Children and Nature

 Immersion in the natural world is a central aspect of healthy child’s play.  Play, that involves our hands, is richly connected with our brains, and a primary way we interact with our world. As kids play with blocks, fashion mud pies, and throw balls, they are constantly fertilizing neural growth and integrating complex areas that the natural world offers.
~from an article by Stuart Brown, MD  Founder of the National Institute for Play

The benefits are amazing and the effects are lasting.  There is evidence that a connection to nature enhances social skills, mental cognition and emotional health.  Your child will learn empathy for living things, develop self-regulation and have a reduction in stress (sadly childhood depression and stress are on the rise) when being in nature.  It is important for your child to spend non-structured time in nature.  The time you spend outside will have a long lasting impact on your whole family.

• Use nature to strengthen family bonds.  We have so many urban parks that encourage a family walk in nature – Discovery Park, Golden Gardens, Carkeek Park are some of the more popular ones but there are many neighborhood parks as well as just a walk around the block.  You can look at gardens (buds are forming on plants, flowers popping up out of the ground, small bugs roaming about and birds singing), collect rocks, sticks, leaves, etc.  You can go for a walk in the morning and compare it to the same walk at night with a flashlight.  Go for a worm walk after a rain (take a flashlight and look for worms on the sidewalk).  While on your walk you can chat with your child about what they see, hear, feel, smell.
• Plant a garden.  You can plant a single plant, like a tomato, and watch it grow or plant a little garden, strawberries are easy to grow in a small garden box.  Fruits and vegetables are fun to eat right out of the garden. 
• Find the world in the garden.  Take a piece of wood, cardboard or plastic and set it on a patch of dirt in your yard.  In a few days go back and see what is living underneath.  Keep track of “the world underneath” and visit it every week or so.
• Read outside.

It is important to help the kids engage in nature and then step back and let them use their imaginations. It is great to see where they go!  You are the first step in connecting your child to nature.  If they do not know nature they cannot love nature.  You cannot love something you do not know.

There are many benefits of being outside.

• Children with nature-rich schoolyards are calmer and pay more attention to their teachers than children whose schoolyards have few natural elements.
• Children who play outside are more physically active which helps prevent obesity, heart disease,. Diabetes and other health issues.
• Children with ADHD experience significantly fewer symptoms after spending time in nature
• Children who play regularly in natural environments have more advanced motor skills, such as agility, balance and coordination, and are sick less often
• Children who play outside have higher levels of vitamin D, which in turn strengthens their bones and immune systems
• Children who learn how to garden eat more fruit and vegetables and are more likely to keep a healthy lifestyle later in life
• Children who play outside engage in more imaginative games, interact more and get along better
• Children whose schools offer outdoor classrooms or other forms of environmental education score higher on standardized tests
• Children who grow up having regular contact with the natural world are more likely to develop a lifelong love for nature and care to preserve it
• Children who play in nature score higher on concentration and self-discipline tests
• Children who are exposed to the natural world develop stronger awareness, reasoning and observation skills

Sources: 
http://rainorshinemamma.com/
​North Carolina State University – Natural Learning Initiative: Benefits of Connecting Children with Nature

Being in nature is a gift you can give your child that will stay with them for their whole life!