It's a simple, yet profound statement: Kids belong outside.
Since my children were small, they've enjoyed the natural world on a daily basis—largely in part because my wife and I have made it a point to introduce our children to the things that make Texas wild. Our motivations have always been simple: We want our kids to love and appreciate the outdoors.
Even more than just a rote appreciation for nature, there's something deeper that connects kids with outside playtime, and a litany of scientific and scholarly articles prove what many parents know instinctively: there is long and lasting physical and cognitive value in turning off electronic entertainment and finding entertainment in the outdoors.
Growing up in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, I spent most of my free time outside. Growing up in the country, time spent outside was a given since there wasn't much to compete for my time. Therefore, depending on the season, I either hunted, fished, camped, hiked, or explored in a continual, almost predictable rotation year after year.
Things aren't so romantically nostalgic for today's young people.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation reports that children today spend an average of six hours a day consuming media from electronic devices. Sadly, less than four minutes daily is spent in unstructured outdoor play. Astonishingly, the Nielsen Company (the organization that publishes television ratings of record) says that most preschoolers log over 32 hours of TV per week and have seen over 5000 hours of television by the time they reach kindergarten. That amount of time is equivalent to the time it takes to earn a college degree.
The lack of activity has many alarmed as there is a direct correlation between kids who consume the most television and the highest rates of obesity. Over the past two to three decades, the number of children who are overweight has doubled. As a result, diseases like type 2 diabetes, which were once relegated to adults, are now showing up in alarming frequency in children. The rise in attention deficit disorders, according to some studies, is also due to the decreased, unstructured outdoor playtime.
In the book Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv writes, "Like many parents, I do tend to romanticize my own childhood - and, I fear, too readily discount my children's experiences of play and adventure…"
"Within the space of a few decades, the way children understand and experience nature has changed radically. The polarity of the relationship has reversed. Today, kids are aware of the global threats to the environment - but their physical contact, their intimacy with nature, is fading. That's exactly the opposite of how it was when I was a child."
Louv's words, at least on an anecdotal level, are spot on.
I spent sixteen years as a teacher in the Texas public school system, and a big part of my agriculture science curriculum centered on outdoor education. As a teacher in a rural northwest Texas school district for all those years, I was surprised how many of my students had little or no exposure to outdoor activities like camping or hiking. As such, I made it a point to organize an annual wilderness trip to camp, hike, and cook in the outdoors. Twenty or so years after that first trip, my former students, some in their forties now, still want to talk fondly about those trips and how much they cherished the experience.
Kids are hungry for the outdoors mentally, physically, and spiritually. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) reports that "...outdoor time has a dramatic impact on children's attentiveness and school preparedness, including a reduction in ADHD symptoms — a problem that has exponentially increased over the last several decades."
Children who spend time outdoors, the NWF claims, score higher on a wide range of tests of their academic ability and performance. Therefore, the evidence is clear. Kids were made to be outside, and the links to cognitive and physical health are clear.
Want your kids to spend more time outside? Here are six easy ways to instill a love of the outdoors in your children.
Start Small
Teaching kids about nature doesn't have to be complicated. Their inherent curiosity is tuned into learning about nature.
Humans are genetically disposed to hunt and gather, and learning about the outside world starts at an early age. When my children were small, We'd pick flowers and study their parts, play with ladybugs, and learn what plants and animals stick or sting from the ones that don't. Learning about nature doesn't have to be complicated.
Not surprisingly, spending time outdoors as a child yields memories that last a lifetime.
"One particular Sunday morning when my daughter was 5 years old, her Dad got her out of bed at 6 am," says nurse and North Texas parent Linda Dockery. "She was not very happy to get out of her soft and warm bed that chilly Sunday morning, but did it anyway."
"We were living in Chillicothe, Texas, and were on Wanderers Creek at sunrise when the Monarch Butterflies, which numbered in the millions, were waking up. My daughter still talks about the majesty and the beauty of all the dew glistening on their wings as they prepare for flight. She is 24 years old now, and that morning made such a profound impact on her that she still talks about it to this day.
Bring Nature into School
Schools across Texas recognize the importance of including nature in the curriculum. Any school with an agricultural science program can include a wildlife and recreation component. Physical education and science classes often include recreational and ecological components as well.
Although the educational framework may be in place, it takes someone who is passionate and willing to introduce kids to the valuable lessons the outdoors teaches.
"At our school, another teacher and I started a camping club," says Edward Sepulveda, who works at North Dallas Adventist Academy, a private Christian School in Richardson.
"This is our third year doing it," says Sepulveda. "After the first two years, the school decided to make it an elective."
Sepulveda says that they've taken kids to places like Tyler State Park, Enchanted Rock, and Palo Duro State Park. On the trips, the class participates in team-building exercises, proper equipment care, and community cooking exercises. The class is so popular that they've had to cap enrollment, and there is a waiting list to get in.
"Our club is called E3+," he explains. "Escape, Explore, and Expand. Escape the city, school, and normality of everyday life. Explore Texas and the great outdoors. Expand your mind and spirit while exercising your body."
The Lessons of Food and Fiber
Some argue that one of the key disconnects of modern society is that many people no longer have a direct connection to where their food and fiber comes from.
"As society becomes more urbanized, many people do lose touch with agricultural production," says retired Childress, Texas agricultural science instructor Roy Novak. "This causes those individuals to undermine agriculture's role as a staple in our society." For nearly twenty years, Novak, along with other local agricultural leaders, has hosted the Childress County Ag Day - an event that teaches fifth graders the importance of agriculture production and the lessons of good stewardship in the areas of food, fiber, and natural resources.
Vegetable gardening, whether in small backyard containers or larger spreads, is a great way to introduce kids to nature and the food production process. Watching plants grow from a seed to food you can eat is instructive and opens up opportunities for all kinds of ecological lessons throughout the growing season.
In a less structured way, small farmer Barbara Adams likes introducing her grandkids to nature through old-fashioned hard work.
"As a grandparent with a farm at her disposal, I make it a priority to see that the kids get to help me with all the chores as soon as they can walk," she says.
"Feeding, egg gathering, climbing the hay are things they help me with. While we 'work,' I have seen an appreciation of nature and animals blossom in them. They live in town but love to visit because they get outside, get dirty, and can get their hands on the animals."
"A little goat slobber is good for them," she smiles.
Travel with the Outdoors in Mind
Outdoor writer Brian Strickland, who splits his time between Texas and Colorado, plans family vacations with the outdoors in mind.
"We are on the road a lot, and I try to plan our routes based on stuff to do that's nature-related," explains Strickland. Strickland, whose three children range in age from 8 to 13, fish, hike, hunt, and explore with Brian and their mother, Renee, as often as time allows.
"Since we are in Colorado often, we hike and camp quite a bit. On our travels to Texas, we'll make detours into Palo Duro Canyon, explore the Sam Houston National Forest, or head down to the Hill Country and float the Comal River." Strickland confides that his trips take a little longer, but the detours help break up the monotony of their time on the road.
"I look at the additional time a trip may take as just extra time we get to spend together as a family," he confides. "When the kids were young, they just did the things we did and really didn't get the overarching lessons behind why their mother and I introduced them to nature. Now that they are getting older, I really think they are starting to get it. It makes me feel good to hear them reminiscence about a trip we took when they were little."
Teaching Lessons about Conservation
Dr. Dale Rollins, retired Professor & Extension Wildlife Specialist for Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service and the director of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch has a passion for teaching young people about conservation and the outdoors. So much so, each year for over twenty years, he's mustered financial and human resources for the Texas Brigades - a series of conservation summer camps held for teenagers in various locations across Texas.
"To quote Will Rogers, ' America's good fortune can't possibly last longer than her natural resources.' As adults and conservationists, we recognize the importance of stewardship and also the difficulties we face with an ever-growing, ever more urban, ever more 'ecologically ignorant' populace," says Rollins.
To combat the problem, the Texas Brigades seeks to introduce youth to learning more about conservation and becoming ambassadors for the outdoors. "Our teaching philosophy is based on a Chinese proverb 'Tell me, and I forget. Show me, and I remember. Involve me, and I understand, ' he explains. "As a general philosophy, we introduce them to wild things, pique their curiosity, challenge their thinking, but don't force feed them."
"Our camps are full immersion--a veritable boot camp on conservation. We challenge them on every front and set a high bar. The kids love it!"
As an adult, it's therapeutic to watch my kids playing outside and loving nature the same way I did when I was a kid. Even though they are getting older and are now young adults, my wife Kristy and I define watching them at play as The Good Life. The good life, as we define it, isn't about money or fame. It is, as Kristy describes it, "watching my babies grow up, happy and smiling, on a perfect Texas day."
Our hope is simple. As we raise our kids to be a part of rural Texas, we hope the love and longing for the outdoors is planted deep within them. Those memories they are making each time they head outdoors are eternal. One day, they'll pass on these lessons to their kids, and the legacy will be passed.
From this country boy (now 77 years of age) - AMEN!