1. Outdoor Experiences for the Young and Young at Heart
Cheryl Hoogewind
12/5/2018

2. Who am I? Environmental Education State Parks Programs
Environmental Charter School
Calvin College Ecosystem Preserve
My background in elementary education and environmental education showed me that the world was my classroom. The outdoor component of my teaching revived me and sparked discovery.
12/5/2018

3. Why Be Outside? Creativity Learning Renewal Relaxation 12/5/2018
As a child, I wandered the fields behind the house and explored my neighborhood. I could be alone with my thoughts, climb trees, write poems, and sketch what I saw. Being outside provided an unstructured environment in which I could be creative. I learned the difference between prickly raspberry canes and the tall grasses by experience. Even today, I find that I can clear my mind by getting up from my desk and taking a walk in the Preserve. I start praying in the woods, thanking God for the beauty of Creation. I can relax there.
12/5/2018

4. Nature and Health
Evidence that direct exposure to nature is essential for physical and emotional health
Which kids spend time in nature? (Louise Chawla)
Why are some more active? (James Sallis)
Where are they playing? (Robin Moore) From Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from
Nature-Deficit Disorder, 2005.
Louise Chawla – env. Psychology professor from KY State Univ. Is there a geographic or class divide? No longitudinal studies b/c nobody asked the question yr. ago.
James Sallis, director of Active Living Research pgm. For Robert Wood Johnson Foundation noticed that the best predictor of preschool children’s physical activity is being outdoors.
Robin Moore, prof. of landscape architecture at NC state, noticed shrinkage of natural play spaces. “Either indoor spaces have become more attractive or outdoor spaces have become less attractive – or both.” Moore, who is the president of the International Association for the Child’s Right to Play and director of the Natural Learning Initiative, cites such causes as poorly designed outdoor spaces; the rapid growth of domestic air-conditioning since the 1950s; apprehensive parents who keep their children close to home; state-mandated school curricula that do not allow time for study outdoors; and the overly structured lifestyle of many families.
12/5/2018

5. Is There Nature Deficit Disorder?
Richard Louv’s definition:
“…Human costs of alienation from nature, among them:
Diminished use of the senses
Attention difficulties
Higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses”
From Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from
Nature-Deficit Disorder, 2005.
Richard Louv is a columnist from the San Diego Union-Tribune and an author of 7 books about family, nature, and community.
NDD is not a clinical or scientific term, just one factor that aggravates attentional difficulties.
I’m not here to answer this question, but I think it brings up some interesting questions. Are we depriving ourselves of the healing benefits of God’s creation? Are we ignoring the general revelation God gives us through His Creation? What are we missing when we do not spend time outdoors?
12/5/2018

6. What’s Keeping Us Inside?
Electronics
Busyness
Organized activities
More pavement
Do kids still spend time outside?
Free time vs. organized activities
What impact does this have?
12/5/2018

7. What Can We Do? Schedule time for renewal
Share discoveries with others
Try some simple activities
12/5/2018

8. Activity Ideas Recipe for a Forest p. 58 Meet a Tree p. 28
Renga Poetry
Caterpillar Walk p. 46
Bat & Moth p. 108
Sounds & Colors p
Activities from Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell, 1998.
Recipe for a Forest before we head outside – notecards and pencils
Meet a Tree along south side of building or by the front circle
Renga poetry – south field -- has one or two lines contributed by each person in the circle to make a complete poem. It is completely in the moment and observing what is all around.
Caterpillar Walk for sensory awareness – blindfolds and hands on shoulders as they walk; listen, smell and feel interesting things along the way; take blindfolds off and find way back.
Bat & Moth – blindfold for bat; use hearing for echolocation to find moth in middle of circle
Sounds & Colors – count colors and sounds in a certain area
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9. What Else Can We Do? Start a collection Play outside regularly
Plant a garden
Take walks
Notice God’s creation
12/5/2018

10. Great Resources
Joseph Cornell’s books Sharing Nature with Children, 1998 Listening to Nature, 1987
Project Learning Tree
Project Wild
Ranger Rick’s Nature Scopes
Hands-On Nature ed. by Jenepher Lingelbach
Nature’s Art Box by Laura C. Martin
12/5/2018