Nothing risked, nothing gained

We spent the evening at the delightful farmers’ market in Saxapahaw, NC. The girls had a great time in the kid area, riding in a kayak on a zipline, and joining many kids playing with cardboard boxes on a hill. Huge boxes from refrigerators, washing machines, and dryers had the ends cut off and were turned into sleds, skateboards, and tumbling wheels. Kids from about 4 to 12 kept the area busy all night as they exuberantly explored the many ways to have fun with such a simple object. I watched as they rolled down the hill over and over- somersaulting, log rolling, even piling 4 kids into a rolling box at one time.


There were a few big people milling about, but for the most part the kids were self-organized. I saw no rules or lines, just kids freely navigating around one another, waiting turns or joining in boxes, and cooperating easily to find new ways to play with the boxes. Even more amazing, is that no one was breathing down the kids' necks, telling them to "be careful!". There were trees at the bottom of the hill, and I saw a few pile ups and boxes of kids rolling over each other.