The Controversy and Conversation

 Leave No Child Inside-Nature Education and Outdoor Play

The Narrative-the Controversy and Conversation

Abstract

The narrative addresses the importance of nature and outdoor play in the lives of young children and its values and benefits for the physical, cognitive, social-emotional well-being of young children. Specifically the narrative examines the multiple points of view about children’s nature and outdoor play by providing results focusing on (a) the various reasons why outdoor play are restricted, (b) the impact of digital toys and media, (c) children’s innate biological tendency  to interact with nature and the positive impacts of such interactions and connections, (d) recognizing naturalist intelligence and fostering naturalist intelligence, (e) the values and benefits of playing in nature and outdoors, (f) creating a nature playground and recommendation for educators. The narrative concludes by recommending effective strategies, including, implications for practice in the early childhood education field, and need for future research. 

 Leave No Child Inside-Nature Education and Outdoor Play

The Narrative-the Controversy and Conversation

“The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need” (Richard Louv, 2012)

Introduction

            A growing concern with children’s lack of meaningful connection with nature has risen in recent years. Many people believe that children today are nature-deprived. It is an issue that is worthy of serious consideration.

Young children are becoming increasingly separated from the natural world as their access to the outdoors diminishes. The children are over-scheduled for lessons after lessons.  Our advanced technological virtual world has been keeping our young children inside their rooms.

Overview of the Problems

Today’s indoor children are less physically fit, more likely suffer from childhood  obesity, diabetes, and asthma,  less able to concentrate, less able to relate to peers and adults, less able to be effective in the classroom, lack of imagination and creativity, more aggressive behavior and a higher likelihood of personal isolation.

In today’s world, children are disconnected from the natural world. They see nature as abstractive and distance from the real world.  Play and recess have restricted in some schools. Many schools have no access to open nature area. Life is structured and scheduled and parents prepare for college from preschool. Children spend more time in virtual world with games and screen time. Children’s play has become more structured lessons and sports, lacking of spontaneity, freedom, and positive connection to the real world. 

Definition of Terms

Nature-Deficit Disorder: Coined by Richard Louv to describe the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illness (Louv, 2005. p. 36).

Biophilia Hypothesis: Coined by Edward. O. Wilson (1984), the noteworthy Pulitzer Prize winning evolutionary biologist at Harvard University proposed the Biophilia hypothesis in 1979 (Wilson 1995), which argues that there is a fundamental, genetically-based human need to connect with other forms of life (Wilson, 1995, p.360).

Questions

            Why do people discourage their children play outdoor?  What is bugging parents?  What restricts children’s access to creative play and to the outdoors? What we have missed and how? How much time do young children spend in nature? How vital nature and outdoor play is? How can this situation be rectified? How could we incorporate the nature and outdoor elements into our school curriculum?

Research shows that most people make excuses by saying the busy daily schedules, spaces are limited, after 9.11, people are in a state of fear, and parents believed "Strangers dangerous" and the media explore it enlarge the issues. Some people blamed technology, digital media, and video games. The athletic cultural of the U.S. are reasons for parents to keep their children away from nature.  

Nature vs. Nurture, Screen vs. Stream, Adult Driven vs. Child Driven, Wireless BlackBerrys vs. Wild Black Berries

The digital toys and media bring significant challenges to early childhood education. Children today are literally surrounded by digital technology. A recent survey revealed that 70% of 4-6 year-olds in the United States had used a computer, averaging more than one hour per day. Young children also spend considerable time playing with computerized toys (Johnson & Christie, 2009)

Many scholars have described the present generation as the iGeneration. The virtual and electronic world has such impacts on today’s iKids. Educators and parents are faced with an unprecedented new educational challenge. We must wake up to the cold reality that our children are now spending an average of seven hours and 38 minutes per day, 53 hours per week indoors (Kaiser Family Foundation), using electronic media such as television, iphone, ipod,  and playing video games.  Outdoor time, especially time in natural surroundings has literally demised. The “Indoor childhood” phenomena have many negative impacts on our children’s long term physical, emotional, and educational development.

Children have less opportunity spend in natural places than we did two decades ago. We noted that time outside school was increasingly filled with adult-organized activities and indoor screen time. Children no longer had the space or opportunity to organize their own play or discover their own secret spaces. In Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv (2005) coined the term Nature-Deficit Disorder to describe the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illness (p. 36).

The Vital Importance of Open-Ended Creative Play and Constructive Play

Open-ended creative play is disappearing from children’s lives because of unsafe neighborhoods that keep children indoors; parents’ fear of “stranger danger,” injuries and allergies; the seductiveness of electronic games and entertainment; an increase in teacher-led instruction in preschool that is pushing child-initiated learning and exploration out of the classroom; and children’s diminishing access to woods, fields, parks, and other natural wild play spaces.

Constructive play is learning outdoors. This kind of play teaches children important skills, develops critical cognitive concepts, and is their favorite kind of play on the outside playground, however, this kind of play is often least available for children for a variety of reasons.

Discussions- How Can This Situation Be Rectified?

One partial solution is to give children more time outdoors to play and learn. It is necessary for a child to be healthy and creative, to care about nature and animals, ultimately, to obtain a good education and a happy childhood. 

Children need natural space and natural materials, and most importantly, unrushed time tin nature to be healthy people. Nature and outdoors offer concrete and authentic learning experiences. Nature education advocate, author Richard Louv says, “We should Leave No Child Inside and not No Child Left Behind" (Louv, 2005).  

Children are naturally curious, born with a sense of wonder and discovery, and passionate about their surroundings.

Edward. O. Wilson (1984), the noteworthy Pulitzer Prize winning evolutionary biologist at Harvard University proposed the Biophilia Hypothesis in 1979 (Wilson, 1995), which argues that there is a fundamental, genetically-based human need to connect with other forms of life (Wilson, 1995. p.360). He defines Biophilia as "The urge to affiliate with other forms of life". Wilson’s Biophilia theory emphasized the desire for humans to interact with nature and the positive impacts of such interacts and connections.

The Values of Nature and Outdoor Play

Researches show that children who play outside are more physically active, more creative in their play, less aggressive and show better concentration (Burdette and Whitaker, 2005; Ginsburg et al., 2007). Young children are naturally active. Outdoor and nature play is the essential work of childhood. In nature and outdoor creative play, children use all their senses, learn to socialize and negotiate with peers, and learn to appreciate life and environment, learning to love the earth and each other, and have their private life in nature with freedom. The values of play are universally accepted within the world of early childhood education.  Play allows children to develop a sense of belonging, improves their interpersonal skills, and develops their learning capabilities. Play can help to prevent obesity, can increase resilience, and can help children to feel more confident and independent. Play has particular value to children at times of stress or changes in their lives. 

Howard Gardner -Naturalist Intelligence

Howard Gardner reframed a new kind of intelligence called Naturalist Intelligence in his book Intelligence Reframed, Multiple Intelligences for the 21th Century. Naturalist Intelligence describes the children who have special capability and perception about natural environment. The characteristics of a child who may have a strong naturalist intelligence are  have keen sensory skills, including sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch; Readily use heightened sensory skills to notice and categories things from the natural world; Like to be outside or like outside activities like gardening, nature walks, or field trips geared toward observing nature or natural phenomena; Easily notice patterns from their surroundings like differences similarities and anomalies; Are interested in and care about plants and animals; Notice things in the environment others often notices (Gardner, 2000). Children are intelligent in many ways. We need to encourage a diverse intelligence among young children.  Naturalist Intelligence needs to be identified, recognized, valued, encouraged, and nurtured.

Children benefit profoundly from regular interactions with nature and play outside of their house. Children need nature. Nature provides resource to children, the confidence of the children raised with nature. Nature offers concrete and authentic learning experiences. Nature can provoke a child’s curiosity and desire to investigate and to develop a diverse relationship with earth, natural world, animals, creatures, plants, peers, adults. Nature is a place for developing community and a place for invite and uncovers diversity.

In the book of Nature Principle Richard Louv states that “The future will belong to the nature-smart—those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need” (2012).

Conclusions and Recommendations- Planting and Growing a Green Generation

There is an urgent need for letting the children play outdoors and connect with the natural world.  Children have an innate biological tendency to connect with the Mother Nature.  We need a balance to our academically and technologically demanding world.  We are responsible for giving the children a happy, healthy, and playful childhood.

Nature and outdoors are spaces can be changed and used in an imaginative way and places for doing, thinking, wondering, discovering, feeling, and being. It is a place where teachers can response to child-initiated interaction and build on children’s interests and therefore rich learning can take place. In recent years, a growing influence of the Italian Reggio Emilia early childhood educational approach implying an increasing interest in space and architecture in early childhood settings.

Young children are active learners. Their best learning occurs with hands-on, interactive play and discovery. They must be given developmentally appropriate opportunities to learn about the natural world (White & Stoecklin, 2008). Therefore, helping and supporting children to develop a loving relationship the natural world is the priority. Provide a nature playground and encourage outdoor play are vital to young children's healthy development. Nature explore classroom projects, incorporating natural elements and using natural materials and loose parts, planting and growing a garden, having recess,  greening  the school ground, learning about  nature and outdoors, and finding time to walk to school are ways to help children reconnect with nature. We need to provide and create a nature playground and outdoor space for children’s cognitive engagement as well as their physical and social development.  

Together, we bring a true happy, healthy, and joyful childhood to young children. Let the children play, let them play in nature and outdoors, let them be child, let them be little, and let them run, let them be free, and let them wonder and discover, and let them fly… 

References

Gardner, H. (2000). Intelligence Reframed, Multiple Intelligences for the 21th Century.

           Basic Books.

Goodenough, E. (2003). Secret Spaces of Childhood. University of Michigan Press.

Louv, R. (2005).  Last Child in the Woods.  New York, NY: Algonquin.

Louv, R. (2011). Nature Principle. Algonquin Books.

Johnson, James, & James F. Christie. (2009). Play and Digital Media. Computer in the Schools,                    

           (26), 284-289. Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

White, R., & Stoeckin, V. (2008). Nurturing Children’s Biophilia: Developmentally Appropriate       

          Environmental Education for Young Children. White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group.

Wilson, E. O. (1984).  Biophilia. Harvard University Press.

Satistics Retrived May 18, 2012, from Frankwbaker website,  http://www.frankwbaker.com/mediause.htm