--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you want to say how can we step into…" description: "\"If you want to say how can we step into childhood and make it better for them, I would start at the activity level. I'd like to say let your kids go ou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/c-everett-koop-15997_activity_if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into_3137613.jpg" --- # If you want to say how can we step into childhood and make… ![“If you want to say how can we step into childhood and make it better for them, I would start at the activity level. I'd like to say let your kids go out and play.” quote by C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/c-everett-koop-15997_activity_if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into_3137613.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/c-everett-koop-15997_activity_if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into_3137613.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/c-everett-koop-15997_activity_if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into_3137613.jpg) > “If you want to say how can we step into childhood and make it better for them, I would start at the activity level. I'd like to say let your kids go out and play.” [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Improving children's well‑being starts with encouraging active play, which builds health and development. **In simple terms:** Kids need play for health and growth. Key Takeaway Promote safe, regular play for children. Themes child health play development Mood concerned hopeful Type educational advocacy When to use this quote - schools - parks - community programs - family routines Key Concepts public health education psychology Questions to Reflect On - What barriers prevent kids from playing? - How can communities create safe play spaces? A Different Perspective Safety concerns may limit outdoor play. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Activity Level](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity-level-5575850/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Childhood Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood-make-3659712/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Let Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-kids/) [Levels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/levels/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Step Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/step-childhood-4197736/) [Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [So the first step out of childhood is made all at once, without looking before or behind, without caution, and nothing held in reserve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/so-the-first-step-out-of-childhood-is-made-all-at-once-without/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Children only have one shot at their childhood, make the most of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asa-don-brown/children-only-have-one-shot-at-their-childhood-make-the-most-of-it/) [Asa Don Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asa-don-brown/) > [The habits we form from childhood make no small difference, but rather they make all the difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-habits-we-form-from-childhood-make-no-small-difference-but-rather/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [I'd like to say let your kids go out and play. Then I'd say you're not going to do that are you? Make your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/i-d-like-to-say-let-your-kids-go-out-and-play-then-i-d-say-you-re-not/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [Cleanliness is very important. If you let kids make a total mess in the kitchen and then leave, you're not really teaching them anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emeril-lagasse/cleanliness-is-very-important-if-you-let-kids-make-a-total-mess-in/) [Emeril Lagasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emeril-lagasse/) > [Do not ask that your kids live up to your expectations. Let your kids be who they are, and your expectations will be in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/do-not-ask-that-your-kids-live-up-to-your-expectations-let-your-kids/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [I believe kids should choose what they want to do, because it's their life, but they have to choose something, and they can't quit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-duckworth/i-believe-kids-should-choose-what-they-want-to-do-because-it-s-their/) [Angela Duckworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-duckworth/) > [You would not let your kids do whatever they want. So the challenge is to create accountability in a non-mechanistic way. You cannot come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kao/you-would-not-let-your-kids-do-whatever-they-want-so-the-challenge-is/) [John Kao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kao/) > [You have to let kids live their own lives and make their mistakes, but it is difficult now because there are so many things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-french/you-have-to-let-kids-live-their-own-lives-and-make-their-mistakes-but/) [Dawn French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-french/) > [We're thrifty. We can live off our interest, save the principal, and let the kids go off and have a hoot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-jackson/we-re-thrifty-we-can-live-off-our-interest-save-the-principal-and-let/) [Keith Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-jackson/) > [I was raised in church, and we let our kids know who Jesus is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-demarcus/i-was-raised-in-church-and-we-let-our-kids-know-who-jesus-is/) [Jay DeMarcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-demarcus/) > [This summer, we need to let our kids go play and we need to stop worrying about whether or not it's going to ruin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darell-hammond/this-summer-we-need-to-let-our-kids-go-play-and-we-need-to-stop/) [Darell Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darell-hammond/) > [The difference we wanna make is number one to let these kids know that they’re not alone, that they’re actually not that messed up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-way/the-difference-we-wanna-make-is-number-one-to-let-these-kids-know/) [Gerard Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-way/) > [I've always felt this, from when I was growing up to now with my son Riley. We don't let them be little. I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-peterman/i-ve-always-felt-this-from-when-i-was-growing-up-to-now-with-my-son/) [Melissa Peterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-peterman/) > [We are the only animals that let our kids come back home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/we-are-the-only-animals-that-let-our-kids-come-back-home/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) ## More by C. Everett Koop > [The right of smokers to smoke ends where their behavior affects the health and well-being of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/the-right-of-smokers-to-smoke-ends-where-their-behavior-affects-the/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [The Carnegie Foundation is well aware of the fact that their reports frequently find their way to dusty archives in academic institutions, but occasionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/the-carnegie-foundation-is-well-aware-of-the-fact-that-their-reports/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [I might be better able to help parents of dying children, but for quite a while I felt less able, too emotionally involved. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/i-might-be-better-able-to-help-parents-of-dying-children-but-for/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [The best prescription is knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/the-best-prescription-is-knowledge/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [The health care industry can play a great role in this by being aware of the fact that these children form perhaps the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/the-health-care-industry-can-play-a-great-role-in-this-by-being-aware/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [A thousand people will stop smoking today. Their funerals will be held sometime in the next three or four days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/a-thousand-people-will-stop-smoking-today-their-funerals-will-be-held/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [I'd like to say let your kids go out and play. Then I'd say you're not going to do that are you? Make your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/i-d-like-to-say-let-your-kids-go-out-and-play-then-i-d-say-you-re-not/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [Health care is vital to all of us some of the time, but public health is vital to all of us all of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/health-care-is-vital-to-all-of-us-some-of-the-time-but-public-health/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [Polls that have been taken by kindergarten, first- and second-grade teachers indicate that 30 percent of the kids have been deprived in some way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/polls-that-have-been-taken-by-kindergarten-first-and-second-grade/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [You can't talk of the dangers of snake poisoning and not mention snakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/you-can-t-talk-of-the-dangers-of-snake-poisoning-and-not-mention/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [Risks I think are the thing that make life important and everything that you and I do is risk vs. benefit. Is there a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/risks-i-think-are-the-thing-that-make-life-important-and-everything/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [That is why we are working with these various groups that have volunteers. We can get a lot of these things done. Nobody has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/that-is-why-we-are-working-with-these-various-groups-that-have/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/life-affords-no-greater-responsibility-no-greater-privilege-than-the/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [One of the things we want to do is find ways, first, to impress these parents how important it is to have children in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/one-of-the-things-we-want-to-do-is-find-ways-first-to-impress-these/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [They have been deprived nutritionally, or some illness has not been picked up, or they have not been screened for vision or hearing defects,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/they-have-been-deprived-nutritionally-or-some-illness-has-not-been/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) [Explore all 41 C. Everett Koop quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) [Gero Miesenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gero-miesenbock/) > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you want to say how can we step into childhood and make it better for them, I would start at the activity level. I'd like to say let your kids go out and play.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C. Everett Koop" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into-childhood-and-make-it-better/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Activity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into-childhood-and-make-it-better/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/c-everett-koop-15997_activity_if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into_3137613.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/c-everett-koop-15997_activity_if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into_3137613.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05b/c-everett-koop-15997_activity_if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into_3137613.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you want to say how can we step into childhood and make it better for them, I would start at the activity…” — C. Everett Koop", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "C. Everett Koop", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you want to say how...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into-childhood-and-make-it-better/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/if-you-want-to-say-how-can-we-step-into-childhood-and-make-it-better/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```