3 Reasons to prioritize getting children outside according to the experts

I will be the first to tell you that getting four children out the door is no easy task...

If we are going on an adventure that involves getting in the car, I personally like to spend the time packing lunches, organizing our gear and making a plan. This all sounds relatively straightforward until you add in a toddler who painted the entire radius around them with yoghurt, another child, who must have been born a diva and insists on changing their outfit 10 times, and yet another is an aspiring engineer and if you aren't carefully supervising them will deconstruct any appliance or toy until unrepairable. In all that chaos, I still think it is essential to get children outdoors.  Why? 

Here are 3 reasons to prioritise getting children outdoors.

1. "These days, unplugged places are getting hard to find." - Richard Louv

In an increasingly hi-tech world, the need to get outdoors is all the more essential. Although technology is something that connects us all, we all need a break from the constant gaze at a screen.  Children need to feel, touch, and smell the natural world to truly grasp an understanding of it. There is a place for learning through books or screens, but anyone knows that reaching down to smell a flower and feeling the buzz of a bee in your ear makes connections about the natural world to a child's brain.  Unplugging and getting outside to gaze at the distant horizon line is something everyone should do - multiple times a day. ​

2. “There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony and the beauty in nature.” - Maria Montessori

Only just today, as I was gazing out the window, I noticed the morning dew on the grass. My sleepy children came tumbling down the stairs and began their usual lets climb all over mommy until she makes us breakfast routine. I looked out the window and posed this question. "What is that on the grass?" The children suddenly became fully involved in this exploration. They ran outside in their pajamas. They inspected the grass carefully with all their senses- running, gazing and touching the dew as it ran down their fingers.  They reached into their past experiences and came back to me with an answer... 'SNOW!" they declared in a matter of fact way. 'Hmm"... I said, "It has to be 32 degrees for it to be cold enough for snow and it is already 75, I don't think it is snow. They looked at each other confused as they were sure it was frost, having spent their whole lives prior in a colder climate. After some more curious exploring they came back to say it was not frozen... only wet. "Intresting!" I declared.  

Our days should be filled with learning about the natural world... IN the natural world.  Reading about bodies of water can be beneficial, but until your children are out on a lake exploring its fragile ecosystems they can only have ideas. It is when they gain experiences that they really learn and appreciate the beauty, harmony and order of nature. ​

3. "We are all meant to be naturalists, each in his own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things." - Charlotte Mason

It is all well and good to learn about the natural world, but unless it changes the way you interact with it, it is only a mere head exercise. Time in nature should change you. It should leave an impact on your soul that beckons you to care for it and preserve it. Tending a vegetable garden opens up a world of learning, not just about how plants grow but about soil, pollination, composting, pollution, pests, organic and inorganic farming and more. 
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