Whenever I bring up an opportunity for my son to take a class, participate in a program as a ‘helper,’ or do anything he isn’t authentically interested in, I get the same reply, “Mom, I just want to play.” This reply stands out because it is from a 14-year-old. Yes, big kids still want to play!  The problem is that there very few opportunities for pre-teens and teens to ‘just play.’ So, before I go any further, let me define ‘play‘. Play is a range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment (Garvey, 1990).  For this post, I’m defining play as child-led, including activities they choose and resulting in their enjoyment.  In the homeschool community, you will find groups, generally led by…