by Sarah Ivens
If all this fails and they’re still grumbling at you trying to do your best and be a good parent, blast them with Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” until they run for the hills. As soon as they’re out and about, they’ll forget what they were ever moaning about. I promise.
Nature reads
Ten books for under-eights that inspire a child’s love of nature:
The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem
The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall
Children of the Forest by Elsa Beskow
The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Maisy Grows a Garden by Lucy Cousins
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Tidy by Emily Gravett
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
A Little Guide to Trees by Charlotte Voake
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
No, it’s Green Man—the superhero we’ve been searching for!
There are numerous studies telling parents why indoor play is detrimental to children’s growth, and in some forward-thinking communities, forest kindergartens are a popular choice. In Germany, where the concept began, they are called Waldkitas, and young children are taken out of the classroom and into forest environments. Studies have shown that graduates from such schools have a clear advantage in cognitive, creative and physical ability.
Encouraged to be free on the green scene, children learn on multiple levels with each new experience. With all the imaginary castles, lands, creatures and friends, the brain develops at a much faster rate than for those who play indoors. They have to rely on fantasy and make-believe, recall stories of knights and dragons and folk of the faraway trees. There are many positive effects seen in kids given a fresh-air life to live. Not only do they become better learners and do well in school, but they are also more fun to be around (and so they make more friends)—everyone wants to play with the kid with the active imagination! Consequently, children will be much happier because, hey, they’re smart and they have a lot of friends. All of this is from just playing outside.
How to: make a daisy crown
Pick some daisies with fairly long stems. Teach your child to use their thumbnail to cut a 1/4-inch slit into the stem of a daisy. Once you have created a slit, take another daisy from your collection and pull the stem through the slit of the original daisy. This creates the chain-like effect. Repeat this step as many times as you please to achieve the desired length for the daisy crown. Connect the first daisy to the last daisy, making an inch-long slit in the last daisy on the chain so that you can pull the whole flower through. Then crown a friend!
A study of 18,500 people conducted by the University of Derby and the Wildlife Trust showed that there was a scientifically significant increase in people’s health and happiness when a connection to nature and active nature behaviors (such as feeding the birds and planting flowers for bees) was sustained over a period of months. The research showed that children exposed to the natural world showed increases in self-esteem. It explained how these interactions had taught children to take risks, it had unleashed their creativity and given them a chance to exercise, play and discover. In some cases, nature can significantly improve the symptoms of ADHD, providing a calming influence and helping with concentration.
Walking and singing
Ten songs for under-eights to sing while taking a nature walk:
“Rain, Rain, Go Away”
“Itsy Bitsy Spider”
“Round and Round the Garden”
“Teddy Bears’ Picnic”
“Mulberry Bush”
“Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary”
“Lavender’s Blue”
“I Love the Mountains”
“I Had a Little Nut Tree”
“Rabbits”
Not only are there emotional and psychological advantages to playing outside but there are also even more physical advantages. Obviously, if a child is playing outside he or she will be way more physically fit than the child that stays indoors, sitting watching television or an iPad. The great thing about this is that it can have long-lasting effects, as proven by a study by an Australian team of nutritionists and academics in the International Journal of Obesity. Years down the road, the child will still be more active and less likely to be overweight. If you think about this, it makes perfect sense: teach a child when they’re young to love moving around outdoors and they will love it—and move—forever.
Nervous for the future but prompted by studies like this, Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative has released guidelines regarding children, suggesting kids should get one to two hours of physical activity, including outside play whenever possible, reducing screen time to no more than one to two hours per day, and warning parents that the sedentary, indoor lifestyle children are currently living can lead to serious problems later in life, such as heart disease, obesity and type-2 diabetes.
In her book Toxic Childhood, ex–head teacher Sue Palmer argues that being active outdoors allows children to build emotional resilience, and I’ve seen this with my own children, now six and four years old, as they race around the quarry and woodland next to their school every afternoon, picking themselves up after scrapes and falls or tussles with friends, and negotiating their way through arguments over stick and twig possession. Away from strict structure and adult-guided time, they can explore who they are and how they work with others. Palmer has seen over the years in her work in schools (as I am seeing right now as a mother) that playing outdoors increases a child’s adaptability and social skills. Climbing trees, making dens, playing football and making new pals at a park teach confidence and resilience—a gutsiness we need to promote in the next generation.
Eliza, 3
“Flowers are really beautiful. I love them, so I hug them and kiss them. Purple ones are my favorite and I like them when they smell like dirt. I pick them to give them to Josie and Adrienne and everyone who is my best friend. Everyone in the world is my best friend, actually.”
Now here’s what the experts say about the disadvantages of indoor play; the worst news first. Researchers have grabbed on to the concept of Louv’s nature-deficit disorder, discussed in Chapter 1, and how it changes children. Basically, this means that they know that not playing outdoors and within nature (such as walking, foraging, hiking or camping) is really detrimental for kids. Environmental psychologists Nancy M. Wells and Gary W. Evans have even gone so far as to study whether the closeness between where families live and nature affects their children. They have collected data from 337 children aged between nine and twelve to see how interacting with the outdoors acted as a buffer to stress that could impact their self-worth and well-being. They found that children who lived closer to nature, and had more opportunities to be in the natural world, were less stressed out with life. They also found that children who had a more natural day-care setting (think: less plastic, more wood, and less concrete, more grass) had better motor coordination and could better concentrate and pay attention.
For children, nature provides an outlet to get away from life’s stressors in our fast-paced, technological world. Nature slows us down, lowering blood pressure, as we appreciate its natural beauty. Basically, then, when kids don’t play outside in the natural world, they miss the great benefits that nature provides.
My children and their friends play in the forest a short walk from their school most afternoons, year-round, in the rain, with a cold, sometimes with bruised knees, having sword fights with sticks and chasing butterflies—simple things that were so important in my own childhood but that are so easily forgotten when there’s the lure of an iPad or television. Even my daughter’s most outlandish threenager tantrums can be tamed with a collection of freshly picked flowers, a march along a muddy path or an encounter with a wiggly worm. My laundry may pile up with this type of lifestyle, but my sanity has been saved.
Art smart
> This chapter isn’t just about you making your kids feel and act better by using nature, they can help you out using nature too. Give them art projects either using things from nature or inspired by nature, and use their work to enliven your work area or home. Right now, above my desk, I have an awesome and colorful collection of rainbows and ocean waves that really brighten up my life and remind me of two things that are deeply important to me even when I’m not embracing them: my children and the outdoors.
Becoming an enthusiastic fresh-air family
Don’t assume that family reunions have to happen in homes or restaurants. Rope in granny and granddad and spend quality time outdoors. And no, a restaurant patio does not count, even if you are mindful of the flowers in the hanging baskets. I mean actually engaging with the outdoors and the children you love! Here are some ideas for fun activities:
• Find and join a local community garden. Reward your child with packets of seeds, then follow the blooms and harvests. Build up a green-fingered community in your neighborhood with friends of a similar age. Many schools run gardening initiatives after school or on weekends, so get involved, or speak to other parents about setting one up. The kids and parents can work together to grow vegetables for the school cafeteria or flowers to give to their teachers on their birthdays.
• Take indoor toys outside Why do we always assume Lego castles have to be built in bedrooms and living rooms when outside we can dig a moat to surround them? Why should a doll’s house stay pristine and clean when outside they are majestically turned into a mansion with grand gardens? And any dirt means having to clean—another fun activity for little hands. Just think how much more realistic your Sylvanian Family animals will look when they’re taken out of their plastic box and played with at the foot of a tree!
• Become an animal detective With a notebook and pencil, venture outside to search for homes of the cute and wild. Look in trees, up trees, under stones, in rivers and lakes, and in meadows. Nests, hives, burrows, webs and dreys—they all count. Check them out carefully and respectfully—safety first—looking at how each animal has made their home. Admire the hard work and time that went into each construction. If you’re lucky, you might find one in the middle of being built, so sit and watch for a while. Make notes and drawings to take home, then research about it more when you get back to your own hard-earned home.
• Try a game of outdoor opposites with a friend. Make a movement or strike a pose and get your partner to do the opposite. Jump high, crouch low. Stand completely still, wriggle wildly. Pull a happy face, make a sad face. Take it in turns to test your minds and your bodies.
• Live a bug’s life Take off your shoes and squelch, even if in your own backyard. Talk about the sensations and the differences between grass and soil. Let creepy crawlies climb up your legs. Impersonate their movements. Discuss what each creature eats and drinks, how they reproduce, who their natural enemies are.
• Write down your name on a piece of paper, and get everyone else in your group to do the same. Now, set a time, then go! Find an object in nature that starts with each letter of your name. If the differences are too difficult or large—such as Tom versus Thomasina—perhaps take the challenge but using the same word so no one has an unfair advantage (Petal? Raindrop? Your last name?). The first one to get each letter wins.
• Go crabbing Head to a special seaside spot, crustacean causeway or rockin’ rockpool. Tear uncooked bacon into small pieces and tie them to a piece of string (or a specially crafted crabbing rod if you’re terribly into this idea). Dangle the meat treat into the water until you feel a tug of weight, gently pull the string up and see what you’ve got. Place the crabs into a bucket filled with the same water that they live in. Look for markings, sizes and injuries, then return them—carefully and slowly—back to their world. Be careful of the kid crabs—their pinchers are the sharpest! And no, you can’t keep any as a pet, and no, dad can’t cook any for his dinner.
• Practice your math and test your observation skills by counting creatures as you take a walk. Take a pencil and pad and keep a tally chart of all the different species of animals you see—including the neighborhood cats and dogs. After a good walk, and a good bit of critter counting, sit for a while and work out some statistics. Which animal was most common? Were there more squirrels than bumble bees? What is the most populous creature in your street? How many brown bugs were there? How many black dogs?
• Make the most of a blustery day by going outside and old-school with your kid. If you haven’t got a kite, make a paper airplane. Can’t remember how? Take a piece of letter-size paper. Fold your paper in half lengthways, making sure the crease is deep, then unfold it. Fold both of the top two corners of the paper down to the middle crease. Now fold the paper in half. Next take the two flat sides and fold them down, back to the center, until they are evenly folded down to the bottom. You’re ready for take-off.
• Look for the helpers, heroes and handy things on a walk around your neighborhood. Point to the things that make your community the safe place that you love (such as the fire station, a recycling bin, a free library, a crosswalk). Share stories about your interactions with these people and things, and how they help everyone out—including Mother Earth.
• Sign up to the National Parks Conservation Association email newsletter. Throughout the year, these majestic natural venues host special outdoor kids’ adventure days, full of education, fresh air and natural and North American history. Make it your mission to see as many as possible in a year. Give your kids a map so they can tick them off after they’ve gawped in wonder.
• Join a kid-friendly animal-focused walking group They are dotted all over the country, in zoos, wildlife parks and farms. These slower-paced tree-bathing sessions allow plenty of time for studying the cute and cuddly and to breathe in lots of those powerful phytoncides.
• Bring shells and rocks (ones you’re allowed to!) home from a vacation and use them to decorate old glasses and Mason jars. Avoid superglue and cover any surfaces you’re working on with old newspaper to avoid accidents. These jars will make lovely gifts or trip souvenirs for you. Reminisce as you stick.
• Make car washing in summer a family excuse for a water fight. Dress to get soaked. Go barefoot. Blow bubbles. Jump and pop the soapy orbs.
• Embrace your inner scientist Gather fallen petals and mix them with water, crushing them in a bowl with a pestle to make perfume. Search for molehills, anthills and rabbit holes, and think about what each creature uses to dig and build. Measure how big the holes are and explain what is going on under the ground. Go on a nest hunt during spring (but don’t get up too close to the nest or the bird might abandon the nest), timing how long the adult birds leave home for and what they bring back to their offspring. Play Pooh sticks, by throwing twigs from a bridge and running to the opposite side while counting to see how quickly the current takes them under the bridge to the other side.
• Go to a park and look for triangles, circles, squares and ovals among nature and in things we bring to the park, such as balls and picnic gear. Point to and name each shape.
• Try your hand at pressing flowers, choosing your birth month bloom, perhaps, or your mother’s favorite. Give your work as gifts to relatives with a message telling them the meaning of the flowers (information is easily found online or in a gardening book).
• Get in pairs and choose who will be “it” for a game of shadow tag. This is the same as playing tag, but instead of being tapped by whoever is “it,” the “it” person jumps into someone’s shadow, and then it’s that person’s turn to be “it.” Play at different times of the day to observe how shadows get longer, shorter and disappear over the course of a few hours and with different weather.
• Even in grim weather, when dressed correctly, a few minutes outside is vital and helpful to kids. If you know bad weather is coming, get them out for a last-minute run around to burn off some energy before they’re trapped inside. If you’re super-organized,
you can plan ahead, laying out a mini obstacle course around your backyard or communal park for them to race around even when the rain or snow has hit, rewarding them with a hot chocolate on their return.
George, 6
“I love running. It makes me happy. It makes me stronger. I go to a running club one morning a week and my muscles feel really cool afterwards. All stretched. We race through the trees and around a track—me and my friends. We pretend we’re flying.”
The bare necessities of life will come to you!
Kids need to get out, as do their parents—because it makes us better parents. Call it Old Mother Nature’s recipe for good living—she knows what she’s doing, if we would only listen to her. Friends and I take in stunning views from scenic stops instead of sitting inside a coffee shop, I have child-free and fresh air moments with my husband instead of usual date-night dining in a loud, crammed restaurant, and even—when safe—take solo strolls to process my thoughts, dilemmas and to-do lists. All these changes to my lifestyle have benefitted me and my relationship with my children no end. Stress is toned down when faced with a sunset, even if your voice is still hoarse from shouting “please put your shoes on” over one hundred times that day.
Find your own little nurturing nature routine with your kids. I promise it will help you in the here and now, and in the distant future, when your kids are long gone and grown and you look back on their youth with rose-tinted glasses. “The days are long but the years are short.” I hear that a lot and normally want to shout at the older person with the wistful expression who is saying it, but I know they’re right. Don’t let the moments pass in a blur of television time and stressed-out email checking. Find your thing.
