Posted May 25, 2023

I hated that line when I was growing up. They were probably right. I probably couldn’t. But what is the comeback?

Some days it feels like life is throwing that question at me. When I first dreamed up Discovery Park, I put together an outline of what I thought would make a great play space. My wife added some cool sketches and we showed it to some successful entrepreneurs and educators. They politely, but slowly read through our ideas and announced “That’s nice, but.... Sounds like a lot of work, a lot of maintenance. Will you need government approval and insurance? How will you finance it…. government grants?”

Those are all valid questions, but are they idea killers or obstacles that just need to be overcome? It’s not that they didn’t believe it was a good idea, they just know that most people with ideas fail to follow through. The first time someone “puts down” your project, do you give up? Maybe it costs more than you expected. Maybe there was a hitch you hadn’t thought of.

Hey – it’s problems. Solving problems is what life is all about. You have to push your boundaries, humbly ask for advice, think outside the box. Now here we are, the 4th year of hard work creating this unique playground.

So where do I hear that title taunt on the playground? It’s usually at the lagoon. It’s only 15 inches deep, but it’s 35 feet across with a rope and a little raft. Can you pull yourself across without falling in? A few make it, but most don’t. But that’s the fun part. When someone gets soaked, everybody is laughing, including the one who is now dripping wet. The best part is ndash; they want to do it again. They want to master the tricky balancing it takes.

That is the beginning of perseverance. Maybe they won’t be able to get across this week – maybe they can the next time they come. If a kid keeps working at it, trying again and again till they have it mastered, it’s a powerful internal success. “I made it across the lagoon without falling in. I can do anything if I stick to it.” That’s the power of play in a child’s life.

That’s what good play is all about.

No directions, nobody telling you that
“you can’t do it that way”.

It’s pure discovery!