Intergenerational Active Play – A Family Super Hack

by Ali Kermani | View Bio

Ali Kermani

Ali Kermani was raised in Southern California, spending his formative years skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding, which are experiences he draws on daily in his work at Razor USA. Today, Ali is a proud father of two boys, dedicated husband to a wonderful woman, and loving son of two charming parents. Highlights of his career include graduating from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, establishing Team Razor which kicked off the sport of professional scooter riding, and ushering the Crazy Cart to market, a product which won Outdoor Toy of the Year in 2014. The Crazy Cart has evolved into one of Razor’s most notable product lines, and in 2023, Ali continued the innovation, making the first kid-powered version called Crazy Cart Shuffle. His current role as VP of Marketing allows him to combine his love of art and communication with his action sports background and playful spirit.

The quintessential parenting challenge of our time is how to get children to ditch their screens and opt instead for the countless benefits of outdoor active play.

Finding solutions to this challenge is particularly important to me both because I am the parent of two young children and because my role as a designer at one of the world’s largest manufacturers of outdoor active play equipment, Razor USA, means that any solution I find has the potential of benefiting hundreds of thousands of families. Twenty-five years of observation and experimentation in this field has shown that adult participation in shared active play is not only an extremely effective solution to the problem, but also yields a whole host of physical, mental, and social benefits for both older and younger participants, all while strengthening familial bonds in the process.

If you’re looking for actionable suggestions for how you might leverage the power of intergenerational active play to super-charge your family, here are some suggestions you might consider:

Find active play opportunities related to your child’s interests.
What physical activities do your kids naturally gravitate toward? Perhaps they like a particular sport, physical game, or active form of play. Look for these sorts of interests and amplify them by joining in.

Are they asking about baseball? Carve out a few minutes to play catch and share what you know about our national pastime. Do they play with a scooter or bike in the driveway? Get a scooter or bike of your own and take them to a local park for an exploratory ride together.

Even interests that don’t seem active at first glance can be turned into related active play opportunities with a little creativity. For example, if your kids are obsessed with insects and reptiles like mine are, you can create a scavenger hunt list for them and then join them on a hike, searching for animals you listed. Whether or not you find every animal on your list, your investment of time and attention in your child’s interests ensures that the hunt will be a success!

Find active play opportunities related to your own interests.
Do you play a sport or enjoy a recreational physical activity in your free time? Consider scheduling time to depart from your normal participation in the activity to focus instead on introducing it to the children in your life. Taking the time to light a child’s torch of interest in a sport or activity you enjoy is an investment that can continue to pay a lifetime of dividends for both of you.

Personally, I have always loved skateboarding and now that my sons are 8 and 9, I am reaping the rewards of early investments in teaching them the basics of skating. My boys are now my most consistent skate partners, they get me to go skating a lot more than I would otherwise, and our common passion for the same activity enables me to spend quality time with them while simultaneously indulging in my favorite hobby. Skating together has become one of those treasured activities that the entire family looks forward to. It’s fun, keeps us all active, and provides a rare forum where our traditional power dynamic is flattened. Skating together also enables me to model proper behaviors and etiquette, which are critical for both safety reasons and for understanding the culture of an activity like skateboarding.

Learn something new together.
If you cannot find an active play opportunity related to your child’s or your own existing interests, you can always create one by deciding to learn something new together. At Razor, we try to make this easy by offering multiple sizes of each product, designed specifically to inspire intergenerational play. Maybe you and the kids can try riding electric scooters together, or help each other learn how to Ripstik, or even attempt to master drifting on Razor’s insanely fun Crazy Cart – whichever form of fun you choose, there are adult- and child-sized versions designed to invite the whole family to play together.

One of my fondest childhood memories is of the time my father and I learned to bunny hop a bicycle together. We had recently moved to a new neighborhood, and I came home one day mind-blown by the realization that the local kids could jump their bikes on flat ground. I remember my dad dropping his yardwork as soon as I told him and joining me in trying to figure out how to get the bike to lift completely off the ground. Thirty minutes or so later he was able to do it and proceeded to teach me how – a feat I had thought was practically impossible just an hour earlier! It was a highlight of my childhood that solidified my immigrant accountant dad’s image in my head as a ‘cool parent’ and a partner in my athletic skill development.

Don’t let physical limitations stop you.
Physical limitations do not necessarily have to prevent you from participating in active play with the children in your life. There are many less physically demanding roles for adults looking to participate in shared active play. For instance, you can take on the role of a coach, guiding the children in their activities, offering encouragement, and helping them strategize. You could also be the referee, ensuring that rules are followed and fostering a sense of fair play. Additionally, you might serve as a timekeeper, scorekeeper, or even as a storyteller, creating imaginative scenarios that shape the games.

For those of us more comfortable in the stands and sidelines than out on the field, using your smartphone to capture the moments is a great way to get involved and add value to a child’s active play without much physicality. In this role you’ll not only document what are sure to become cherished memories in time, but your actions will speak volumes to the children about the importance you place on them today.

If your kids are like mine, they might get a thrill out of you sharing the highlights you capture on social media. My boys had such an excited reaction the first time I asked if I could post one of their skateboarding clips on my Instagram account that my wall now features as much of their skating as it does my own! I get to share with the world how proud I am of my boys, and they get to enjoy waves of positive feedback from friends and family members who see their clips online and compliment them in person whenever we cross paths.

As you can see, there are many ways to tap into the magic of shared, intergenerational, active play. Whether you choose to follow any of the suggestions I’ve shared or find inspiration to engage in your own way, the single most important secret to getting the children in your life off their devices, outdoors, and enjoying the benefits of active play is simple: it’s you! Adult participation in a child’s active play is an extremely powerful counter to the digital deluge today’s youth are faced with, and you can be the key to unlocking that power.

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