustainable materials. We could also, as a non-profit, accept donations of used toys from families that have outgrown what they purchased or just want to share what they have with others. There could be activity areas--like an arts and crafts corner where the activities and supplies/materials laid out change frequently, where getting messy is encouraged, and communal play areas with toys from our rental collection that we'd change out regularly to make each visit feel different and fresh. Every couple weeks or month, we could center activities and open toy play on a different theme. So like, you could walk in one month and be surprised to find colorful scarves and tents suspended from the ceiling forming a fairy court or a jungle of potted ferns and dinosaurs out to play with. I'd also have shelves of board games available to check out for family game nights and a safe area for infants to crawl and kick. Volunteer specialists could come teach classes, like children's yoga or pottery, and we could have regular times for age-specific playdates. Parents like me, with children underfoot, could come volunteer their time and/or work with their children at their side.
I spent some time talking it over with Daniel and he's super supportive. It fuses a lot of my desires and ideals. Daniel says it also utilizes my skill at being non-profitable. ;) Ha! (He also, not-quite-jokingly said my biggest expense would be in disinfectant.)
Why doesn't something like this already exist? Does it? Has anyone encountered a free family community space and toy lending library? I know of the concept but have never seen it in action outside of small grassroots mom groups getting together. Clearly, I need to do some research. Edited to Add: Who knew? There is an entire Toy Librarian's Association here in the States? Wow. How cool. Still, not much, if anything, is as ambitious as what I have in mind but it is nice to not have to reinvent the wheel for some of the functional considerations.
This isn't a matter of "if" but really a matter of "when". If I build it, will families come out of their homes and get together? Will people borrow expensive toys instead of feeling the need to purchase them? Could it even the playing field, so to speak, across socioeconomic lines and encourage a sense of community belonging and family fun?
I'm willing to take the risk to see. It won't be this year and it probably won't be next year, but I feel confident saying within five years one will exist and it will be a spectacular experiment in trust and idealism and togetherness.
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Date: 2010-03-16 08:42 pm (UTC)I think what you're looking to do here, in a way, is just as much of a cultural shift as the people living in cohousing and communal living situations, where we adapt out of the "I need my own tv" and into, "let's share this resource." I think it could really work to tackle some of these issues with kids. I definitely am not one for saying, this is hopeless and kids suck so forget it.
I am, on the other hand, fascinated by the ramifications of a communal resource like this, as well as how people adapt to cohousing and communal living. Having done different versions of both, but having been raised with the typical American "I want my own," I know some of the challenges I've faced, even having such strong environmental values as I do.
As I'm thinking of your concept, I'm reminded of a few things I've been thinking of as I look to the future and the possibility of building Pagan community centers. Oprah once interviewed a man who was donating books to schools in Africa. He was donating many many books, and then he hit a wall because there were places where he wanted to donate books and there were no schools. So he began to build schools. But instead of following the model where he hired people to come in and build the school "for" the community, he did fundraising to buy the materials.
The village or town was required to actually build the school. The idea was maximization of resources--that more schools could be built if he didn't have to hire the labor and just use the fundraising money for materials. The other idea was investment. Unlike other schools that patrons have built in that area of the world, which were often vandalized, desecrated, or even burned down, these schools became tended and treasured community resources. Literally, many of these areas made the bricks themselves to build the school for their children to go to.
I think there's something to that model of community investment that can be accomplished, over time. If people want the thing, that they must help to make the thing happen and participate in its creation. I'm not sure how that would work in your model, but it was something I thought of as I read your post.
Perhaps it's even just the energetic difference between a "drive through" model like some day care centers, where parents don't have much interaction with what's going on, and something more like a church, where there's a daycare but the parents are part of it, and they help to set the policy, and they tithe to the organization to ensure that it happens. It sounds like that's more the model you're hinting at vs. something more consumeristic/capitalistic.
This is a great idea, and if it helps children--and, if it helps children from growing into oil guzzling stuff-buying adults--then rocktastic awesome. Good luck with your further brainstorming :D