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Comment by jmathai | Hacker News Reader

Last night at bedtime my 7yo son (2nd grade) said that he doesn't have enough time to play. Yesterday was a short day that he has once a week and he wished every day was a short day.

To be honest, it was really sad to hear him say that. He's a kid and doesn't understand the schedule being imposed upon him.

Without getting into a discussion about the right number of hours a 7yo should spend in class I wanted to ask another question.

What ideas have parents come up with to make it "feel" like there's more unstructured play time for kids during the school year?

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Your concern is completely valid, ignore the haters. We struggle with the same thing. We try to give our daughter the final say in any and all "structured extra-curriculars" she's involved in, even quitting right after starting, on the hope that her feeling even a little in-control of her own schedule is more valuable than "learning to finish anything you start". But cutting down on those is the only other place I can see to allow more unstructured play. And even then, we try where we can to "assist" with making the unstructured time more valuable, by trying to be present, engaged, and willing to do pain-in-the-ass things (like go run in the hot park for an hour after a long day of work) if that's what she wants. We try to ask her, and suggest options "do you want to stay in and play or go to the park or xyz...". But who knows, there is a constant feeling that no matter what, we're doing it wrong.

Thanks. Making it more valuable is what I was getting at. I think more time spent with me or my wife doing what they want would help too.

Interesting point on finishing what you start in relation to a limited quantity of time. I'll have to see if that's something we do or not.

> What ideas have parents come up with to make it "feel" like there's more unstructured play time for kids during the school year?

Uh maybe, I don't know, actually giving them more unstructured play time? Schools have been drastically cutting back on mid-day recess and other types of "free time".

My point is that there's a small window of time remaining in their day once school is out. And my wife picks them up right after school. Most kids are in after care until 6pm.

How can we make the 2 hrs of actual free time he has feel like 3? That's what I'm asking.

>What ideas have parents come up with to make it "feel" like there's more unstructured play time for kids during the school year?

Give them more unstructured play time and stop scare-quoting "feel" as if your kids can't tell you're lying to them.

1 hour of watching television feels shorter than 1 hour of jumping on the trampoline.

I think you misunderstood my question.

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