Get Outside
Quality Time
Moments That Matter
The benefits of physical activity are well-known. But recently I've also been thinking a lot about the benefits of being outside. I'm fortunate to live in a community that has access to beautiful woods and hiking trails. Recently, I had multiple opportunities to take a lunch time or morning walk in the woods. I realized again how spending time in a beautiful outdoor setting helps calm me, focus my mind, and re-energize me. Being outside does the same thing for my kids. I notice how the stresses of the day slip away from them as they run through the grass, dig through the dirt, and sift through the sand.
If you and yours need to de-stress, or simply want to enjoy the outdoor environment of learning, check out the resources below.
Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash
Natural Learning Initiative
The Natural Learning Initiative “offers evidence-based design assistance, professional development, and information resources to advance experience of the natural environment in the daily lives of all children.” I’ve been excited about NLI for quite a while, but I recently attended a NLI workshop in which they discussed some of the health benefits of outdoor environments. According to NLI’s Website, benefits include:
Supports gross motor skills
Encourages healthy eating
Improves eyesight
Promotes cognitive development
Improves academic performance
Lessens ADHD symptoms
Promotes self-confidence
Reduces stress
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
NLI, part of North Carolina State University’s College of Design, offers many many resources that are accessible, available, practical, and free for child care directors, teachers, parents, and any caregiver of a small child. Plus, looking at some of the resources is like revisiting some of your best days of childhood. There's instructions on how to build a bean teepee, instructions for making an outdoor kitchen, and much much more. It gave me a great idea to use some cement blocks that repairman had left in our backyard as stepping stones for my kids in the backyard. We also took a defunct crockpot and some old dishes and made an outdoor kitchen. It was messy but fun!
Photo by Jenn Evelyn-Ann on Unsplash
Kids in Parks
Another great resource related to outdoor learning and physical activity is the Website and project Kids in Parks. Kids in Parks offers multiple resources for teachers and parents, and many physicians and pediatricians’s offices have also joined in partnership with the organization. Kids in Parks has videos about hiking with children as well as numerous seasonal guided hikes. In some of the spring-themed activities kids can hunt for birds, plants, or weather phenomenon.
Do you have great ideas for getting outside with your students or kids? Share them in the Comments section below.
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