Let My Grandchildren Play Outdoors!

Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. Apparently this book is not so easy to read, but the author makes several very good points regarding how little nature today's children enjoy.

Studies show an alarming decrease in the amount of time children spend playing outdoors and in the amount of time spent in unstructured playing. If what the author writes is true, then we have a very serious problem on our hands. Here is a sample of observations from the book:

• British study discovered that the average 8-year old can identify the characters on Japanese trading cards, but he is unable to identify a beetle, an otter, or an oak tree.
• According to another researcher, an indoor, sedentary childhood is linked to mental health problems.
  
• In a recent survey of 800 mothers, only 26 percent said their children play outside daily.
  
• The amount of time spent in free, unstructured play has dropped by nine hours per week over the last 25 years.
• Babies and children are increasingly becoming "containerized." This means they are spending more and more hours in high chairs, booster seats, baby swings, car seats, strollers, etc.
  
• Researchers in Scotland studied the physical activity of 78 three-year olds for one week by placing monitors on the toddlers' waistbands, and discovered that the children were physically active for only 20 minutes a day.
• There is growing evidence that direct exposure to nature is essential for physical and emotional health.
• Another study indicates that exposure to nature might reduce the symptoms of ADHD, can improve children's cognitive abilities, and can improve their resistance to stress and depression.

What can we do about this? I pledge my intention to get the grandkids outside anytime they stay with us. I'm not "Mother Nature" myself, but I am renewed and refreshed almost EVERY time I work and play outdoors.

(Have I said all this before? It sounds familiar? Oh, well...if so, it bears repeating.