No running with sticks .. or do you allow it? (6yo)

[Anonymous]

The thread below this one is “How do you teach your kids about the real world.” Part of the real world is kids play with sticks.

[Anonymous]

I still remember my youngest brother tripping and falling while running with a stick when he was like 4. It got impaled in his cheek. He still has a scar from it 40 years later. Because of that, we had a “no running with sticks” rule. There were stick sword fights, but they were told to stop as soon as the running started.

They engaged in plenty of “risky” play, but no running with sharp objects. Scramble up that rock or climb the tree, but put the stick down first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I mean literally running around with sticks up and down the block and grassy area. Sticks like these:




Running and chasing each other running around playing

lol… I posted earlier that this hasn’t come up for me. But if I saw my kids chasing another kid with a stick like that, my first thought would not be that he would be impaled, but that there was a 50/50 chance he would hit that other kid when he caught up with him (particularly if it was his brother).
Reading this thread, I was kind of wondering if my kids were actually better behaved than I remember them, but no, they were worse!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t allow any play with sticks. Boys love them, are often obsessed with sticks, but they must remain ornamental.

OK, Stalin. What happens if they do. Hard time in the gulag?

[Anonymous]

We had this rule for a while but we found that they were at a disadvantage in eye poking contests.

[Anonymous]

Sitting outside watching a group of boys run around with sticks right now. There is intermittent stopping of running to sword fight. Kids are age 7 to 11. They are all having fun. No one in the vicinity told them to stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sitting outside watching a group of boys run around with sticks right now. There is intermittent stopping of running to sword fight. Kids are age 7 to 11. They are all having fun. No one in the vicinity told them to stop.

Remember getting those 4ft long stakes that surveyors use, and nailing or tying a cross bar hilt to the dull end to make a wooden sword to play with. Then using a trash can lid as a shield!
Fun times. I could beat most of the boys cause usually they'd be scared of getting hit. At least until this one got a military surplus helmet.

[Anonymous]

My friend's dad is an eye surgeon. Running with sticks (and oddly, fishing) are big problems. No running with sticks. I am amazed at how many parents allow running with sticks.

[Anonymous]

My kids play with sticks. They play with rocks. They run and climb trees. They enjoy the outdoors and come up with creative games with buddies in the woods. I love it. We camp, we hike, we embrace being outside.

We set some realistic rules. Obviously don’t hurt people with sticks and rocks. Obviously be careful with sticks and rocks. But we’re not nuts about it. And we don’t judge other parents who let their kids run with sticks. Our boys pick up sticks and whack them on trees. At one age, they experimented with sword fighting with them, but we watched carefully and stepped in when it got unsafe. They quickly lost interest. Now sticks are for building things, like forts or pretend beaver dams.

We do roll our eyes at crazy parents setting extreme ridiculous rules around outdoor free play. Like not climbing trees. Like not picking up sticks. Like not throwing rocks. We want our kids to explore the natural world with joy, while being conscious of safety, but not extreme.

Posting picture of boys holding sticks seems extreme to me. Sticks are not guns. They have so many uses. You are being ridiculous and you are teaching your kids to fear the natural environment. You’re also robbing them of creative free play opportunities that supports their developmental growth. Just stay home and keep them on screens already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the Rescue 911 era and I think that stuck with me. I found myself calling my 6yo to stop running with a stick while playing outside with neighborhood kids and realized many other neighborhood kids were also running with them.

Assuming other parents have no issues, is it just me?

I think my worry is you fall and get impaled in the eye or neck or chest.

I don't allow this. My children are 6, 4, and 2. They love running and sticks, so this type of thing happens fairly frequently. I yell at them to stop/freeze and explain potential negative outcomes of running with sticks, but they still do it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No running with sticks, no throwing sticks or rocks, no screaming.

No screaming? Outside? Interesting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the other parents out there watching their kids? No one I know would be okay with that. It’s an accident waiting to happen…but other parents may not be paying attention.

I told a kid not to throw sticks at the park one day and the mom turned to me and said if they can’t do it at the park then where can they do it. And I’m like, ummm nowhere…!

Were they throwing it *at someone? Otherwise MYOB.

You throw stuff in the woods, not a park. That’s the issue.

What if the woods are in a park?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the other parents out there watching their kids? No one I know would be okay with that. It’s an accident waiting to happen…but other parents may not be paying attention.

I told a kid not to throw sticks at the park one day and the mom turned to me and said if they can’t do it at the park then where can they do it. And I’m like, ummm nowhere…!

Were they throwing it *at someone? Otherwise MYOB.

You throw stuff in the woods, not a park. That’s the issue.

What if the woods are in a park?

Then it’s a park not the woods. I assume you had a stick impaled in your head at a young age?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the other parents out there watching their kids? No one I know would be okay with that. It’s an accident waiting to happen…but other parents may not be paying attention.

I told a kid not to throw sticks at the park one day and the mom turned to me and said if they can’t do it at the park then where can they do it. And I’m like, ummm nowhere…!

Were they throwing it *at someone? Otherwise MYOB.

You throw stuff in the woods, not a park. That’s the issue.

What if the woods are in a park?

Then it’s a park not the woods. I assume you had a stick impaled in your head at a young age?

Ok to be clear, your position is that there are no woods in parks?

[Anonymous]

Same, no running with sticks, or pens or pencils, or lollipops…. No running with pretty much any object that can stick in the throat or eye or abdomen.