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  • Home
  • Raising Outdoor Kids
    • Cooking & Crafting

      How to Make Birdseed Ornaments for Wild…

      November 27, 2020

      Raising Outdoor Kids

      Beautiful Spring Picture Books for Children

      March 28, 2020

      Raising Outdoor Kids

      Playing in Nature Protects Our Children During…

      March 17, 2020

      Raising Outdoor Kids

      50+ Spring Nature Activities for Kids of…

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      How to Make a Willow Nature Crown…

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      Raising Outdoor Kids

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      A Beginner’s Guide to Pond Dipping with…

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    • All Alberta British Columbia Lower Mainland Northern Interior Okanagan
      British Columbia

      Hiking and Camping with Kids at Kokanee…

      July 30, 2018

      Okanagan

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      December 1, 2017

      British Columbia

      Family-Friendly Adventures on BC’s Sunshine Coast

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      British Columbia

      A National Park Reserve in the South…

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      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

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      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

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      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

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      Rock Climbing with Kids in Jasper National…

      August 8, 2017

      Alberta

      Family Adventures in Jasper National Park: 10…

      July 26, 2017

      Alberta

      Shaw’s Point Resort

      August 6, 2015

      Alberta

      Apiaries in Northern Alberta

      August 5, 2015

      Alberta

      St. Isidore, Alberta

      August 4, 2015

      Alberta

      The Hoodoos

      July 29, 2015

      Alberta

      Royal Tyrrell Museum

      July 28, 2015

      Alberta

      Bow Valley Campground

      July 27, 2015

      British Columbia

      Hiking and Camping with Kids at Kokanee…

      July 30, 2018

      British Columbia

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      December 1, 2017

      British Columbia

      Family-Friendly Adventures on BC’s Sunshine Coast

      November 8, 2017

      British Columbia

      A National Park Reserve in the South…

      November 3, 2017

      British Columbia

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      November 1, 2017

      British Columbia

      Hiking Spion Kop with Kids in Lake…

      October 10, 2017

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      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

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      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

      August 30, 2017

      Lower Mainland

      Visiting the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in…

      March 7, 2017

      Lower Mainland

      Outdoor Family Adventures in Metro Vancouver

      August 2, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      Biking the Stanley Park Seawall

      July 27, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      Exploring Deep Cove and Quarry Rock Trail

      July 25, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      Visiting Queen Elizabeth Park

      July 22, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      Biking Through Pacific Spirit Regional Park

      July 20, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      Exploring Lynn Canyon Park

      July 18, 2016

      Lower Mainland

      1001 Steps to the Beach

      April 19, 2014

      Northern Interior

      Life at Ness Lake

      September 1, 2016

      Northern Interior

      McMillan Creek Regional Park

      October 8, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Ferguson Lake Nature Reserve

      October 6, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Eskers Provincial Park

      October 5, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Autumn in Northern British Columbia

      September 28, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Wildflowers in Northern British Columbia

      June 6, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Visiting Barkerville Historic Town

      June 2, 2015

      Northern Interior

      Travelling North

      June 19, 2013

      Okanagan

      More to Explore in the Okanagan Valley:…

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      A National Park Reserve in the South…

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Backwoods Mama

Raising Outdoor Kids

5 Reasons Why I’m Raising Outdoor Kids

January 24, 2018

A generation or two ago all parents were raising outdoor kids. Kids congregated in forests, parks, streets and backyards to play for hours on end only to be called in for supper or bed. As a child, I dreaded the inevitable supper call and would hide in my tree fort to outside just a little longer. Over time our culture has shifted and kids started spending less and less time outside, and now kids spend the majority of the day indoors.1

As parents we want what’s best for our children. We want to keep our kids safe, healthy and happy and help them grow up to be confident and well adjusted adults. We go above and beyond for our kids, often spending countless hours driving them to extracurricular activities each week, but in our efforts to give our kids more they often miss out on one important thing: getting outside.

5 Reasons Why I’m Raising Outdoor Kids

1. Outdoor kids are healthier.

“Let’s go outside and get some Vitamin N (Nature)” I tell my kids cheerily. “Why?” whines my youngest, “I don’t want to!” This is a regular conversation in our home. “You have to keep your body healthy” pipes in my daughter. I smile at her an give her a double thumbs up.

When kids go outside they play, run, climb and jump, and they do these things much more than they would inside. This is even true for physical education (PE) classes in school; kids move more when PE is outside.2 Outdoor play keeps kids moving and helps them maintain healthier body weight which prevents chronic health issues in childhood and even into adulthood. Being outside also helps their bodies can harness more Vitamin D from the sun to help their bones grow strong. All that dirt is beneficial too! It helps strengthen children’s immune systems, preventing issues like allergies and asthma3 . And there’s more, kids that spend time outdoors have better eyesight.4

2. Outdoor kids are happier.

The moment my kids step outside there’s a shift in the way they play. They are free to to be authentically themselves, whether that’s loud or quiet, busy or still, curious or bored, and it’s not just my kids that experience this shift. It’s been shown through research that kids start feeling relaxed within minutes of being outside around nature.5  The freedom to play outside also helps children feel less stressed, anxious and depressed.

3. Outdoor kids are stronger.

My neighbour stopped by recently and commented on how my kids were climbing everything: trees, fences, even brick retaining walls. I braced myself, expecting to be scolded, and then with a chuckle he admitted “they’re strong! my old joints can’t do that anymore”. Children that play outside on a regular basis are physically stronger. Walking along fallen logs, climbing trees, picking flowers, running up rocky hills, biking around the block and digging holes builds muscle, coordination and balance.

4. Outdoor kids are more intelligent.

Intelligence is a broad term and has many forms. Regardless, it’s becoming known that regular outdoor play, especially in nature, boosts children’s brain development in many ways. While playing outside children encounter challenges and need to find ways of solving them. This boosts their problem solving skills and creativity. This is especially true if kids  are engaging in free outdoor play in nature with minimal adult intervention (the best kind of play!). Time outside also improves children’s memory, concentration and attention span,5 as well as children’s emotional and social intelligence.6 

5. Outdoor kids are environmentalists.

In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught. -Baba Dioum

“Mama look at this litter on the beach, it’s so sad” sighs my daughter. “Why do people litter?”, she asks as she picks up plastic bottle from the sand. When children spend time outdoors they become curious about nature. What is that flower? Will poison ivy actually make me itchy? Why is that rock red? Why is there an empty bottle here? Their questions lead to answers and a better understanding of our natural world. With this knowledge they start to want to care for nature and that is how a young environmentalist is born.

Sign-Up for the Guide to Raising Outdoor Kids (Newsletter).

Raising Outdoor Kids Books and Resources

Books

  • Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children by Angela Hanscom
  • Before They’re Gone: A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks by Michael Lanza
  • Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education by David Sobel
  • Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids by Rebecca Cohen
  • Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life by Peter Gray
  • Home Grown: Adventures in Parenting off the Beaten Path, Unschooling, and Reconnecting withthe Natural World by Ben Hewitt
  • How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature by Scott Sampson
  • Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
  • Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World by Dr Marie-Claire Arrieta and Dr B Brett Finlay
  • Mud Kitchen in a Day: How to Quickly Get Your Kids Outside, Playing in the Dirt, & Enjoying Creative Play by Jason Runkel Sperling
  • Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell
  • The Backyard Play Revolution: How to Engage Kids in Simple, Inexpensive Outdoor Play and Increase Child Health and Motor/Sensory Development by Jason Runkel Sperling
  • The Green Hour: A Daily Dose of Nature for Happier, Healthier, Smarter Kids by Todd Christopher
  • There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids by Linda Åkeson McGurk.
  • UNPLUGGED: 15 Steps to Disconnect from Technology and Reconnect with Nature, Yourself, Friends, and Family by Jason Runkel Sperling
  • Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life by Richard Louv
  • Your Brain On Nature by Eva M. Selhub

Resources

  • Get Back Outside: a four-week program that gets kids, families and classrooms of students to learn about environmental issues and make a superhero difference.
  • Hike It Baby: a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting families to one another and getting them outside with a focus on children from birth to school age. Look for a branch near you.
  • Child and Nature Alliance: forest and nature schools across Canada.
  • Forest School and Forest School Association (UK): education, research and locations .
  • Blog Post: Ultimate Guide to Forest Kindergarten Schools in the US.
  • Young Naturalist Clubs/Nature Kids Clubs (Canada: BC, AB, NS)

Raising Outdoor Kids Facebook Group

Looking for more ideas, support and inspiration for raising outdoor kids? Come are join our new Facebook community: Raising Outdoor Kids.

References

  1. The 2015 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth.
  2. Assessment of physical activity levels of 3rd and 4th grade children using pedometers during physical education class.
  3. Exposing kids to dirt may prevent conditions like asthma, says UBC researcher.
  4. The Association between Time Spent Outdoors and Myopia in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
  5. The Power of Outdoor Play and Play in Natural Environments.
  6. Discovering Nature: The Benefits of Teaching Outside of the Classroom.

Disclaimer: This page contains Amazon Affiliates links and I may earn a small commission from your purchases made through them. 

5 Reasons Why I’m Raising Outdoor Kids was last modified: November 26th, 2020 by Josée
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8 comments

Alice McCrea January 25, 2018 at 8:39 pm

Bravo josee. I enjoyed reading your 5 reasons why you spend much time outdoors. Very important. Love. AliceAlice

Reply
Mar January 29, 2018 at 4:46 am

This post makes my heart sing 🙂 I love the list of books you provided as well.

Reply
Rachel January 29, 2018 at 8:19 pm

It’s not on your list but I’m sure you’d enjoy giving a look at a book called “Lagom” its a Swedish word that doesn’t have an exact translation to english but roughly means – “not too much, not too little”

Reply
Josée January 29, 2018 at 9:02 pm

That’s a great book! My mom received it as a Christmas gift and I borrowed it from her.

Reply
Kelcey Murdoch January 31, 2018 at 9:52 pm

I love everything about this post! If you could only refer one of those books, which would be your top pick? Trying to decide which to read!

Reply
Josée February 1, 2018 at 8:47 am

Thank you Kelcey! I would recommend reading this book: https://www.backwoodsmama.com/2018/01/theres-no-such-thing-as-bad-weather-book-review-giveaway.html. It’s a great place to start. The book itself is fun and approachable to read. Let me know how you like it.

Reply
A speck in time February 3, 2018 at 9:10 am

Well written article, outdoors build a holistic personality of our kids, making them resilient and ability to connect. You summed up it very nicely. Not only outdoor does good to our future generation, it is equally powerful for us as well.

Reply
Kathy Kashner February 14, 2018 at 9:47 am

Hello! I am an early childhood consultant in the state of PA. I help coach programs to higher levels. One standard many programs struggle with is getting children OUTDOORS! Our QRIS standard states that children should be outside if the weather is between 25-90 (taking into consideration wind chill and heat index). Do you have any resources that support this? The pushback is mostly from THE PARENTS of the children in the child care center (NOT THE STAFF). I want to be able to give them a resource that supports that A) Children can handle this! and B) the payout is HUGE! They all agree that outdoors is necessary..but when it drops below 40, 35, or (GASP) 30-they are a strong “NO, mother knows best” kind of attitude. Your help is greatly appreciated!

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