Inevitably this year we will read stories about schools banning kids from playing conkers and cries about political correctness and the nanny state.  We are right to be concerned that we will raise a generation of wimps that are to concerned about getting the odd injury from a loose conker, is good character building stuff.

However yesterday I saw something that bucked the trend I couldn’t believe my eyes and it made the trip back from the supermarket a lot more pleasant. I saw a whole group of kids up on the common dressed as pirates, some of the costumes looked like they were even home made! What was more they, were being strongly competitive. They we doing good old fashioned things like climbing trees and jumping of them.

I think if the local council saw them I think they would be horrified that kids could be having such fun, they would have handed them a risk

assessment form and told them to go home and fill it out. Then being it back in office hours and fill it out in triplicate and apply to have this much fun a year in advance.

As they were rushing around in there pirate theme looking for clues it reminded me of something from Peter pan.

It turns out that they were a group of cubs doing an autumn treasure hunt (I hope the jobs worth don’t catch them) it looked such fun and took me right back to my childhood. I think that is the first treasure hunt I’ve seen since I was about eight years old. Why does no one do them any more? We used to do it all the time when I was younger. It may have something  to do with treasure hunt being on TV and Anneka Rice but I think it is more to do with the fact that people had enough guts to let kids have fun and be a bit more independent.