16 Sep 2008
What do you remember doing outdoors as a child? For most adults, the list includes playing in creeks, wandering in the woods, watching the stars, and catching frogs. For many children today, however, going outside only includes organized sports. Gone are the days of children "staying outside until the streetlights come on" (my mother's admonition during the summer). I always dreaded September, when the hours of daylight became shorter and the streetlights came on earlier, and I was forced to go inside.
Now September has a new persona -- national Take A Child Outside Week, which takes place on Sept. 24-30. During that week parents, grandparents, teachers and other caregivers are encouraged to make a pledge to take a child outside and explore the natural world. There are no specific guidelines about what to do, where to go, or how long to stay, -- it's simply an opportunity to get outdoors. Visit the Take A Child Outside website and make your pledge, then come back and post a description of your experience.
As the week progresses you can find out what other children are doing in the outdoors by reading their posts. There are also more than 200 partner organizations that offer places to go and specific programs during the week, as well as easy hands-on outdoor activities for all age ranges.
It is tough to believe that we really need a week dedicated to getting kids outdoors, but I know that we do. Take A Child Outside week is a chance to follow-up on your good intentions to spend time outdoors. One participant wrote after last year:
"The project was valuable to me for two reasons. The first was that it inspired me to spend more time with my child in nature. My goal is to take my son on a nature hike or some other outdoor experience several times a week, but it is so easy to get caught up in life's business and find that it has been weeks since we've refreshed ourselves through some quality time spent in nature. That week, we went on three nature hikes -- two of our old favorites, and one that I had always meant to go to but had never gotten around to actually going. So thanks to Take A Child Outside week, we discovered another wonderful place to go for our nature experiences!
The second value for me, however, was establishing a sense of community among those of us who are dedicated to doing this with our children through the mapping component. It was fun to try to navigate through the map and put a marker where we had hiked. We both also enjoyed seeing the marks on the map of the other people who were exploring nature that week. It was a great example of using technology to promote completely non-technological experiences -- a coming-together of the two worlds that today's families must deal with." (Carol Cross)
So although the hours of daylight are decreasing, the number of children exploring the natural world should be on the rise. The hope is that one day EVERY week will be a week to "take a child outside."
 Liz Baird is Director of School Programs for the North Carolina Museum
of Natural Sciences. In addition to helping reconnect children and
nature, Liz and her staff provide outstanding resources for teachers and
students across the state. |
