Where your children play.

Trailer for the movie "Play Again"

When I saw this video a couple years ago It gave me so much to think about that I began researching the benefits of being outdoors and the negative outcomes our children have suffered from the deep changes this generation has encounter. The video first made me think of how lucky I had been during my childhood when being outside and playing with friends almost everyday was the norm... It made me think hard about whether technology was as bad as it sounded during the video and I decided that (in my perspective) it isn’t technology itself that is negative but a lack of balance between screen time and outdoor time what gives technology a spot light in the debate… It made me reflect on the many opportunities to interact with the outdoors that need to be rediscovered and reinvented as our communities continue to change.

I especially enjoyed hearing the sentence “We are hard wired to need nature ...We like to see natural landscapes, we don’t do so well when we don’t have that kind of experiences” Thank you Richard Louv! I am not going crazy when I feel that  I won’t be able to finish an assignment unless I get outdoors or  that my creativity starts to go down unless I get some quality time outdoors!! Also,  I have seen similar reactions in children.
When I see kids grumpy and not being able to focus I know that they are in need of an outdoor experience. Taking a trip to a park, playing by the river, or going for a bike ride usually can bring back the kind, fun side of them. 

I understand that many days can be hectic with “grown up responsibilities”, but I also think that it is hard for adults to be indoors all day, staring at the same four walls and the same screen.  It is even harder for children because they are dependent on  the decisions made by adults on where they can go. In addition, young children are developing cognitive, language and socio-emotional abilities needed to learn how to deal with life.  Outdoor experiences can offer multiple opportunities to develop those  abilities and those opportunities  can be better than any interactive, fabricated toy. For example, how could children ever learn to bake the best mud pie unless they make one; How can children build the best hiding spot if do not  build and test one; How can children learn to run fast if they don't have the chance to run and fall a few times? How can children learn about rainbows and their colors unless they have the experience of being in a wet, grassy field waiting for a rainbow to appear during a rainy day?

It may sound a bit romantic but these and many other experiences I had during my childhood still remain as strong memories... and I can’t help but wonder, Do our children have the opportunities to build these memories? Life inside the same four walls can get monotonous while nature is ever changing. Like that old saying “you do not see the same river twice”

In the video Kathy Keller-Jones asks  “What are you missing when you are looking at screens?”, but I want to rephrase the question to what can you experience when being outdoors? I know that there is a lot of learning that happens indoors but what happens being outdoors?  Children who are playing with sticks learn problem solving …”why do these sticks keep on breaking?"; They learn about physics and engineering, “why does this building keep on falling apart?”,  “Would my sand castle stick better if I add more water?”.  Certainly it is true that many store made toys and videos teach similar things, but there is no need to go buy those things to create meaningful, joyful experiences. In addition, the best, longest lasting learning occurs when the learning occurs through hands-on experiences.

 What other ideas does this video elicit for you and how have you exposed your children to outdoor activities in this ever changing, fast paced society?

May your day be full of laughter and fun adventures!




Silvia