Project Play in the News
Kickin’ it old school
A local author introduces a new generation to classic playground fun like kick the can and treasure hunt
By Judy Sutton Taylor
Time Out Chicago / Issue 204 : Jan 22–28, 2009
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/kids/70791/kickin-it-old-school
Like many children of the ’70s and ’80s, Marlene Byrne has fond memories of playing games like tag, running bases and follow the leader when she was young. They were such an important part of her childhood that she decided to develop Project Play, a children’s book series, based on all the fun she had.
“I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, where games like these were a part of our lives,” says Byrne, now president of Celtic Marketing in Niles. “I was concerned that my own kids would have a very different experience and be overscheduled from a very early age.”
In an effort to make sure that didn’t happen, Byrne began writing the first of the Project Play titles while on maternity leave following the birth of her daughter eight years ago. “I started writing for [my son and daughter] because I wanted to give them a chance to be creative and use their imaginations,” she says.
Now other readers can share in the fun, too. The first three titles in Byrne’s self-published series—fiction loosely based on a group of kids who play together in Chicago’s Edgebrook neighborhood (where Byrne lives with her family)—debuted in November. Treasure Hunt, Follow the Leader and Just a Baseball Game each focus on a different game, and all three are aimed at kids ages 5 to 8. The next two books due later this year—Kick the Can and Ghosts in the Graveyard—are written in chapter format for older readers.
The easy-to-read books are illustrated in bold colors and give kids the inspiration to play games that were once passed down by older siblings and neighbors, but that they might now miss out on.
Byrne says the books encourage kids to play without much to guide them besides their imaginations, something she says doesn’t happen enough because of too many extracurricular activities such as lessons, clubs and sports. “A focus on team sports is great, but they can end up being more about competition than about simply playing,” she says. “It’s a different experience when kids can just grab their gloves and head to the park or someone’s back yard to play a game of ball however they like. They need time to figure things out for themselves, negotiate rules and name teams without a bunch of parents and a referee standing over them.”
The author acknowledges that it’s not as easy as it once was—because of safety concerns, many parents don’t let their kids run around the neighborhood or even play in the front yard unsupervised—like past generations. But Byrne still thinks overscheduling is the biggest obstacle in the way of inspired play. “Kids are just so busy,” she says, “Every kid in kindergarten is in a T-ball league. Parents—myself included—feel guilty, thinking that they have to have their kids participate in everything. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to opt out of one or two activities and give kids an opportunity to simply play some games.”
Byrne says her kids have gotten into the habit of creating their own games when friends come over. “We have a rule—no TV during play dates. We’ve played treasure hunt around our house so many times that they make up their own now,” she says. “It’s just one of the things they do; it’s a habit.”
