Everybody outside!

20 August, 2020

 

This article is meant as a little moment to rethink September, but also the whole school year that is beginning. To look for ways to make our daily lives, filled with uncertainty, change and sometimes stress, gentler for our kids, and for us too.
The start of a reflection...
During the summer, I noticed that when I felt more stressed or overwhelmed, I would go outside. The sun, the calm, the trees, the flowers... it did me good. I also noticed that when my kids are very rowdy and need to burn off their energy, I send them out to play. They can run and let off steam; being outdoors does us good! It lets us refocus on ourselves and regain our balance.
The summer also gave me the chance to read and reflect on my practices as a teacher, but also as a mom. My reading led me to François Cardinal's French-language book “Perdus sans la nature” (English-speaking families might instead try a classic on the same theme, Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv). Cardinal's book resonated with me, but it also shook me up at times, challenging some of my ideas and ways of doing things. In it, the author explains that children need free play time, but above all free time outdoors. He says that, in general, as parents, we tend to overload our children's schedules, and that they no longer have time to get bored and develop their creativity. The experts he cites also mention that our kids lack time outdoors to burn off energy and be in contact with nature. This has a big impact on stress, anxiety, concentration/attention, obesity, knowledge of nature, and so on.
I keep reflecting and come across the Instagram account 1000 hours outside. There I meet Ginny, a mom of five who wants to revolutionize childhood with nature. In fact, she challenges us to spend 1000 hours outdoors with our kids in one year. Whoa! That's almost three hours a day! At our house, that's a major challenge! In winter, I'm not much of an outdoorsy person and I appreciate the warmth of home! Still, I like her suggestion to encourage time outdoors. It goes without saying that she includes parents in the process and invites us to take part in the challenge.
New tools to help us
We know from experience that children learn by imitation. So if I send them out to play but stay inside myself, I'm not being consistent. So we all go together! For my tribe, I'm not aiming for 1000 hours over the year, but I plan to spend more time outside, a little every day!
Endless possibilities
Daily life is often full of surprises, and that can create a lot of stress for every member of our family. Nature can help us keep a certain balance and give ourselves a little gentleness to get through. I encourage all parents, and all teachers too, to spend more time outdoors with children. As well as giving us a ton of learning opportunities, the time spent outside also lets us offer children some special time (a little every day) to work off all their built-up stress; that great big energy, but also all the tension they can feel in their daily lives. Kids will surely have a ton of ideas to fill that time, too! Let's give ourselves this family time outdoors. Let's take it one step at a time and welcome the unknown together in nature!

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