Hmmmm…what next? It’s summer and the kids and I are going to go to the beach a few times and….ahhh…then what? Okay, so I don’t have a ton of summer plans set up for the kiddos yet. I don’t like to set too formal of a calendar. Summer is a time to hang loose and relax. I am against overscheduling. We are a bit of a group of homebodies over here. I find the best moments with my kids are not in a car running around town (or heaven forbid a craft store) or in a crowd of people at some scheduled event (even though our city offers a zillion great things that offer other opportunities for interactions). I like the moments where we are comfortable in our own pace, enjoying life and watching worms. The giggles, the teachable moments, and the feeling of the family unit are priceless.
I have been trying to spend time reading the book “Last Child In the Woods. Saving our children from nature deficit disorder.” This book proposes that many of today’s children are “suffering” from lack of exposure to anything that is truly nature. Richard Louv provides evidence that many problems such as obesity and attention deficit disorder can be reduced if children are allowed to play in nature. I agree! I agree! I agree!
My childhood was spent in a smallish town by the Lake Michigan Shore. West Olive, MI, to be exact (located between Holland, MI and Grand Haven, MI). I could take a 10 minute bike ride and be at the beach playing in the sand and waves for hours or just cooling off a minute at the end of a hot day. Our backyard was bordered by woods of oaks and pines that blanketed rolling sand dunes. Perfect for spending hours building forts and finding natural treasures. You couldn’t see another home if you looked straight back. Across the street was one house and more of the same terrain. We hopped across the gravel road to pick wild blackberries, lilacs, or pussy willows. I tiptoed (against my mother’s wishes) through icy snowmelt waters that gathered in the gentle dune valleys. We would walk our country block and gather wildflowers for our perfume factory which consisted of a few buckets, a hose, and sassafras stirrers.
Like most parents, I want these fond childhood memories for my children as well. I want them to run further than the end of the driveway without fearing for their life. I want them to fall asleep to the rhythmic Whipoorwill and know that Spring has arrived by the chorus of the Spring Peepers (or at least know what they are). I want them to appreciate how interconnected their own lives are with everything around them. I want them to find the beauty hidden under an old log. I want it all for them. This is my challenge this summer as I enter this season for the first time feeling like they are all old enough to remember what they are experiencing. How do I expose them to true wild nature when our yard has a concrete border? Is a perfectly manicured park and playground nature? Where can we go hiking in the trees instead of strolling down a paved path through planned landscaping on a regular basis?
And this is my challenge you, my dear reader: First, read this book or at least get a handle on what the “gist of it” is. Secondly, please share some ideas of ways to expose your kids to true nature. I will also share with you our summer plans/activities that lend themselves to allowing nature to heal the wounds of stressed out modern life. Let’s keep our kids balanced, happy, and awed.
Look, Mom, Look! 
May 24, 2008 at 3:10 am
I’ve been wanting to read that book too, but I think it would be preachin’ to the choir. I’m sure it would be good, though. If you want a local resource for that kind of thing, look for something by Mary Jane Dockeray. She’s amazing, and it’s all about stuff right around here. There is one book called “Let’s Go Exploring” that I think would be right up your alley.
Check out Provin Trails, it’s right by Robinette’s. Blandford also has nice little unpaved trails, and story hour.
And you have to visit the brain damaged toad in the Animal Hospital there. It makes me laugh every time. You wouldn’t believe you would be able to tell a normally functioning toad from a brain damaged one until you saw the look on this guy’s face. I know that’s mean. Sorry, brain damaged toad.
This summer’s library reading program has something to do with bugs, I forget exactly what it’s called. Get Buggy With Books, or something.
The thought of not having a calendar makes me shaky and sort of sweat. I have to go take Benadryl before I get hives.
May 27, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I’ll step up to that challenge, sounds like a book we’d be behind 100%
How about a bug collection? We had a homemade bug net and one year my brother had to collect 50 different kinds of bugs for a project. It can be hard to find more than a dozen in your yard, so we spent weekends walking around meadows and forests looking for unique bugs. National parks are great places to explore. We always liked building things in nature too, like trying to make a bark wigwam or a beaver dam with just the things you find around you.
The summer reading theme is “Catch the Reading Bug” so it’s a perfect fit too 🙂 (I actually did a post about it).