Mrs. Schaeffer starts this chapter with her definition of “creative recreation”.

“…Firstly, it is recreation which produces creative results, stimulates creativity, refreshes one’s ideas and stirs one to ‘produce’. Secondly, it is recreation which is the result of original ideas, creative because someone has creatively planned an evening, a day, an occupation which in itself s fresh and different.”

She talks about how far many of us live from nature. Cities are all concrete and noise. Most usually have some kind of parks, but you have to make an effort to go to them, and often they are crowded. We are insulating ourselves away from nature and the refreshing that comes from enjoying it.

She then speaks at great length of how restful and at the same time stimulating a walk in the country can be. Taking a walk away from everything can restore our thought processes, helps us to solve a problem that has been bothering us, gives us fresh ideas for improving our home, become inspired as we see the world that God created for us to enjoy.

Special clothing such as sturdy walking shoes, clothes with deep pockets to carry snacks and/or a small book or a small backpack for the extras will encourage us to get out and walk. I know that when my children were little having wraps that I made myself to carry them in front of me or on my back were one of the delights of going for a walk with my family.

So to wrap up the first part of the definition of “creative recreation”…

“…recreation which produces creative results, which stimulates creativity, which refreshes one’s ideas and stirs one up to produce.”

The second part deals with creating recreation for others to enjoy.

Mrs. Schaeffer describes “Treasure Hunt” meals she planned for her children where clues led to the next course of the meal. She tells how her children created puppet shows and radio programmes for their own enjoyment and their parents’ pleasure. A museum that you visit regularly can be gone through quickly one day, and then given a carefully study of just one exhibit another day.

“How can children possibly have a creative childhood if they sit in front of television for hours every week without exercise of body or development of ingenuity and their own creativity?…One needs to fight to prevent creativity being killed.”

My sisters and I used to produce a play for our parents at Christmas several years in a row. We would spend hours practicing including which songs to play in the background on our record player. One year for my youngest sister’s birthday I did a piano concert – carefully picking the songs and spending hours getting them ready. It was all very elegant.

God is creative and since we are made in His image, we are creative as well. Many of us have stifled this because of the busyness of our lives and the lure of electronic entertainment. We should all go for a walk this week and see what we can come up with as a way of adding creative recreation to our family’s life.