When I was first given the task of going out and playing leapfrog, I had no idea how exactly I would go about accomplishing it. I wanted to do something fun and unique! But asking some random strangers to allow me to jump over them didn’t seem like the most comfortable idea. With Halloween coming up and all the costume party goodness it entails, I thought what better and more fun way to play leapfrog was there than in costumes? So I convinced my brother and all the people at his party to get down and dirty, and really make that party hoppin!

It was a lot of fun even though some of the leaps were difficult because of the costumes. Everyone couldn’t help but laugh and get in the spirit as we all tripped and awkwardly leaped over one another. I’m sure it was a sight to see that night as vampires, witches, gangsters, and a particularly tipsy Batman fell all over each other. It really brought the whole party together and we all had a great time.

It connected all of us at the party because no one had played leapfrog since childhood and it brought a sense of nostalgia. Also I don’t think any of us had ever done so in full Halloween costume attire, so we had an entirely unique experience that we could all remember. It left me wondering how my classmates went about getting their leapfrog experiences finished. But it also left me thinking about how we all had to come up with our own individual ways, involving other people and bringing them into our leapfrog circle. In these ways, my classmates, their peers and I were all connected through our simple game. We were all small parts of something larger and that links everyone involved into a special community.

I chose to have my brother and his best friend, who are both eleven years old, play leapfrog on our front lawn in my hometown of Berwyn, IL. I wanted my brother to ask more of the kids who live on our block to play, but he apparently was embarrassed and barely agreed to play at all, so I took what I could get. I got them to go outside and right before I had them start playing, a tall man who looked to be about 50 years old was just walking down the block and passed our house. He kind of just stared at us and then kept walking. I thought it was weird, but there are quite a few "weird" people who live in B-town so I just ignored him. I got them to start playing leap frog, and the man had walked farther down the block by then, but he turned around again and just stood there and stared at us some more. So I stared him down, but that did not seem to phase him. This happened about 3 or 4 more times and I have concluded that something was wrong with him or that he was more than likely one of the many perverts who roam the streets of Berwyn on a daily basis.

So I would say that my leapfrog experience was a little bit more negative than most of my other classmates. However, even though it was a little annoying and disgusting that we were clearly being watched in a very creepy way, we all found it to be a little bit funny as well. And I know that my brother and his friend did have fun for the one minute that they were playing. It also made me wonder if I would have felt like I was too old to do something like that when I was only eleven years old. It kind of made me feel a little disappointed actually that my brother thought he was too old to be doing something like playing leapfrog with his friend because now I can see that he is starting to grow up into the dreaded pre-teen. I could tell that they had fun in the moment, so there was still a little sliver of childish fun left, but I can see that it will soon be gone and to replace my cute little brother will be a mopey, awkward, teenager who hates his life and locks himself in his room or basically lives at his friends' houses like I did in those days. And while all of this is happening, I am going to be away at school for weeks at a time and he will probably be different every time I come back home. I guess my leapfrog experiment made me slightly emotional! But I'm glad I got to do it, because it got me to spend a little time with my brother while I was home, and from the conclusion I have reached, he probably won't want to spend that much time with me as he continues to grow up.

At the ripe age of twenty-two, I still like to think of myself as young spirited. I have come to terms with the fact that after age twenty-one, there really is no longer any birthday to look forward to. I can already see myself slowly starting to turn into my parents. I find politics much more interesting, I am falling behind and losing touch with mainstream music, and think sixteen year olds should definitely not be driving. I have never had text messaging on my cell phone or have ever stepped foot in an Abercrombie and Fitch clothing store. However, as much as I love my parents, I cannot imagine myself being exactly like them when I am their age. They are afraid of big cities, are devout Republicans, and think nine o’clock is late. I am always trying to convince them to take a vacation or expand their horizons past a dinner and a movie being a perfect night out. I know that young spirit is still in them somewhere. Leap Frog was the perfect activity to let it out.

Granted Leap Frog is not exactly a typical game or activity most twenty-two years even play, it allows you to revert to your younger days and act silly for a little bit. When we were given the project to play Leap Frog, I knew exactly who I wanted to play with. As childish as the game is, I also thought it would be a perfect way to bond and spend time with my parents before I had to go back to school. I only see them on random weekends, so I try and spend as much time with them as I can when I am home.

When I first mentioned the idea to my parents they were a little apprehensive to participate.

“Oh, I don’t know Jon. We probably cannot even bend down that low anymore…let alone jump over someone else. Why don’t you just go to the park and find some kids to play with? They will be better at it than us.”

My mother continued to tell me that there would be no time to play because their friends were coming over and they had dinner reservations. At that moment I thought about the other students in the class and whether they were having any trouble getting people to participate as well. Who were they Leap Frogging with? Where were they leaping? How did they sway their victims to actually participate? After a little more convincing, my parents agreed to play some Leap Frog. Even better, when their friends arrived, they too agreed to play. We went into the backyard and my girlfriend volunteered to be the camerawoman. After a little directorial planning, we assumed our frog positions and began to leap. The next few minutes that followed were probably some of the funniest and most entertaining minutes I have ever experienced with my parents. See below for yourself.

As we all gathered around the camera to watch what we looked like while playing Leap Frog, it was great to see everyone laughing and having so much fun. We laughed at each other’s ability or lack thereof to leap over one another. We laughed at my mom. We simply laughed at the fact we were playing a children’s game. It was silly, but it felt good to see my parents and their friends having a great time not being adults for five minutes. According to the internet, a group of frogs is called a colony or an army. That is perfect because the goal of this project was to build a sense of community, a colony of Leap Froggers. I guess you could say that we were a giggly little colony of Leap Froggers and will most likely remember this for a long time.










I was also lucky enough to have a couple of my friends send me a picture of them playing Leap Frog as well. The first picture is in front of USC Trojan Stadium in California and the second picture is next to a sculpture of Herky the Hawkeye at the University of Iowa.

After long deliberation of how and who will I initiate in the leap frog class project, I came to a successful conclusion. I concluded that my family was perfect specimen for this project. It has been a long time since I was home and I thought it to be perfect if I could get my mom, dad, brother, and sis into this amusing yet awkward activity. My family tends to part their separate ways as they are always preoccupied with their lives so I was hoping I could create a sense of community/unity amongst us. I knew this would not be an easy task to accomplish as my parents are pretty “stiff” and would be resistant to participate in this kind of activity.

It was November 1^st, the day after Halloween, so I and rest of the family were still functioning on sugar. I mentioned nothing of this project to my family. I was joking around with them all day and helping out with whatever was necessary just to be as nice as possible and create a pleasant mood and atmosphere so they would be more compliant with my leap frog project. While getting groceries for dinner I also picked up a bottle of red wine. After dinner and few glasses of wine my parents were chipper. I popped the question. I got some weird looks from my family; they had no idea what I was talking about. I stressed the importance of this class project as I pushed them to our back yard. After a very long explanation period first attempts were made. I have to admit this is by far one of the funniest things I ever seen my family do. In the end all was well, and my family was glad they could make fun of each other for their lack of dexterity and overall physical activity. This was a unique bonding experience for us all.

I believe this activity created a stronger sense of unity amongst my family because of the unique nature of it. It was great to see that even though the activity may have seemed a bit childish or awkward to participate in those feelings were overcome and thus creating a greater sense of unity in my family. It also created community amongst us by means of helping someone out. It showed community in terms of support. But, most importantly, it created community in terms of enjoying each others company and being able to laugh at one another in a friendly way.