Tag Archives: childhood

Do you remember…

… playing outside for hours on end as a kid, only finally coming in as the last light of day started to fade? Maybe I’m romanticising my childhood, but I’m sure that was the norm back then.

It’s a different world today. Many kids don’t have the opportunity to freely explore the world around them and aren’t connecting with nature at the same level as we did.

There is concern for safety, as we don’t feel right letting kids out by themselves any more. And we simply don’t have time to supervise outdoor exploration for hours every day.

We all know that fresh air and exercise is good for us, but are there other positive benefits to spending time outside?

Child advocacy expert Richard Louv says yes. In his book Last Child in the Woods, he directly links a ‘nature deficit’ to disturbing childhood trends, such as rises in obesity, attention disorders and depression. His research shows that kids who are allowed to explore outdoors are socially and emotionally happier and healthier.

So with that in mind, here are EarthKid’s suggestions of ways to connect your kid with nature.

1. Go for picnics
2. Have story time under the shade of a tree
3. Plant it, grow it, eat it
4. Go on a natural scavenger hunt
5. Give your kids their own patch of dirt
6. Rent a chook
7. Claim a favourite tree
8. Follow footprints in the sand
9. Lay back and look for shapes in the clouds
10. Go camping
11. Run around in the rain
12. Skim stones across water
13. Search the night sky for shooting stars
14. Create a worm farm
15. Explore rock pools
16. Go for a hike
17. Splash through muddy puddles
18. Fly a kite on a windy day
19. Press flowers and leaves
20. Roll down a really big hill
21. Go beach combing
22.  Make friends with an animal
23. Make a grass trumpet
24. Make a daisy chain
25. Paint a rock
26. Create an autumn leaf mobile
27. Climb a tree
28. Watch insects at work
29. Build a gunyah, humpy, bivouac or den
30. Go swimming in the sea, a lake or a river
31. Slow down!
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of connecting your kids with nature, the Child and Nature Network have lots of interesting research reports available for free download.

* Lots of thanks to Gemma Maclennan Photography for letting us include the beautiful black and white photographs in this blog

Posted by EarthKid in Outdoor play Tags: childhood, Connecting kids with nature, outdoor activities, parenting