 |
Making Mud Pies 
Those outdoor experiences nourish the brain and body—and nurture a love of nature
Judesen Culbreth -- In Readers’ Digest, July 2005
AT THE TENDER AGE OF TWO, Teddy Mirenda of East Dorset, Vermont, appreciates nature in a way that would have pleased his namesake, rugged outdoorsman Teddy Roosevelt. "Give him a pile of dirt and rocks, and he's happy," says Jim, the toddler's dad. "He's fascinated with the world outside—and because he's closer to the ground, he notices much more than adults do."
Scientists, philosophers, poets and parents have long believed in the beauty and benefits of the out-doors. Never before, however, has the notion of playing outside seemed so in danger of losing its appeal. Kids today spend less time outdoors than did previous generations. In 1981, according to surveys conducted by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, children ages 6 to 17 spent an average of 100 minutes outdoors in unstructured play each week. By 2002, that time was halved to a mere 50 minutes.
That loss may turn out to be profound. New findings point to the extraordinary gains from playing outdoors, romping and stomping and connecting with nature. As Richard Louv, author of the just-published book Last Child in the Woods, puts it, "Outdoor experience isn't just something nice for kids to have. They have to have it." Here's some compelling new research that will encourage your family to get outside this season and beyond.
Coming to Our Senses. Notice how blue skies and bright suns often dominate the drawings of youngsters? That's not just by chance. Kids see the world differently than we do. Up to age 20 or so, the lenses of their eyes allow more blue light to reach the retina. Says George Brainard, professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, "They see more blue, violet and indigo"—colors featured so prominently in their artwork.
That blue light, the blue of the sky, turns out to be a potent regulator of the body's circadian system. It's the human clock that not only tells night from day, but manages the whole neuroendocrine rhythm of the body and every organ within it. Other studies have demonstrated that exposure to light affects mood and performance. George Brainard's work is the first to pinpoint the special significance of the blue spectrum for humans.
Visual awareness is also heightened outside, where the eyes are exercised by motion. Gazing at a tree in the distance, or at a monarch butterfly fluttering nearby, children employ all their powers of sight—including peripheral vision—in three dimensions, as opposed to the sharp central vision used to read, watch TV or track video games. They actually see better and more, in truer colors, shapes, contrast and detail. And that's just one sensory advantage.
"Learning first comes in through the senses," says neurophysiologist Caria Hannaford in her book Smart Moves. Our initial sensory patterns, she says, "are laid down on elaborate nerve networks" and become the reference points that give us the context for thought and creativity.
Experts in early childhood development and the neurosciences agree that the natural world is the primary source of unfailing stimulation, the place that demands full use of the senses. As a child becomes immersed in touching, hearing, seeing, smelling, and even tasting, the bonanza of senses creates a complex architecture in the brain. Throughout their lives, children will continually extend, remodel, and draw upon this architecture.
Movement for Growth and Learning. Outside is where kids engage in the "big behaviors": running, jumping, skipping, shouting, swinging, tumbling and climbing. As children dash around chasing each other or pause to examine a ladybug on a leaf, their vigorous and finite movements foster a host of growth and aerobic responses. Large and small muscles get a workout. A richer supply of blood and oxygen bathes the heart, lungs and brain. The skeletal system strengthens, and the body soaks in the vitamin D it needs from the sun. When our own parents told us that "kids need to burn off energy," they were right. Today, we're more concerned about our kids burning calories and reducing stress—and we're right too.
Exuberant outdoor activity, so random and joyful, has another role to play. The areas of the brain responsible for movement are located in the cerebral cortex, the same territory that houses higher thought. Movement and "full brain activation and integration" work together, according to Hannaford. She notes that some of the great modern educators, people like Maria Montessori, Rudolf Steiner and Howard Gardner, recognize and stress the importance of movement to the learning process. Ironically, though, many school districts have been cutting back on recess—which for many kids is not only their favorite time of day but also an immensely important educational experience.
The Parents' Role. With outdoor time and territory shrinking, kids risk losing the habitat in which they learn best and most effortlessly. Parents and care-givers can re-tip the balance, say the experts, with simple enthusiasm:
• Set reasonable limits on indoor time and organized sports, leaving lots of time and opportunity for free-flowing activity outside.
• Get out there yourself, demonstrating how much you value time outdoors. There's simply nothing like leading by example.
• Pay attention to what your kids enjoy and make sure to nurture it, whether it's digging holes in search of dinosaur bones, chasing fireflies or climbing trees.
The pleasure of being outdoors is fundamental to human happiness and well-being. In fact, our affinity for the splendor of nature may even be encoded in our genes, says Gordon Orians, an ecologist and professor emeritus of biology at the University of Washington in Seattle. "There's so much to learn about what all organisms can do," he says. "What a source of delight to know about these things, to discover how exciting and wonderful the world is. Nature is absolutely stunning!"
Natural Tools and Resources. Even babies can enjoy feeling the texture of a tree or a gentle breeze on the skin. Trips to the park, or time on a blanket in the grass, offer rich stimulation and contentment. Toddlers and preschoolers love to play in sand and water, and can spend hours watching animals or plants. In your own yard, keep sand and water areas supplied with kid-die experimental equipment, like buckets, shovels and kitchen tools (colanders, sponges, basters, measuring spoons and cups).
As your child explores, try what's called science-process talk: What do you think will float? How many ways can you fill the bucket? What do you notice about these ants? And how are these leaves—or rocks or flowers—different? School-age kids will trigger higher-level thinking when they classify what they see and make inferences from their investigations. They might want to use old-fashioned field notebooks to record their discoveries, and you might also offer a tape recorder or video camera to help them capture their on-the-spot observations and discoveries.
The National Wildlife Federation (nwf.org/natureactivities) offers terrific outdoor suggestions, from building a lizard lair and wormarium, to making simple butterfly and moth feeders, to identifying the sounds and meanings of the local frog chorus. For preteens and teens, a much more challenging project might be working to certify the family backyard as a wildlife habitat.
And here's a book recommended for anyone, either child or grownup: Sunflower Houses by Sharon Lovejoy, with its inspirational ideas for the garden. What this book and other products show is what our children know almost instinctively: The world is at our fingertips. We just have to make sure we get out there and explore it.
Judsen Culbreth, former editor-in-chief of "Parent & Child" and "Working Mother," conducts workshops for parents.
|
|
