I got the best voicemail from my kids the other day. It was Amy (the mom), Scott (the dad) and Ryan, my 4 year old granddaughter, telling a Knock-Knock joke that I could barely understand followed by wild laughter by all three of them. Now THAT’s a voicemail I should save for life!

Think of it — don’t you love laughing out loud with your friends? How about your family? To me, there’s nothing better.

So, why don’t you all laugh to see who can make the silliest giggle? Who can make the longest laughter? How many of you can laugh at the same time? Oh, I have an idea! Why doesn’t one person, perhaps the child, pretend to lead an orchestra but it’s a family of laughers. She waves her pretend wand and everyone laughs (anyway they like) and she stops and they have to freeze! She starts up again and, well, you get the idea. It can start as ha ha ha’s or hee hee hee’s and who knows what they will turn into, hopefully a great giggle straight from the belly!

I added the exclamation points after “Declaration of Play!!” for emphasis because we can’t ever forget how important it is to encourage our children to play — to be creative, to learn and grow and become independent thinkers through their play.

I attended a program at Smith Playground and Playhouse in Philadelphia on Friday night that emphasized this, where it is was announced that September 23, 2011 was named Declaration of Play Day, but the leaders here emphasize the urgency of play daily and want to be sure educators, parents, every friend of children remember this.

So, I thought in KIDFUN — where I preach “PLAY” through our creative ideas for young children — I’d share this incredible Declaration of Play with you. Please remember …. in fact, let’s all take a KIDFUN Pledge to be Play-advocates! Our kids need it. In later KIDFUN blogs, I’ll tell you more. It is staggering how poorly America ranks globally in learning skills, America where children are playing less and less.

Here it is … the Declaration of Play:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all children are created equal, that they are endowed by their society with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of physical, creative and imaginative Play. To secure these rights, we come together to declare the importance of play:

* to demonstrate that play facilitates learning

* to illustrate that play is essential to neurological and psychosocial development

* to recognize that play is a joyful experience.

Write to [email protected] to learn more! Join this effort. Please!

I remember when I taught kindergarten, I’d put together a series of large blocks on the floor and make it a stage . It wasn’t very big — it was a large square, but it worked. The kids popped up on this very low platform and it’s like I turned a switch, they became “hams!” Singing and dancing for all to see!

How can you do that at home? Create an area that is ideal for performing! When Borders went out of business in our area, they sold everything in the store, even their bookcases and their stage and Amy bought that for a “song!” Ya’ know, practically nothing. I told her last night, it’s probably the best toy of all. Ryan puts on dress up clothes and she’s transformed into Hannah Montana or Cinderella singing and dancing for her fans! (or no fans at all … just for pure pleasure!) Keep a pretend microphone nearby, too. Props are great additions to the stage. You could have a box of old hats or large scarves so they can create their own costumes, too.

How can you create a stage? I bet if you asked someone at Home Depot or Lowe’s, they might have an idea, that could cost you a “song,” too!

The other day I mentioned a Nature Walk, and I was thinking you could make this really intriguing with a couple of props. As we enter the fall season, taking walks in a park, a wooded area, even on the sidewalk, could lead to some interesting collecting of twigs, leaves, stones, pebbles, pine cones and … more! But, have your kids bring a magnifying glass to really investigate the area. Even a pair of plastic gloves for picking up “stuff”, and a couple bags for separating collections. The magnifying glass could be fascinating as they peer at the trunk of a tree even the various elements in the sidewalk or the path.

For some silly reason, I just envisioned Sherlock Hemlock. Remember him? When Sesame Street was in its early stages, Kermit the Frog donned a cap and coat like Sherlock Holmes and was the detective in the neighborhood. That’s it! Your kids could become Detective Janie for the walk looking for clues about science or, perhaps, some mystery you all create. Anyway — have fun on your next walk!

It must be universal … preschool and elementary age kids showing off their dynamic skills! “Watch this!” I heard all the kids shout on Sunday and realized, it’s not just Ryan! And, thinking about it today, it is just so priceless. Before the kids are shy and concerned about public opinions, they are just so proud of themselves and their new-found skills. Whether it’s dancing and twirling or standing on their hands or rolling down a hill, it just doesn’t matter. It’s that wonderful sense of glee when a young child accomplishes a task that THEY think is pretty cool! And, I would bet you do, too — the person who loves that young child.

So, savor it — tape it! It’s just so easy today with videos on phones and flip videos. Never take these precious moments for granted because, before you know it, this young vibrant child will grow up, be vibrant in many other ways and, perhaps, not quite the “show off” she is today!

At first, you might think I’m referring to a set of unbalanced drums with the title of today’s KIDFUN … “Rocky Drums.” But, it was a couple of large rocks Ryan found and immediately turned them into drums. “Okay, dance!” she instructed as she beat out a rhythm. We made our own little orchestra, with Ryan conducting. I clapped and mimicked her. Drums are everywhere — from large rocks, to drum stick forks, to hands on a table or the arms of a chair. Get your kids thinking about the sounds of music around them, the sounds THEY can make with rocks or almost anything!

** Thanks for the rocks, Jaimee and Steve! Ryan loved her nature walk with Darren, Chloe, Hannah and Maddy!

It hit me last night … while my choir was singing this song called L’dor v’dor. It means from generation to generation and somehow my mind wandered and I thought about my family photo wall, my generations. And, I realized if I scanned those photos of my parents’ wedding, for example, and my husband Barry’s parents’ 35th Anniversary celebration photo, I could make a photo book for our granddaughters and kids. I can include our baby pictures, my kids’ baby pictures and NOW our grandchildren’s photos. When I was sharing this idea with an old friend after the service, he mentioned even our own grandparents’ photos (except I’m not sure I can find them!)

I love to make Kodak Gallery photo books — what an incredible book this could be! I’d have to make copies for everyone, but that’s okay — hm … maybe a holiday gift this season! From Generation to Generation … what a keepsake! I hope this leads to an idea for you, too! Share it with us!

This is more of a discussion than a KIDFUN tip but when do you think a child should get comfortable with technology? This is my first blog related to Sari, who is now eight months old, and last night when I babysat, we kinda’ played with my laptop! I even shared my iPhone with her for a little. Okay, chewing it was more fun than touching it — but she was so intrigued by watching the videos of Ryan, her “big” four-year-old cousin, and the video of herself, too, for that matter. She could see pictures of “Mommy” and “Daddy” and on the laptop, watch Sesame Street and get comfortable with her soon-to-be-best friends, Elmo, Cookie Monster and the whole gang. (Actually, I’m going to do a plug here because I actually had her watch our friend Rocco, the almost-15-year old blind singer who was on Sesame Street a couple years ago in a segment that is constantly repeated.)

Anyway, back to the point — is she TOO young to get comfortable with technology? Honestly, I used to think so, not anymore. What do you think?

I love art museums, but I didn’t when I was young. I somehow needed to connect to the art. If your kids are like this, why don’t you have a treasure hunt? Pick an object — perhaps, before you visit the museum — and make that the one thing your child looks for in the paintings. It could be as simple as a tree, flowers, a little girl or little boy, a family. Then there’s a goal — a treasure they are seeking. You can do this anywhere, even while waiting at a restaurant and observing the art around you or at a doctor’s office, even better. By focusing on one object that could lead to discussion about THAT tree or little girl, for example. If sitting idle somewhere, create a story about the art to fill some of that time.

Happy Hunting! Hope your kids learn to love the magic of art, like I do now.

I have a feeling no matter how hold I am, September will be about getting things in order. I guess “back to school” means more to me than actually … going back to school! So, while this doesn’t seem much like KIDFUN, I challenge you to think of ways to help the kids get things in order that could be fun.

Like this, go with them to a stationery store and buy multi- color file folders. When they get home, you both label their folders with different titles depending on what they do in day care, preschool or regular school. This could be their filing system for keeping art papers they bring home — Painting (maybe they paint the cover) or Drawings (they draw with crayons). They could have one with math work and put number stickers on it or writing and use letter stickers. Then you have to find the best place in their room for their files.It will feel very official and they may actually look forward to keeping their papers neat.

I’m sure you can come up with more categories for files. How about birthday invitations? Or birthday cards they make?