# @theworkspaceforchildren on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DUqtteqidul
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/56257996-theworkspaceforchildren-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/1e963dbaa8.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-02-12T18:15:26.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Lizzie Assa, MsED| Play and Parenting (@theworkspaceforchildren) — https://gondola.cc/theworkspaceforchildren

## Caption

Play doesn’t disappear at 8 or 9 — it shapeshifts. Sports with real stakes. Art with real outcomes. Building things that actually work.
That IS play.
But here’s where we get tricky: the moment it looks like a “real” activity, we rush to sign them up, schedule it, and optimize it — and sometimes we accidentally formalize the wrong part of what they love.
Before you sign them up for the travel team, get curious. Is it the competition? The friends? Just being outside and part of something?
Our job was never to keep them in the sandbox. It’s to notice how their play is changing — and to keep giving them the freedom to lead it.
If you are thinking… wow I needed this. Hit follow. You are in the right place. #independentplay #teensandtweens #butimbored

## Stats

- **Views:** 9,579
- **Likes:** 694
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 21

## Tags

butimbored, independentplay, teensandtweens

---
Copyright (c) Gondola