Why Our Children Need More Time In Nature

The average child now spends 7 hours a day staring at screens and little time outdoors in unstructured play. Even in schools technology is slowly creeping into the classroom. Of course this is a fantastic resource for teachers but what is the impact of future generations? This is somewhat different to the generation of the 80’s, 90’s where it was common practice to spend more time outdoors than in. Most critical of all abundant time in nature is shown to benefit kids long term cognitive, emotional and social development.

Believe it or not there are children that may never have been to the farm, the woods or even explored raw natural environments. Inner city children clearly have less ability to experience nature unless at a local park. It’s crucial to our planet, children’s health we encourage outdoor play and activities. If children learn and understand the world around them then they are more likely to nurture and respect it.

Below are some ideas of simple free outdoor activities that encourage children to learn and grow outdoors.

1. Sticks. These are the most popular toy in the world. Leave a child with a stick and it will take on many forms depending on the child’s imagination. It can be a sword, a drum stick or you can weave and make spears. A favorite is stick races over a small bridge overlooking a stream. Race to see whos stick gets through the bridge the fastest.
2. Den Building – One of my childhood memories is creating dens away from parents and playing escape and invasions games. This stimulates there creative skillset and develops there ability to build structures.
3. Bird Watching – It sounds simple, and it is. Kids love exploring the world around them. Ask them questions, get them to uses their senses. What sounds do they make. Listen to their little stories in their head and allow them to communicate their thoughts. It’s a beautiful thing.
4. Picnic –Summer picnics are great. Local park, with friends and games and children will just run wild.
5. Story time outside. Sit your children around in the garden, tell stories about animals. Make them up, have fun and be goofy with it. Kids love it.
6. Listen, stop. – This is a mindful activity for kids outdoors and requires them to sit still for 5 minutes (can vary depending on age). Take in the sounds and smells of the forest and tune in to their senses.
7. Leaf fight – A great Autumn game
8. Conker picking – A classic and timeless game
9. Treasure hunt
10. Night walk – A great way to get children to experience the outdoors at night.

The list is endless. Sometimes all you need is your imagination. Children need unstructured play and freedom outdoors to grow independent, strong and healthy.

Our Commando Kids summer and activity camps are designed to educate and nurture children in the outdoors. We teach them skills from the military but also, first and foremost we allow them the freedom to explore and learn outdoors with a careful eye. Commando Kids is a carefully combined program of forest school practices, outdoor sports and military skills. This means we develop the entire child. Their fitness, knowledge and outdoor skills whilst having fun with their friends. Check us out.