Outdoor unstructured playing develops a whole child
November 12, 2007
Posted by SeanS in : For Kids , trackback
When I look around these days, it seems many teenagers spend the majority of their time on the internet, playing video games, or texting each other. While I have no doubt my 3 and 5 year old daughters will engage in similar activities – soon eclipsing my own internet savvy, Pac-Man proficiency, and digital dexterity – I hope to instill in them a love of nature that will survive through the teenage years into adulthood.
I think many parents assume that their kids won’t find anything to enjoy during a short hike or a stroll in the woods. Given the number of 3-year-olds I see being pushed around in strollers, it seems many parents don’t even think their kids can walk. But give it a try, and your children just might surprise you. Try and see the world as they see it, and you can join in the fun. I recently spent two hours walking around a 12-acre undeveloped area near our house with my two girls.
They immediately gravitated towards “Dirt Mountain”, a four foot high pile of dirt left over from some landscaping maintenance work. I threw the ball for the dog while the girls repeatedly
scaled the imposing peak. I finally lured them away with promises of tree climbing and acorn finding. My younger daughter loves to pick up acorns and drop them in gopher holes. I’m not sure how the gophers feel about this, but in playing this game she’s come up with countless questions that I do my best to answer. What are acorns? Why do they fall? Will they all grow into new trees? What kind of tree makes acorns? Why are there so many gopher holes?
My older daughter has always loved to climb trees. She knew the word “metamorphosis” at the age of 2 because we often saw caterpillars on the tree branches, which would soon spin cocoons and change into moths or butterflies. Today she corrected me
when I saw a cocoon and said there was a caterpillar inside. “Actually, Dad, what’s inside is a chrysalis.” Thanks.
What’s amazing about kids, though, is that they could care less whether you are hiking in the Swiss Alps or rummaging around in your own back yard. They tend to focus on the small and immediate, and they often find unlimited pleasure in the simplest of things: raking leaves and marveling at the multitude of shapes and colors; clearing rain gutters and picking up worms and snails; stomping in puddles. And with all of these activities come an unending deluge of questions, many of which you may actually be able to answer. Kids have an amazing way of seeing the world – they are in a constant state of discovery – and with a suggestion here and a word of explanation there you can turn the local park, or your own back yard, into the greatest toy chest, laboratory, and classroom your child will ever know. And the act of interacting with nature, I think, creates a bond that is mutually nurturing.
Cost of taking them outdoors: $0
Well-rounded, adventurous, inquisitive, healthy children: Priceless
Sean, gearhead at large
* no gear involved in this…
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Comments»
Good for you and your lucky children! Richard Louv (author of last child in the woods) made some points that I’d like to reiterate here. Children who regularly play outdoors (not playground, more unstructured):
* Play more creatively and have more active imaginations
* Have stronger immune systems and are healthier
* Have greater respect for themselves, for others, and for the environment
From what I observe, kids usually love the outdoors. It’s the parents who are “bored” or are uncomfortable there. It seems that if there was a study that correlated outdoor time to test scores, parents would more likely rush outside to kick dirt with their kids.