Could Playing Outside More Help Your Child's Emotional, Spiritual and Social Development?
Judy Molland, author of "Get Out!: 150 Easy Ways For Kids and Grown-Ups To Get Into Nature and Build A Greener Future" shares her best tips on getting your kids interested in playing outside, from turning an ordinary walk into a safari to adopting a tree
Are your children getting outside and enjoying nature as much as you did as a kid? Judy Molland offers some great ideas for busy Moms who want to reintroduce their children to nature in her book, "Get Out!: 150 Easy Ways For Kids and Grown-Ups To Get Into Nature and Build A Greener Future." In this interview, she has lots of great ideas on how to get your children interested in spending time outdoors, from keeping a nature journal and adopting a tree, to doing nature and wildlife photography, collecting stones and listening to birds.
Commitment: I love the ideas in your book. Can you share with us ten things to do outdoors?
Judy Molland:
1. Turn a walk into a safari. Take a closer look at birds, bugs, shrubs, and trees when you pass. Bring a magnifying glass to really zoom in.
2. Play Camouflage Tag. All you need is a few people and an area with good hiding places, such as a playground, park, or wooded area.
3. Find squirrel highways. Watch the squirrels in your yard or at a park for a while and see if you can identify the squirrels’ favorite routes—or “squirrel highways.”
4. Adopt a piece of the earth. Walk around your yard, neighborhood, or school and find an area that needs attention.
5. Create your own treasure hunt. Kids will be more engaged if you include several weird or gross items on your list: a dead bug, a bird feather, a worm.
6. Try cloud watching. If the stars by night are tricky to make out, look for shapes in the clouds instead. Ask your children what shapes they can see, and encourage them to share.
7. Have a snow day. Build igloos or snow caves, or go sledding or snow tubing. Or try snowshoeing—no lift tickets are required.
8. Adopt a tree. As a group or family, choose a favorite tree you can visit often. Take a photo of your tree every week or every month, and put the pictures in a series to see how it changes over the course of a year—or longer.
9. Bring out the strollers. If your little ones are too small for more active Outdoors Dates, organize a stroller group instead. Meet for weekly nature walks.
10. Volunteer at a public park. Volunteers do any number of things, including removing ivy, rebuilding trails, planting seeds, or painting picnic tables.
Commitment: Why is getting outside and having a personal connection to nature so important for children?
Judy:
1. Physical Development: Being out in nature keeps kids in good shape as they run, jump, and play.
2. Cognitive Development: Numerous studies reveal that being exposed to nature can help improve memory and concentration, and thus lead to higher grades. Some interesting recent research has also demonstrated how much children with ADHD can benefit from even a short time outside.
3. Green Development: A fascinating study at Cornell University revealed that children who spend time in nature before age 11 are more likely to grow up to be environmentally minded adults than those who don’t. And that’s important. Our children are the future stewards of our planet.
4. Social Development: Nature can reduce stress and ease tension, making it easier to communicate with others. It’s also fascinating to watch children in an unstructured play situation and see how they learn to interact with each other and organize themselves. They don’t need adult help.
5. Spiritual Development: Nature is awesome and magical, and I believe it’s important for children to wonder at the magnificence of their surroundings. A child’s imagination and creativity are also turned on, and that’s a crucial part of child development.
Commitment: What role did nature play in your own childhood?
Judy: I grew up in the south west of England, next to the ocean, and always found great solace in walking on the beach. Now that I live in California, I take advantage of the many outdoor opportunities, and enjoy hiking, backpacking, rock climbing and skiing; I gain so much pleasure from being outdoors that I want others to have that experience too. I’ve also seen how much my children and their friends have enjoyed the outdoors, so it worries me that we are getting further away from nature. I’m hoping my book will change that!
Commitment: How can a mother be better prepared to spend time outdoors with her children?
Judy: Attitude is everything! Your own enthusiasm will be a great motivator, but then let them go. Encourage even the youngest of your children to explore what attracts her; you really don’t need to guide them every step of the way. In fact, follow their curiosity and ask questions. And let them set the pace. Bring along healthy snacks and be ready with water, sunblock if the weather is hot, and something to keep the bug bites to a minimum as necessary. As a mom, you probably already know how to be prepared!
Commitment: Idea 10 is "Listen to the birds." Any advice for Moms who would like to introduce their children to bird watching?
Judy: Make your own bird feeder and hang it near a window, or at least in a spot where you can easily observe it. You and your child can enjoy watching all the birds that will come to feast there. You can also design and plant a garden or window box full of brightly colored flowers to attract birds, but make sure it’s visible from inside your home.
Commitment: I like the idea of children collecting stones outside. Any other suggestions for things that can be collected while outside?
Judy: Children of all ages like collecting stones. (That includes my son, who is now 25 years old!) But depending on your location and the time of year, there are plenty of other treasures to find outdoors: feathers, pinecones, shells and fossils are just a few that my family and I have collected over the years. Caution: pay attention to signs in some parks that read “Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos.”
Commitment: Idea 14 is "Keep A Nature Journal." What are some tips for parents who would like to help their children keep a nature journal?
Judy: A good starting point is to have your children make their own journals, possibly using recycled paper. There are two important benefits of keeping a journal; one is that it can include written notes about a particular tree, river, bird’s nest, or poems, or photos, or sketches, whatever interests your child; the other is that he can go back to the same place throughout the year, and note the changes he observes in the weather, animal activity, or tree bark. You and your child can slow down, focus and increase your awareness of the natural world. Awesome!
Commitment: What advice do you have for parents who live in apartments or busy cities where the natural world is scarce and the outdoor world maybe even dangerous?
Judy: Even if you live in a busy city, you can still see birds, bugs, shrubs, trees, if you take the time to look closely as you walk past. Better yet – take a magnifying glass to examine what you see. And if you are worried about your youngsters being out alone on busy city streets, be sure to accompany them. You can also bring nature to your apartment by creating a window box, where you can plant vegetables to eat or flowers to attract birds.
Commitment: Idea 22 cites The National Wildlife Federation's recommendation of parents giving children a "daily green hour." What are some ways parents can actually set aside time everyday to be in nature for one hour?
Judy: The NWF’s “green hour” simply means any time set aside to play outside and interact with the natural world. Ten minutes, 20 minutes, whatever amount of time you can create for your family works. If you’re really busy, start with 15 minutes a day, but do it every day. The time should be unstructured and fun. Start by just walking down the block together, checking out the surroundings, and go from there. See www.greenhour.org for more tips.
Commitment: Idea 37 is "Adopt a Tree." How did you come up with that idea?
Judy: As a group or family, take a walk around your neighborhood and settle on a favorite tree that you can visit often. Children can follow the progress of “their” tree through the year by sketching, taking bark rubbings, recording the diameter of the tree’s trunk, and smelling the flowers. The possibilities are numerous, but again, you are involving your children in a close encounter with nature. I love this idea simply because I love trees!
Commitment: Idea 52 is "Take nature and wildlife photography." What tips do you have for parents who want to get their children into taking pictures outside?
Judy: This idea appears in the second section of my book, which contains tips that involve more planning and commitment, but the payoff is a deeper relationship with nature. Digital cameras are becoming increasingly affordable. For beginners, start with just a couple of tips: remember that light needs to be on your subject, not coming from behind, and consider what you want as the focus of your picture. After that, let them go take photos of ducks, bugs, leaves, or whatever intrigues them. Having your kids post their images on a school or family Web site is a great way to display their talents.
Commitment: You cite a recent study that revealed that children between the ages of 8 and 18 spend an average of 6.5 hours a day staring at electronic screens. What are your thoughts on this?
Judy: Of course, it depends on what those children are staring for those 6.5 hours! There are many benefits to the amount of knowledge we have readily available these days, and it’s certainly true that modern kids are more likely than previous generations to understand concerns about the environment because they can easily go online and inform themselves.
On the other hand, if a child can give you the statistics on global warming, but can’t remember the last time he explored outside, he’s probably not going to genuinely care about nature. Electronics have their benefits, but there needs to be a balance. Time outside is also important.
Commitment: What advice do you have for a mother who says, "Going outside is a lot of work for me. It is sometimes cold, there are a lot of dangers, and my kids don't always feel like going outside. They get bored and would rather watch TV or play video games."
Judy:
1. Start with baby steps: make a schedule that you’ll go outside for, say, 15 minutes a day. And stick to it. You’re the parent, so you’re in charge.
2. Be enthusiastic! Your kids will take their direction from you, so be an excellent role model, and lead by example. Go outside yourself and rub your toes in the grass, or build a sandcastle. This is fun, not homework or medicine.
3. Don’t try and get rid of the TV and video games. Just let your kids know that there’s a time for them, and a time to get outside, and they’re both important.
4. Be flexible. If you have a great idea about what to do outside, but your kids don’t go for it, then let them choose something else.
5. Combining nature and technology is a great plan. Get out there and check out a tree or some animal tracks or those bugs under a rock, and then go home, do some online research and find out more about what you observed.
Commitment: Can you share with us five ways to get active by going green?
Judy: My book contains over 80 ways to get active by going green, but here are five of the most important to help cut down on waste. Our landfills are filling up, and pretty soon we’ll have no place to put our trash.
1. Use recycled products. Recycling cans, bottles and paper is great, but you can complete the “cycle” in recycle but purchasing recycled materials whenever possible.
2. Say “no” to paper and plastic bags. Instead, use your own reusable tote bag.
3. Give your old clothes to a friend or donate to a local thrift store, Salvation Army or Goodwill.
4. Pack waste-free lunches. According to www.wastefreelunches.org, each school-age child who packs a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste a year, which works out to a horrifying 18,760 pounds of lunch waste per year for an average-size elementary school.
5. Create a compost pile, and compost all your yard waste and food scraps to that you can use them for mulch to feed your plants.
Commitment: Of all these activities in the book, which three most excite you and make you feel they have great potential to change a child's life for the better?
Judy: This is a great question, but a really hard one to answer! All of the activities in my book have great potential to change a child’s life for the better, but here are three of my favorites:
1. Lead by example. This is the very first tip in my book, and the most important. If you want the children in your charge to value nature, you have to get outside yourself and have fun. Your enthusiasm will excite them. Encourage even the youngest children to explore what attracts them, then let them have at it.
2. Put nature on the calendar. This might sound simple, but it’s a great idea, and one I pursued a lot when my children were little. Arrange a regular outdoors date with another family, or two, or three. This could be as simple as meeting at the playground every week, or something more complicated like hiking or playing foot football. Whatever you choose to do, the important thing is that once it’s on the calendar, and others are depending on you, you are less likely to skip it.
3. Find your cause. When kids get involved in a cause, they can make a real difference. Help your child to decide what it is she feels most strongly about, and then to learn all about it. A good place to start is www.myhero.com, which has numerous examples of children who have begun small, but been able to make huge changes.
You can find much more about these and many more ideas in my book!
To Purchase "Get Out!: 150 Ways To Get Out in Nature and Build A Greener Future" click here.
About the Author: Judy Molland earned a B.S. Honors from Hull University, U.K. and a Diploma in Education from the University of London, U.K. She is an award-winning teacher and writer. Her latest book is Get Out! 150 Easy Ways for Kids and Grown-Ups to Get Into Nature and Build a Greener Future (Free Spirit, 2009). She is also the author of Straight Talk About Schools Today (Free Spirit Publishing, 2007) and is contributing education editor for Dominion Parenting Media, the largest syndicate of parenting magazines in the United States. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Parents, Instructor, New York Newsday, and the Web site Parenthood.com. She was won a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a Certificate of Appreciation from the California Department of Education, and a Gold Award for Editorial Excellence from Parenting Publications of America.
An avid hiker, backpacker, skier and rock climber, Judy is a high school Spanish teacher and a leader with her local chapter of the Sierra Club
