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Preserving Wonder And Welcoming Boredom: The Importance Of Quietly Incredible Adventures In Today’S Rushed Childhood, Amalia Hillmann

Children's Book Writing and Illustrating (MFA) Theses

Once upon childhoods past, children’s early years were filled with exploration of and delight in the world around them. They learned through independent play and chasing curiosity without the micromanagement of intervening adults. Inter-generational relationships grew character and knowledge via shared stories and skills and encouraged collaborative experiences and tasks. Today’s culture is losing this inquisitive, play-filled heart of childhood. Children are increasingly pulled through their earliest years and pushed into adolescence prematurely by impatient communities, unrealistic academic expectations, and distracted parenting. The loss of slightly-wild, unstructured adventures and rooted parent-child relationships in pre-teen years should be of interest to …