Give your children the gift of a “Green Hour” every day

Posted on | June 2, 2008 | 3 Comments

Remember those unfettered summer days spent outdoors from dawn to dusk? The smell of cut grass, the warm sun on our backs as we “bombed” ant hills, played cowboys and indians, or devised some other imaginative adventure?

Todays over-scheduled, “plugged in” children may be missing out on what are some of our generation’s fondest childhood memories and the National Wildlife Federation would like to help. They have created a site called NWF Green Hour to encourage parents to make sure children have at least one hour a day of access to the outdoors.

What happens if we don’t give children this access to the outdoors? Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, describes children who do not have a connection to nature as having a “nature deficit disorder.” The symptoms include replacing a child’s natural outdoor play with screen time. Surely all children like to play outdoors, right? A Kaiser Family Foundation study proved otherwise: the average American child spends 44 hours per week staring at some kind of electronic screen. Excessive television viewing has been shown to cause obesity, violence, and lower intelligence in our children.

Research shows that children who spend time outdoors are healthier, overall, than their indoor counterparts and also have lower stress levels and more creativity than those who play primarily indoors. And it’s easy to see why: there are no rules when you play outside, no limits, and there’s certainly very little holding still! Still need convincing on the value of imaginative play? Read about some recent studies on how imaginative play encourages self-regulation in children.

As you read this post, I am on the road to our first ever camping trip with both Gabriel & Lily. I plan to spend as much time as possible catching toads, walking in the woods, and playing outside with my children. You see, children aren’t the only ones to benefit from a Green Hour. We adults can also benefit from tearing ourselves away from the computer long enough for an hour of unstructured play outside.

So go on, get out there and enjoy your daily Green Hour!

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