I'll blog about our Thanksgiving once I get the pictures downloaded. I just read a very interesting article that my mom gave me. It talked about the importance of having our kids play outdoors in nature. The emphasis was on nature, not just playing outside on the street with your bike (while that is obviously very beneficial for other reasons). Kids' minds grow and stretch so much when they are forced to use their imagination to create games, build forts, etc. We live pretty close to some great mountain communities. This article made me more motivated to be proactive about getting Cam up in nature...especially as he gets older. Here is an excerpt. The first part is a question asked by the article's author to the "expert".
"...the obesity epidemic coincides with a record high increase in organized sports for kids. how does tat correlate with the need for more outdoor play?"
"...in organized sports, kids often have little actual playtime. But watch a group of children in a wooded area, and you'll see them running, climbing over things, and then dashing over to whatever captures their attention next...last summer, my sons built a fort out of storage pallets and hay at our ranch. That project took them all weekend. They were like beavers, constantly moving back and forth between our barn and the woods. Sports are more about following directions to the letter. They're great for discipline...but they don't leave from for the imagination."
4 comments:
Yeah, I thought it was a great article, too. It's wonderful to watch a child study a bug crawling along or arrange rocks into a little pile. When Cameron gets older, there's a wilderness walk (with a guide) up in Oak Glen that I took kids on a field trip to. There's just something so different and mind-expanding about being outside, isn't there?
Can you tell me how to find the article?? or link to it?? i'd love to read it!
So many kids nowadays don't have a safe place in which to play outside alone. Parents are too busy or otherwise occupied and don't want to spend time outside with their children. That's why many just play inside with video games. I remember being outside and playing all day long in the neighborhood. We built forts, rode bikes, skated, played Barbies on the front lawn or backyard, etc. Now, I'm dating myself - ugh!
Super interesting! Makes sense! Too bad we don't have a barn with a hayloft like the author, but I think it's true that we can make these opportunities if we put forth the effort.
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