Giving Our Children Places to Play in Nature

I often think about my time growing up; I grew up on a farm in southwestern Ontario in the northern end of Kent County. One of my favorite things to do was to wander aimlessly and explore the world around our farm. Sometimes those journeys were on horseback, but many times they were simple; just me walking and discovering the various places that I grew to love and learn from. There was no one to make me love the outdoors – there was the outdoors helping me love the outdoors. I was allowed to play in the woods.

We often take trips to Conservation Areas and read the signs that say – stay on the trail. How are we to discover the world around us by staying on the manicured trail? How will children learn to love something that they cannot touch? It seems to me that playing in the woods is not always the objective of outdoor education programs, the object is to teach them about the outdoor world, and to do that maybe we need to let them learn by themselves.

I think back to my time facilitating outdoor education in camp settings, with campers during the summer and school children in the spring. I remember that my biggest hope was to pass on my love of the outdoors. As years have passed, I have come to realize that what I taught was not always a love of the outdoors, but a respect for the outdoors. To pass on the love I have for the outdoors, I need to move away from the conservation focus, and get back to letting the children have a conversation with the outdoors – by themselves.

We often take trips to Conservation Areas and read signs to “stay on the trail”. How are we to discover the world around us by staying on the manicured trail? How will children learn to love something they cannot touch? It seems to me that while playing in the woods is not the objective of outdoor education programs, the objective is to teach them about the outdoor world and to do that we might need to let them learn by themselves.

I came across a blog post early in November of 2007 on Steve Olsen’s blog (www.steve-olson.com). The post was titled, “Child Creativity Linked With Outdoor Free Time” and it helped to focus my thinking on how to pass on a love of the outdoors to children. Steve had visited the University of Minnesota Arboretum and discovered a placed called “Under the Oak”. Here is the writing on the sign that welcomes you to the site:

For Parents: The Power of Vitamin N(ature)

Remember forts and mud-pies? Hectic schedules, landscaped yards and the lure of electronics leave little room for such pastimes today. Yet studies now link free play in nature with healthier children, physically, mentally and emotionally.

I came across a post on Steve Olsen’s blog early in November 2007 that helped focus my thinking on how to pass on a love of the outdoors to children. Steve had visited the University of Minnesota Arboretum and discovered a place called “Under the Oak”. He took a photo of the sign that welcomes you to the site which reads:

For Parents: The Power of Vitamin N(ature)

Remember forts and mud-pies? Hectic schedules, landscaped yards and the lure of electronics leave little room for such pastimes today. Yet studies now link free play in nature with healthier children, physically, mentally and emotionally.

If you reflect on time you spent outdoors as a child, it may shed light on these findings. At Under the Oak one can see much building of forts (and self-confidence), bug-chipmunk-bird encounters (curiosity and observation skills), role-playing (and working through other experiences) and imagination at work (how do they invent so much to do with sticks and cones?!?).

At Home: See Your Yard Through a Child’s Eyes

Revisit a childhood haunt, and it may surprise you the “river” in your memory now looks so small. Children crave a space for their own, but it needn’t be large. Entice kids outdoors by offering:

· A place they are free to shape as they want – Maybe behind the garage? By a tree in back?

· Materials for creating – boards, branches, burlap, string, bark

What a great idea. We need more places like this. I’m not saying everyplace needs to be likebecome this; I’m just thinking that at my camp we can certainly have a place like this. We need to give children a place to play in nature – not just a place withthat has interpretive signs and marked trails, but a place where that children can learn and discover on their own and run through the woods and use their imagination to create the world and story around them. ; a place where they can learn to love something by touching it.

Conservation is important, but play is paramount in passing on the love of the outdoors to this generation of children.

Joe Richards is insert bio sentence here.the Administrative Director for Pearce Williams Christian Centre in south-western Ontario, near London. Joe speaks across Canada about camp, marketing and creativity.

References

Olson, Steve. (2007). Child Creativity Linked With Outdoor Free Time. Retrieved insert date hereNovember 3, 2007 from http://www.steve-olson.com/child-creativity-linked-with-outdoor-free-time/