Until the Streetlights Come On – How a Return to Play Brightens Our Present and Prepares Kids for an Uncertain Future

by Ginny M.ed. Yurich

Help your kids to grow up curious, resilient, and with a sense of adventure and community by making outside play a priority. This book shows you how.

The average American now spends just four to seven minutes outside each day, while we spend four to seven hours using devices with screens. Our physical, mental, emotional, and relational health has suffered--and so has that of our children.

But there is a solution: get outside!

A homeschooling mother of five and the founder of the global 1000 Hours Outside movement, Ginny Yurich explains how we got to this point--and how to get back to a healthier, more engaging relationship with the world outside.

With a mom's heart and an educator's eye, Ginny shows you
● the importance of unstructured play for children
● what boredom actually contributes to our brains
● the value of sunlight and social play
● the role of play in lifelong learning
● how to make time outside more attractive than screen time to your child

• ISBN10: 1540903400
• ISBN13: 9781540903402
• Publish Date: 9 January 2024
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Imprint: Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Until the Streetlights Come On is a layman accessible and interesting monograph on outdoor play and positively counteracting kids' screen time, by Ginny Yurich. Released 14th Nov 2023 by Baker Publishing, it's 224 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. 

The author has a lot to say about play, and its importance to development and quality of life. She has a frank and open (often vulnerable and very honest) voice in writing and the end result is a readable, accessible, encouraging, and *real* book about play and development and how (and why) everyone needs more of it. 

The book is fairly well annotated throughout and the chapter notes and references will provide many hours of further/specific reading for engaged readers, educators, and parents. This would be an excellent choice for public or home library acquisition, for educational curriculum, and for activity group leaders and facilitators. The author/publisher have included sets of interactive questions at the end of each chapter for further learning and discussion.

Four and a half stars. The publisher is a Christian imprint, but there is no proselytizing at all in the book. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.