Want to come out and play? Fancy building a tree house? Or going to the park to play with my new toy boat?
No thank you! Far too dangerous. Trees are high and parks are full of child molesters. I'll stay in and worry about The Environment instead.
For many of our children, or young people as government lackies prefer them to be known, childhood is now mere preparation for a life of ideological servitude. It's about being trained up for meaningless certificates in trivial skills that most people acquire anyway; getting good grades.
For maybe 100 years after they stopped being sent up chimneys, children were allowed - even encouraged - to be childish. Left to find out for themselves why, for example, it's a good idea to build a buggy from old pram wheels and scrap wood but a bad idea to drive it down a steep hill (take it from me). Unstructured play is where new ideas are created, tried out and adopted or thrown out. There may be the odd graze or bruise along the way but there isn't a more effective way of learning than by experience.
Over tha past decade, egged on by Government micro-managers, social trendies have now moved to obliterate childhood altogether. Parents are browbeaten into larnin' their little darlings how to read even before they can walk.
Even foetuses are subjected to Mozart. To give them a head start.
Soon we will have to study calculus during the act of procreation.
There is no escape for today's children. The information invasion brings nasty news into every bedroom. Childhood obesity, lead painted Barbies, bird flu, terrorism: scare stories permeate the meeja.
A recent radio programme included an item on an inventor who had come up with a talking playground that lets children interact with its exhibits. A bit high tech but maybe good news for those who don't want to bring up troglodytes.
The reporter wanted to know if the children had any questions for the inventor. First up - from a little girl - 'is it environmentally friendly?'.
Click OK to remove this item or Cancel to keep it in the list
Click OK to empty your shopping cart or Cancel to keep it as it is
Sorry - your shopping cart is full so you can't add any more items.
We have only XITEMSINSTOCK in stock so some of your order may be despatched later. Please contact us if you need more information.
We have only XABSITEMSINSTOCK available. Please contact us if you need more information.
(incl. discount of XLINEDISCOUNT)
XTOTALDISCOUNT
You will now be redirected to PayPal's secure checkout page. This may take a few seconds to display. You do not need to create a PayPal account to pay this way.
Please use your browser's bookmark button to add this page to your favourites.
You have selected one or more patterns that you must download yourself to your own computer. IMPORTANT! Please read carefully the page that follows payment for the instructions on downloading (we will also send you an email). Please click OK to confirm that you wish to proceed, or Cancel to return to the cart.
We regret this item is currently unavailable. It is possible that someone else has recently purchased the last one.
Please select a delivery country before proceeding to checkout.
The shopping cart cannot be displayed - you may have an old version of cart software. Please refresh this page or shut down and restart your browser.
Important!Please click I am in Western Canada if you are in British Columbia, Alberta or The Yukon
Due to severe and persistent delays at the Vancouver Customs facility we have suspended deliveries to British Columbia, Alberta and The Yukon until a normal delivery service is resumed.
We offer a variety of secure payment methods for your safety and convenience:
Mastercard or Visa credit and debit cards
PayPal®, the world's leading on-line payment processor
Cheque Payment (£GBP only)
No-quibble money back guarantee
Telephone supportin UK: 0207-100-3509 in US/Canada: 206-886-0514 International: (+)44-207-100-3509
"I have received my chart I ordered yesterday ,what excellent service 24 hour from placing order to receiving the chart. I will certainly use your company again and pass your name on to like minded friends. Thank you" - VB, Yorks., United Kingdom
"Dear Arts and Designs, Just a note of thanks and to let you know the cross stitch arrived yesterday (Thursday). It was very well packed and in perfect condition and thank you so much for your prompt despatch. Yours sincerely" - DS, QLD, Australia
"Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for the prompt manner in which you filled my order. I just ordered three more kits and I am sure this will not be my last order. Its refreshing to find a dealer that delivers exactly what is promised. Also the directions in the kit were very detailed and left nothing to guess work. Thanks again to my newly found friends across the pond." - MD, CA, United States