Last summer I sent my then-five-year old daughter to Camp Invention with my old Sony Stereo. Two weeks later she brought home some wheeled, pullied contraption build out of 1990s printed circuit boards and stereo knobs. Not very practical, but she got to see the inside of a “black box” and put the pieces into a new form. Plus they learned about Da Vinci, Edison, and other famous inventors.

This summer, unfortunately, she did not return to Camp Invention because the theme was saving the earth from the global warming enviro-apocolypse. Her first-grade friends already question her “green cred” and her dad’s heresies. So instead I taught her how to build fires on the beach and release good old CO2 into the sky.

Last summer I sent my then-five-year old daughter to Camp Invention with my old Sony Stereo. Two weeks later she brought home some wheeled, pullied contraption build out of 1990s printed circuit boards and stereo knobs. Not very practical, but she got to see the inside of a “black box” and put the pieces into a new form. Plus they learned about Da Vinci, Edison, and other famous inventors.

This summer, unfortunately, she did not return to Camp Invention because the theme was saving the earth from the global warming enviro-apocolypse. Her first-grade friends already question her “green cred” and her dad’s heresies. So instead I taught her how to build fires on the beach and release good old CO2 into the sky.

And yes, tree-climbing is another of those incredible joys of childhood that is slowly disappearing. My best friends and I spent an entire summer building a great little tree house one year back in the late 70s. We still talk about the experience fondly 30 years later.

Model rockets was another joy of my childhood. I must have built dozens of them. I’ve just bought my son his first Estes starter kit for his upcoming birthday. Only problem: It’s getting harder and harder to find a public park — even in the suburbs — that will let you launch them.

And yes, tree-climbing is another of those incredible joys of childhood that is slowly disappearing. My best friends and I spent an entire summer building a great little tree house one year back in the late 70s. We still talk about the experience fondly 30 years later.

Model rockets was another joy of my childhood. I must have built dozens of them. I’ve just bought my son his first Estes starter kit for his upcoming birthday. Only problem: It’s getting harder and harder to find a public park — even in the suburbs — that will let you launch them.

The study talked about how children that are completely protected from things that might hurt them; are less capable of making smart risk assessments in their older years.

Go climb a tree for crying out loud!

The study talked about how children that are completely protected from things that might hurt them; are less capable of making smart risk assessments in their older years.

Go climb a tree for crying out loud!