Today’s youth suffer from an alarmingly limited access or interest
to the natural world.We can look at the alarming 18 percent obesity rate
of children alone and realize physical activity and access to the
outdoors have been drastically altered
(CDC, 2010).
This change in activity has been precipitated by any number of things,
including technology, food additives, and the fear most parents have of
allowing their children to play outside unsupervised, due to the
unlikely possibility of harm and abduction.
Activity has also been modified by the number of hours young people
spend in front of screens — an average of seven and a half hours a day.
Sadly, our time spent outdoors has decreased by 50 percent in the last
two decades, and the benefits of nature and the outdoors go well beyond
physical well-being. Nature supports cognitive, psychological,
spiritual, and social well-being.
(Keniger, Gaston, Irvine, Fuller, 2013.) Direct experience in nature is important to a child’s intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, and physical development
(Kellert, 2005).
Most traditional summer camps are based outside, and require that
children explore, enjoy, and resiliently persevere in the elements! At
my camp, when parents ask,“What do you do when it rains?” I answer first
that we call it “Liquid Sunshine,” and that often we’ll actually sing,
dance, and jump in puddles in the rain — good old-fashioned fun, that
kids thoroughly enjoy!
