We islanders got the dry spell we were craving and quickly exchanged our gumboots and umbrellas for sandals and sunglassess. We’ve been celebrating a week of gorgeous weather outdoors and that’s why I’ve been so scarce. The rhododendrons are heralding spring and the green background is punctuated with natural color again. The forecast is for another sunny week and my husband will be home. All is well in my world.
I enjoy the artwork I do with kids year round but I love playing outside with them too. Every summer I get the mega-dose of childlike wonder and wisdom as I and my young friends ‘get lost’ on forest trails and in beach adventures. We play outside all day long. When it comes time to being called to come indoors are reluctant to budge unless food it’s meal time.
- Building forest forest forts;
- Catching frogs in the pond;
- Sailing paper boats down the creek;
- Building sandcastles;
- Flying kites.
How city living affects the brain
Scientists have begun to examine how city living affects the brain. Just being in an urban environment impairs our basic mental processes. After spending a few minutes on a crowded city street, the brain is less able to hold things in memory, and suffers from reduced self-control. Natural settings, in contrast, don’t require the same amount of cognitive effort. — How the city hurts your brain.
Neuroscientists are examining how urban life can affect brain biology in a way that has a potentially major impact on society — schizophrenia affects one in 100 people. City living marks the brain: study social risk factor for mental illness.
Indoor kids suffering from Nature Deficit Disorder
It’s sad that the terms couch potato parents and indoor kids describe most American families. In a study of 830 mothers PDF,
- 70 % reported playing outdoors every day when they were young, compared with only 31% of their children.
- 85% of these mothers identified their child’s television viewing and computer game playing as the number one reason for the lack of outdoor play.
- 82% of them identified crime and safety concerns as factors that prevent their children from playing outdoors.
It’s time for families to turn off the electronics and move on out into the fresh air. The National Wildlife Federation recommends a “Green Hour” every day. It can be in a garden, a backyard, a park or any place that provides safe and accessible green spaces where children can learn and play. Why not find one and start a nature club for families in your community?
Discussion
I love feeling the earth beneath my feet. I love being on the beach and feeling the sand between my toes too. I go barefoot at least part of every day year round as my physio recommends it. It’s her opinion that we are crippling our feet with ill fitting shoes and we need to focus more on heaving healthy feet as we age. I became foot focused one year ago this month due to stress fractures.
Did you spend a lot of time outdoors when you were a child? I did and I continue to spend as much time as I can outdoors as I can. How about you?
Related posts
Celebrating the Greenman Archetype
Golden Apples Guided Meditation for Children
I”ve never lived in the country and am not sure I would want to: I would have to learn to drive when I had problems learning to drive.
Plus would feel isolated and bored after awhile. I’ve stayed with friends who lived in towns with population under 2,000 people. I also have stayed in cottages. Each experience welcomed for a few days. But not convinced it’s for me, for many weeks or months.
This is how I see it: Some of the towns and rural areas I’ve visited and cycled through on trips feel culturally constricting to me……I like living in highly cosmopolitan, racially and culturally diverse ethnic towns/cities.
Growing up in the 1960′s 100 km. outside of Toronto, meant that out of 2,000 students in my high school, there were a total of 10 Asian-Canadians, of which some were my siblings. About same number for black students. It was revelation to me personally to move and live in Toronto.
But for Nature, I’ve always made sure I lived within sight of green tree canopy, trees on the street and parks close by. Meaning for all 3 cities where I’ve lived, also meant living near a long bike path. :) So handy and yes, no excuses for not de-stressing.
I didn’t learn to camp until I was in my early 30′s, when I met my partner and we went cycling with camping gear on our trips. Our family just couldn’t afford it but more importantly for my parents camping, is not part of their cultural upbringing. They came from poor villages in China. So “country”, “rural” reminds them of…..poverty.
This blogger in China explains this: http://jennyzhu.com/2011/10/17/why-dont-chinese-like-camping/ And I’m referring to generally poorer folks who have lived their whole lives in rural areas in China that may have this attitude.
Hi Jean,
Given the amount of time you spend bicycling I think you get lots of expsoure to nature and that’s not even taking into account the traveling you do. I’m not surprised that you sought to live in areas with trees, parks and trails. I love trails. Thanks for that link. It was an interesting read.
There is something to be said about fresh air. My family spends a lot of time outdoors. Of course we now have fancy toys, like motorcycles and 4-wheelers, to keep the kids busy outside. But before that, we have always lived in the country, so there was plenty to do outside.
There’s lots to be said about country living and fresh air. The change in attitudes being outdoors can bring about is undeniable. We preferred to live in a rural place and moved to the islands over 30 years ago. We don’t regret the decision we made but we do appreciate that some folks prefer city living.
I am lucky to live inside the city, but to have a wonderful, huge green outdoor area with beautiful trees and birds and squirrels and lots of dogs running around, right out front. We spend quite a bit of time out there. As a kid, I spent most of my time on my bike or building forts…so sad that there is now such a thing as couch potato kids and parents!
Hi Kris,
That sounds like such a healthy setting to be in. You are fortunate to have that nature to enjoy every day and that makes me smile. Yeah, it’s truly sad that so many kids and their parents aren’t getting outdoors much at all. They are missing the preventative and healing medicine that’s freely dispensed by Mother Nature. :)
TT, the first song I can remember hearing as a child was, “Don’t Fence Me In.” And that’s pretty much been the theme of my life. I don’t like being “inside,” literally or figuratively. So I spend practically all my time outdoors, mostly in Nature but on city streets as well, where I can see the broad sky above me and a long vista ahead.
I can relate to that Marty. I can remember that tune and like you I choose to be outdoors as much as I can. When I was young we lived in the country and spent lots of time outdoors unlike the kids of today do. Winters here are long and wet here on the coast and by February my little art class friends and I are longing for spring to happen. Summer is when we have the more outdoor time, though autumns here are usually long and lovely too.
Hi timethief,
It was fascinating to read the city living has such an impact on the brain! I love the idea of a “green” hour everyday as a great start to turning around the damage that is being done from too much indoor time. A good start for adults as well as children!
This is such a nice theme too. It’s one I also considered as it has a serif font and a nice clean, elegant feel. I really like it on your blog!
Hi Sandra,
I agree that we all need a “green hour”. My husband and I are outside for more than an hour every day. In fact we are outside as often as we can be. Our friends and their kids spend lots of time outside too. They insist their kids remain disconnected from the internet for most of the day. However, there are kids in art and wilderness workshops who don’t spend much time outside at all and that’s so sad.
The studies of the effects of city living on the brain are informative. I have alwys felt a level of angst when living in cities that I never feel when living in the country. Even fleeting glimpses of nature improve brain performance because they provide a mental break from the stresses associated with of urban living. That’s important information that ought to be taken into account whether or not one is raising kids as what’s good for them is good for adults too.
Thanks for the positive feedback on the theme change. I needed to inject some color and I likeing how it turned out. I decided not to use a logo in the header spot and instead chose to upload many small images and put them on random display. Now I’m doing more work in the backend fixing broken links and replacing missing images.