Children at Play, School, & Neighborhoods
The photos of children were taken during my exploratory outings around the City and while engaging in various activities with my own middle school students.
There are additional photos of children in this online collection, particularly in “East Meets West” where children are exploring Sufi Dance during a class field excursion, as well as in other chapter, such as “In Between Spaces.”
“Gregory Bateson (anthropologist, biologist, a thinker way ahead of his time, and one time husband of Margaret Mead) said there were three ways people can find the limits of the possible: (a) exploration (try out new things, see where one can go, etc.), (b) play (fantasy play, “what-if” play, pretending, experimenting, etc.), and (c) crime (breaking the official and unofficial rules, not conforming to the status quo, etc.). If we think about famous people who have made significant contributions to society through writing, science, the arts, etc., have these people engaged in any of these three ways of pushing the limits? Do children engage in any of these before entering school? What do schools do when children engage in these?”
— Jeff Bloom (10/14/2010) Blog:
“Children as Real People and Engaged Learners, but Schools Get in the Way“
Impromptu — two boys with walking sticks in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Handball … wherever there is a wall.
Playing baseball on concrete. Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Children playing on neighborhood street, Brooklyn.
Young kids playing on neighborhood street, Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Girls eating an Italian Ice.
Happy girl eating ice cream.
Girl on stoop.
Kids on stoop, Brooklyn.
Boys hamming it up after spotting me taking photos, Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Boy at graffiti doorway, Brooklyn.
Boy hanging in construction area.
Neighborhood boys.
Boys hanging out in downtown Brooklyn.
Kids at edge of Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
Kids playing in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
Children with man playing a Bandoneon (Concertina) on stoop in Chelsea (Manhattan).
Kids in window, Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Kids looking into store, Brooklyn.
Heading home after school, downtown Brooklyn.
After school with ice skates, downtown Brooklyn.
Traveling carnival ride, Brooklyn.
On a mission….
Summer fun in sprinkler fire hydrant, Greenwich Village… probably at 208 West 10th Street.
Baseball in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
Mom and daughter shopping.
Kids and dog in alley.
Kids and beagle in Prospect Park.
Mom and son.
Mom and kids in doorway at 72nd Street and Madison Avenue, Manhattan.
Kids at the beach and on sand dune, Coney Island.
My Middle School Students
At Coney Island after inquiries at the Coney Island Aquarium.
Kids on field study to a pond at Prospect Park.
Kids on subway going to the Bronx Zoo.
Kids in French class.
Standing within the “New York City subterranean steam” on the way to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Six of my students headed to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Kids crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.
Student with fish from market.
Kids taking a break outside the New York Cocoa Exchange.
Break time.
Deep in thought.
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