Jennifer Ward - Lets Go Outside!: Outdoor Activities and Projects to Get You and Your Kids Closer to Nature

ABOUT THE BOOK

Engage your child in outdoor play, nature outings, and environmental explorations. Chase and be chased in a game of capture the flag. Use the power of the sun to craft your own shadow prints. Explore the stars on a late night walk. Create a field guide to your neighborhood. Through 52 ideassome classic and some newLets Go Outside! offers a range of activities perfect for children ages 8 to 12. Whether youre in the country, the city, or anywhere in between, this book is sure to help you get outsideand run, dance, hike, or campwith your preteen.

Sections of the book include:

• Back to Basics: Reconnecting with twists on traditional games and activities such as Capture the Flag
• Making the Ordinary Extraordinary: Picnics, doing homework outdoors, and socializing opportunities outdoors
• Outdoor Adventures: Canoeing, biking, and camping
• Environmental Experiments: Ways to explore how nature works

JENNIFER WARD is the author of numerous acclaimed parenting books and books for children, inspired by nature. She lives in southern Illinois with her daughter, their dog, Bandit, and a cat they call Jaz. When not writing, Ward is unplugged and outdoors, where youll find her canoeing, jogging, gardening, bird watching, or barefoot and cloud gazing.

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lets go

outside!

Outdoor Activities and Projects to Get You and Your Kids Closer to Nature

Jennifer Ward

Illustrations by Susie Ghahremani

BOSTON & LONDON 2011

PUBLISHERS NOTE: All participants in the activities in this book must assume responsibility for their own action and safety. Although this is a guidebook, the recommendations in the activities in this book cannot replace common sense and sound judgment. The activities in this book are intended to be performed under adult supervision. The author and publisher disclaim liability for any injury that may occur from engaging in activities in this book.

ROOST BOOKS

An imprint of Shambhala Publications, Inc.

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2009 by Jennifer Ward. Illustrations 2009 by Susie Ghahremani.

Cover photograph Getty Images

Cover design by Gopa & Ted2, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ward, Jennifer, 1963

Lets go outside!: outdoor activities and projects to get you and your kids closer to nature/Jennifer Ward; illustrations by Susie Ghahremani.1st ed.

p. cm.

eISBN 978-0-8348-2250-4

ISBN 978-1-59030-698-7 (pbk.: alk. paper)

1. Outdoor recreation for childrenJuvenile literature. 2. Outdoor gamesJuvenile literature. I. Ghahremani, Susie, ill. II. Title.

GV191.62.W37 2009

796.083dc22

2008051946

Lets go outside!

When I was a child, spending time outdoors was a natural and integral part of my existence. Catching fireflies, playing tag, digging in dirt all the way to China, building forts, owning the streets of the neighborhood on my bicycle, and not pedaling home until the sun set. You remember doing those things as a child too, right?

Fast-forward to todays superbusy society, and its a totally different scene. We are plugged in, strapped for time, and racing through the busyness of each day. Its a challenge to daydream as we look out the window, let alone spend time enjoying the outdoors. Its also a fact that our children tend to mirror the very same lack of experience with the outdoors as we do.

Today, the notion of going out to play, hike, fish, or stargaze is a foreign concept to a lot of young people. According to the Kaiser Foundation (Washington Post, June 2007), the average child spends six hours a day watching television, playing video games, and/or using a computer. A University of Maryland study by sociologist Sandra Hofferth, PhD, shows that the participation of children between ages nine and twelve in activities such as hiking, fishing, camping, and gardening declined by 50 percent between 1997 and 2003. A 50 percent decline in six years! That is a staggering statistic. Nature is increasingly an abstraction you watch on the Nature Channel, said Richard Louv, the author of the book Last Child in the Woods, an account of how children are slowly disconnecting from nature.

The good news is that there is a growing movement to get our kids back outdoors. Governments, communities, organizations, and parents are working together to create a shift to immerse children in and help them reconnect with nature, and thats a wonderful thing! Children of all ages need an organic, real connection to the natural world. They should not have to think of nature as something to be attained or that is experienced on a television screen. Rather, it should be integral to how they live on a daily basis. As parents and role models, we need to continue to facilitate the shift in the culture of todays kids.

Spending time outdoors is therapy for childrenand available for free. Free play in a natural setting is good for a childs mental and physical health. In addition, studies have shown that when children have a true connection to nature, their creativity improves, problem-solving skills increase, self-esteem goes up, and compassion and understanding evolve. And childhood participation with the outdoor world may set them on a course to facilitate stewardship of the planet and environmentalism as they grow into adulthood.

In my last book, I Love Dirt! I created a reference of activities focusing on nature for young children aged four to eight. But as children get older, its so importantand increasingly difficult!to keep them engaged in nature. Especially as their lives begin to get busier, they become more independent, and technology becomes more a part of their daily routine. For us parents, preteens present a particular challenge when it comes to engaging them with nature.

Most preteens are aware of natures existence on a surface level but do not take advantage of what the outdoors offers. Its easy to learn about the force and physics of wind through the use of the Internet or a book, but it is a completely different experience to feel the force and physics of wind for yourself with a kite in hand. Which type of activity do you believe offers a deeper appreciation and a more meaningful comprehension?

Lets Go Outside! was created for preteens and the grown-ups in their lives, offering a menu of activities meant to inspire outside adventure. It offers activities for every childs unique strengths, appealing to a broad level of personalities and interests so that everyone from the quiet brainiac to the boisterous zany-ac can find a way to get outside. But most important, it was created for youthe parent and role modelwho facilitates, shapes, and guides the minds and spirits of our future generations. So go outside. Explore. And have fun!