And why it matters more than ever.

I am privileged to be part of a generation that still allowed children to play outdoors, by themselves, as much as they wanted. Go outdoors and play and stay out till supper time was a common refrain.

My mother had an old-fashioned cowbell that she’d clang from the front porch when she wanted us. It could be heard for at least a mile, and that was our perimeter, growing up on our Alaskan homestead. My mom was vaguely afraid of bears but that wasn’t enough to keep us inside. She had a greater fear of bicycles and I didn’t get my first bike until I was 16.

But all kids ran, jumped, climbed trees, had intensely invigorating snowball fights, and were physically fit with no particular effort.

I took it for granted when I had children: kids played outdoors.

Since I’d primarily grown up without electricity and without television, the outdoors was an exciting place to play. At the time, our family was farming in Arizona, and I was always outside, so the kids were, too.

When my oldest was five, I remember him crying, not wanting to leave the farm, Daddy, and the tractor, to go to school. Even the big yellow bus was not enough of an incentive.

But I assumed all kids had to go to school. In Alaska, the only reason to make the arduous trip to school was if you lived too far out in the bush. I didn’t know homeschooling was an option at this time.

By the time my son was eight, he would have told you I hate school more than anything in the world!

So would all of his friends and I knew something was wrong. Curiosity and learning should be fun, not a hated punishment.

In fourth grade, the teacher said, your son has attention deficit disorder, and will grow up to be a juvenile delinquent.

I disagreed. He was an active, ordinary boy. What wasn’t right was small children sitting at a desk for at least six hours a day.

We started homeschooling and never looked back.

Humans were meant to move and to be outside. Without enough activity, our bodies and mind suffer. I started homeschooling my children largely to give them a normal childhood, full of wonder, nature, and outdoor play.

I believe people of all ages need the same things. As an older adult, I’m not happy and healthy if I’m not outdoors at least two hours a day, minimum, whatever the weather.

So I garden, walk, and talk about the value of nature to everyone—all the time. My shelves are full of books about nature, including Richard Louv’s must-read title, The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.

But somehow, even though it was published in 2016, I missed this book.

*Balanced and Barefoot:* *How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children* by Angela J. Hanscom.

Fortunately, I found Angela when she was a recent guest on the 1000hoursoutside.com podcast.

If you care about the future, whether you have children of your own or not, please read this book.

I love the way Hanscom weaves science and practical experience as an occupational therapist, years as a teacher, and learned from being a mother.

Everyone needs to have access to the outdoors.

More than 80% of the world’s children now live in urban areas. Children, today, now spend up to 44 hours each week in front of a screen but less than one hour playing outdoors. A typical U.S. adult now spends 11 hours a day sitting.

Access to nature is limited by race, income, and zip code for far too many people. This doesn't seem right, and it can change.

“We can connect children to nature, mitigate the risk of flooding, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. All of these things are connected. By doing these things, at the same time, we are enhancing the community’s quality of life.—Mayor Sylvester Turner of Houston, TX

When children are outdoors, they get physical exercise while walking, running, and playing.

But equally important is to let kids free-play without interference or suggestions from adults. If you’ve spent time observing children from a bit of distance, it’s truly fascinating. They work out many experiences and try new ways of being, practicing skills of negotiation and compromise.

Ideally, kids of all ages should get at least three hours a day of free play outdoors a day.—page 84

Hanscom, a pediatric occupational therapist, asserts that toddlers and preschoolers will benefit from up to eight hours of outside playtime every day. Obviously, it’s a rare child who experiences this. So what can parents do?

Push for child-friendly playgrounds.

Kids don’t need expensive, commercially constructed equipment. Tire swings, sand piles, lots of trees, sections of logs, hills to roll down, cargo nets; all of these things are more intriguing and cost much less.

Simply having a grassy field to run on, kick a soccer ball, and fly a kite will usually provide more exercise than expensive equipment. In addition, parks need to include more bike paths and walking trails, and room for children to play.

In addition, children often become wild and disorganized, stimulated by jungle gyms that look like they belong in a fast-food restaurant.

Lobby for recess at school.

Recess and physical education have both taken a hit in recent decades. Pressure to boost test scores often pushes school districts to increase classroom time and decrease outdoor exercise. However, pediatricians have stated that recess is a crucial and necessary part of a child’s development and should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons.

Recess has taken the hardest hit in urban areas. You are less likely to get recess if you are African-American (39 percent don’t have recess, compared to 15 percent of whites), living below the poverty line (44 percent of poor children don’t have recess versus 17 percent of others), or struggling academically (25 percent of kids who scored below the mean on a standardized test versus 15 percent of those above did not have recess).—Recess Makes Kids Smarter

The average American child gets 20 minutes of recess time a day. Encourage your child’s school to increase this time.

Encourage outdoor learning.

A picnic table, grass, a walking path; are all places to learn. Forest kindergartens—a place to learn without ceilings or walls—are becoming popular.

The Columbus Academy has created an outdoor middle school classroom which you can visit in this video.

And pandemic constraints have encouraged schools to add more outdoor programs to their schools, as seen in this segment on forest schools: lessons in outdoor education.

And let’s not stop with the children.

There’s a 56-acre natural space five minutes from my house. It has a pond, a pollinator garden, a bird blind, and 6 acres of trails, all free. I’m often there twice a day, and do you know how many people I usually see enjoying this part? On a busy day, three!

Yet, go to a brewpub, a fast-food restaurant, or an indoor gym, and they’re full. Too many Americans have become disconnected from the natural world as rates of obesity continue to increase.

Of course, there are layers of complexity to this issue. Social inequity of the food supply, deficits in medical care, and commercialization of the food supply are only some of the causes.

However, encouraging every person, young and old, to get outside and move every day can be part of the solution.

Investigate the model of The Blue Zones.

I am inspired by the success of The Blue Zones initiatives based on the research of founder Dan Buettner.

Blue Zones Project is a community-wide well-being improvement initiative designed to make healthy choices easier through changes to the physical environment, policy, and social networks.—The Blue Zones Project

Here in Texas, Ft. Worth became the first Blue Zones city in 2014. People in this city are happier and healthier than before according to the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index.

Get outdoors more and inspire those around you.

We can all energize our lives by moving more. Ride a bike, develop a habit of going for a walk in the evening, and do your own yard work. When you are outdoors you’ll encourage your children to join you.

Instead of going to the movies, take a hike. Why not go for a picnic instead of out to eat. Plant a garden and make a practice of observing nature.

I hope that these books and ideas will inspire you to enjoy the outdoors and preserve nature for ourselves and future generations.

What are your favorite outdoor activities, especially with children? Please share your ideas and experiences to inspire others.

Resources:
https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/
https://www.childrenandnature.org/
https://info.bluezonesproject.com/live-long-fort-worth

How Can We Connect Children to Nature?