Classic Childhood Games: A Prescription to Play for 21st Century Kids

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb 06, 2010 -
At first glance, the website of new Bellingham author Tom O'Leary seems to be a carefree, nostalgic look at the classic childhood games that he played as a boy growing up in New York during the 1970s and 80s. While it is true that the website does chronicle classic childhood games which were played decades ago; it also addresses more serious issues resulting from a shift in the culture of childhood play over the last thirty years in America.  Obesity levels have trebled for children between the ages of 6-11 over the last three decades. One contributing factor to this epidemic was gleaned from a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study which revealed that, on average, children spend 7.38 hours per day connected to one electronic gadget or another.

Mr. O'Leary believes that bringing creative, unstructured childhood play back into the streets, courtyards, back gardens, sidewalks and porches of local neighborhoods will help to reduce the physical, mental and emotional struggles that children face today.

Now living in Bellingham, Washington with his wife and three young daughters, Tom grew up in Peekskill, New York during the 1970s. He says, "Sometimes, we develop complicated strategies to address basic problems. Today, many children in America are struggling to keep their weight under control. Others appear to be stressed out at a very young age. Since our traditional culture of play has changed over the past 30 years, we are seeing more and more children battling obesity. Is that a coincidence? I don’t think so. Today, our children are all too happy sitting in the same spot for hours while engrossed by the electronic glow of a television or video game. When I was growing up, most children didn’t sit still for five minutes when they could be playing a game outside with their friends."

Mr. O'Leary wrote RetroActive: Skip, Hop and You Don't Stop (Games We Played) as a nostalgic reminder of the classic childhood games played back in the 1970s and 80s, but ultimately hopes that it might encourage some young people to step outside and actually play some of those classic childhood games and get in shape - the old fashioned way - through play. In conjunction with the book, he launched a website and Facebook page so that readers can share their memories of classic childhood games that they played when they were young kings of kickball, masters of monkey in the middle or divas of double dutch.

When was the last time that you played stickball? Kick the can? Red Rover? In eight short chapters, Mr. O'Leary's book unleashes memories of childhood play in the 1970s and 1980s; when communities were connected by the footprints of children. Including the rules for over 100 classic childhood games requiring little more than the energy of youth and a ball; the book takes a nostalgic look back at the art of coming together, making rules, picking “IT”, selecting teams and most importantly playing in the streets, courtyards, porches, sidewalks, and backyards of our neighborhoods.

You can discover more information about the book, the author and even participate in conversations about your own memories of childhood play at http://www.gamesweplayed.com

There are links to the author's Facebook fan site and Twitter page on the site as well.

Tag! You're it!

About the Author

Tom O’Leary was born on a beautiful day in 1965. He grew up in Peekskill, New York and spent the first seventeen years of his life playing in the streets, courtyards, backyards, sidewalks and porches of his neighborhood with friends.

He eventually left childhood play behind, but not the spirit. He bottled that and used it effectively in High School, where he was on the cross country, soccer, swimming, track and lacrosse teams. He graduated from the State University of New York, College at Cortland in 1987, was nominated as one of the 12 Outstanding Airmen in the United States Air Force and was Airman of the Year for two Major Commands in 1995. A jack-of-all-trades, he went on to work with NATO in southern Italy and managed a castle hotel in Ireland. Currently, he serves as vice president for a software and services company from Ireland. Tom currently lives in Bellingham, Washington with his wife Dearbhla and their three young daughters, Meadbh, Aine and Aoife. This is his first book.