Take it Outside

“Given a choice, young children will usually choose to be in a natural environment. They want to be outdoors, in the fresh air and sunlight, barefoot and naked, surrounded by grass, trees, and flowers, hearing the birds and the wind, playing in water with sticks and rocks. If you ask most grade school children what is their favorite part of school, they say outdoor recess. When children spend time outside where they can run, jump, climb, swing, swim, and play, they eat better, sleep better and are happier. We all know that children thrive in the outdoors. Yet we often forget how much the environment can affect a child's mood and behavior. When children spend too much time inside breathing stale air, hearing the hum of all the lights, electrical appliances, and the television, surrounded by synthetic fabrics, playing with plastic toys, eating foods that contain artificial coloring and preservatives, they get cranky and disagreeable.” -Pam Leo

From a very early age, I could reliably calm my son and smooth out his rockier moods simply by taking him outside. As an infant, when he became “fussy”, (and all the usual suspects were exonerated) I would throw him in a baby sling and go for a walk around the neighborhood. I figured if nothing else, a “break” and a change of scenery would sooth MY nerves and restore my ability to meet his needs, but he almost always settled down right away when we went outside for a while.

As he got older, the walks became longer and longer because he clearly enjoyed them. When he became mobile, his enthusiasm for walks increased tenfold because now he could interact more directly with the world. These days, I can always count on enthusiasm about going outdoors. Now that he’s a toddler, it’s a lifesaver because the outdoors is a better forum for his boundless energy and endless curiosity. This morning, for example, I told my son we would be going outside later, and he RAN to grab his shoes. He was ready to go!

My son seems to have developed a strong preference for being outdoors. Even though he usually brings a toy or two with him on our trips outside, they are usually quickly forgotten (and go in mama’s pocket) as soon as he catches sight of the green grass, interesting leaves, bright yellow dandelions, acorns, rocks, and sticks. He likes watching the birds and squirrels, spotting airplanes flying overhead, and walking along familiar paths stopping to smell the flowers along the way. He’s a much happier critter when he is able to spend time outdoors where he can run around, jump over cracks and puddles, walk backwards, and climb on every bench and playground structure. So almost every day, we go outside for at least 20 minutes for some “nature therapy”.

Nature therapy works pretty good on teenagers too, by the way. I remember fondly doing these kinds of daily walks with my health class students at Job Corps. We had this great outdoor trail we could use, and I took generations of incoming students on a 20-minute nature trail walk every single day (unless it was pouring rain). By the time they arrived in my classroom, these students had been at Job Corps for a month, and were at a critical stage of adjustment to the program. They had been away from home for a month, disconnected from familiar people, eating unfamiliar foods, dealing with unfamiliar routines, and sleeping in dormitories for the first time in their lives. Usually the magnitude of changes in their lives started having a visible impact on their coping skills and overall mood. I figured the best thing I could give them during health class was a 20-minute break from all of that, so every day for two weeks, we went outdoors, looked at plants, watched the clouds, enjoyed some exercise and light conversation, and enjoyed whatever surprises nature had to offer.