More and more children today have less and less contact with the natural world, and this is having a huge impact on their health and development.

Free and unstructured play in the outdoors boosts problem-solving skills, focus and self-discipline. Socially, it improves cooperation, flexibility, and self-awareness. Emotional benefits include reduced aggression and increased happiness. “Children will be smarter, better able to get along with others, healthier

and happier when they have regular opportunities for free and unstructured play in the out-of-doors,” concluded one authoritative study published by the American Medical Association in 2005.

A staggering 64% of kids play outside less than once a week, 28% haven’t been on a country walk in the last year, 21% have never been to a farm and 20% have never once climbed a tree.

More kids today are interested in the natural world than ever before; they watch it on television, they may well visit a nature reserve or a national trust site with their families. But far fewer children are experiencing it directly, on their own with friends, and that’s what counts: this is about more than nature.

Respectable scientists - doctors, mental health experts, educationalists, sociologists - are beginning to suggest that when kids stop going out into the natural world to play, it can affect, not only their development as individuals, but society as a whole.

Just five minutes ‘green excercise’ can produce rapid improvements in mental wellbeing and self esteem, with the greatest benefits experienced by the young, according to a study this year at the University of Essex.

“MEAningFUl ConnECtionS

with thE nAtURAl

woRld BEgin in oUR

BACkyARdS And CoMMUnitiES”

david Sobel,

developmental psychologist

i.

ii. iii.

i.The distance children stray from home on their own has shrunk by 90% since the 70sii. 43% of adults think a child shouldn’t play outdoors unsupervised until the age of 14

iii. 64% of children play outside less than once a week

the biggest obstacles to today’s children being allowed out to fully explore and experience nature stem more from anxiety than squeamishness. “Stranger danger”, the fear of abduction by an unknown adult, is why most parents won’t allow kids out unsupervised. Blanket media coverage of the few such incidents that do occur may have contributed to this; in fact, there is a risk but it’s minimal – the chance of a child being

killed by a stranger in Britain is, literally, one in a million, and has been since the 70s. “A far more serious issue, a massive issue in fact, is traffic,” says Stephen Moss. “that has grown exponentially, and it’s a very real problem.”

it’s a problem we need to address, because the consequences of failing to allow our children to play independently

outside are beginning to make themselves felt. on the website childrenandnature.org, there is a lengthening list of scientific studies indicating that time spent in free play in the natural world – a free-range childhood, perhaps – has a huge impact on health.

“CliMBing A tREE iS ABoUt

lEARning how to tAkE

RESponSiBility FoR yoURSElF,

And how - CRUCiAlly - to MEASURE RiSk FoR yoURSElF”

Stephen Moss,

naturalist, broadcaster and author

“nAtURE iS A tool to gEt ChildREn to

ExpERiEnCE not JUSt thE widER

woRld, BUt thEMSElvES”

Stephen Moss

iv.

v.

vi.

“FEw ACtivitiES in liFE ARE AS

SAtiSFying AS wAtChing

thingS gRow”

the craft of growing is often the first experience children will have of combining craft projects with simple science ideas. Children’s activities that involve growing teach

them that all actions have consequences. growing things is an ongoing activity requiring continued care, attention and thought.vii.

viii.

ix.

x.

xi.

xii.

xiii.

Using growing as a base for craft ideas is a brilliant way to introduce children to the responsibilities of caring for living things. it gives immense satisfaction for them to nurture

a project from start to finish and provides lots of scope for fun and a sense of self achievement.

xiv.

iv. day one - Friday - aerial view v. day one - Friday - seedling growth - 1 mm

vi. day two - Saturday - aerial view vii. day three - Sunday - seedling growth - 35 mm

viii. day three - Sunday - aerial view ix. day four - Monday - seedling growth - 50 mm

x.day five - tuesday - aerial view xi. day six - wednesday - seedling growth - 70 mm

xii. day seven - Thursday - seedling growth - 73 mm xiii. day eight - Friday - aerial view

xiv. The rate of growth of cress over eight days

new research by academics in the U.S and Scandinavia is showing both that dens are crucial to children’s development - and that the opportunities for and inclination of children to make them are in danger of disappearing comepletely.

A variety of factors are affecting children’s lives out of doors. Families are generally smaller in number and often both parents work, so scarcer time together means that fewer children get less attention, and when they get it, the parents tend to feel more anxious about their children’s welfare.

outdoors spaces are also becoming increasingly limited in what they offer because of fear of litigation, and the increased availability of electronic media lures children indoors.

in norway the situation has been deemed so grave that the government has actually been paying children to make dens for the past decade through a project called try yourself.. during research for the try yourself project it was fou nd that dens are about learning to be adults. in many of the cases in norway, it was discovered that the help of adults was

actively solicited, particularly by boys over the age of about 10, whose dens, out in the forest, tended to become sophisticated huts. grandfathers were asked to help saw wood, fathers were asked for advice on appropriate insulation material for wall cavities. And both father and grandfather were then enlisted to help transport materials in wheelbarrows. the boys wanted the men involved, because they were learning how to be men.

“BUilding A dEn iS gREAt FoR EnCoURAging

ChildREn’S iMAginAtion And REinFoRCES thEiR

SEnSE oF SElF”david Sobel

“dEnS ARE plACES

in whiCh ChildREn CAn

ChAllEngE thEMSElvES,

MEntAlly And phySiCAlly, in pREpARAtion

FoR thE RigoURS oF

AdUlthood”

Maria kylin,

The Swedish University of Agricultural

Sciences

xv.

xvi.

xvii.

xv. percentage woodland coverage of immediate den area. 48% floor matter, 23% native trees, 12% shrubs, 10% dead wood, 7% other

xvi. Comparative times spent carrying out tasks towards den xvii. time spent building den against time spent playing in/around den

45 minutes building, 115 minutes playing

“thE dEn iS thE ChRySAliS oUt oF whiCh thE BUttERFly iS

BoRn”

david Sobel

The den is the child’s sense of self being born. in the middle childhood, ages seven to eleven, a den is the child’s chance to create a home away from home that is secret, and become a manifestation of who they are. Unstructured

outdoor play for children gives the opportunity for them to assess their own risks and take their own responsibility. They can have their own adventures, and learn lessons that cannot be taught.Adults have a visual aesthetic. They

want a space to be functional, beautiful and, generally, clean. That to a child’s eye is barren. Children don’t experience a space primarily through visuals, but are interested in what they can do in it.