Take Your Kids Outside

The biology teacher next door to me has a fantastic project in which students are assigned to groups and are asked to grow food plants that will provide 1500 calories.  The learning that happens in this project goes so far beyond the biology that it's hard to describe how great it is.  To see plants go from seeds in the bare dirt to bean poles over five feet tall gives a feeling of accomplishment, and those whose plants are less vigorous learn an appreciation for how difficult farming is.

What happens on the first day of this project each year is interesting.  Students come down the hall and say, "Aggh, what is that smell?"  They come to me and say, "How are you standing next to this room?  It smells terrible."  The first time it happened, I didn't understand what they were talking about.  Nothing smelled bad to me.  After I finally figured out that the smell was dirt, I realized the problem.

Our kids don't know what outside smells like.

They didn't grow up rolling down a grassy hill.  They didn't make mudpies on the playground.  They didn't get buried in the sand.  Their brother didn't shove a handful of grass in their mouths.  They didn't sit on a rock in the middle of a stream and poke at the dirt with a stick.  They didn't rake leaves and then dive in them, throwing them over their heads.  Someone told them these things were too dangerous or dirty for them to do.  They are rarely truly outside.

Before you tell me how your child is outside a lot because they play soccer, ask yourself if that is truly outside.  I mean, I know it is under the sun, but it is still a very human-planned place that is usually well graded, perfectly mowed, and surrounded by a fence in order to protect them from nature.  I know a lot of kids are at the pool all summer.  Again, I say, this isn't really outside.  Perfectly constructed concrete surfaces with deck chairs surrounding chlorinated or salt water pools are hardly nature.  Every time a kid goes outside, we slather them in sunscreen and/or bug spray to protect them from outside.

It's no wonder our students think that dirt smells horrible while the adults in the building don't understand the problem.  To us (I'm speaking as a 41-year-old), outside smelled like dirt and grass and water from the hose.  To them, outside smells like bug spray, sunscreen, and chlorine (and of course, hand sanitizer if, God forbid, they actually do touch some nature).  They have no idea what outside actually smells like.

Human beings were designed to live outside.  There wasn't a house in the Garden of Eden (or for a pretty long time afterward).  Even when people lived in caves, they spent most of their days outdoors.  Now, according to the National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS), conducted by the EPA, humans spend 90% of their time inside. 

In honor of National Parks Week, I implore you to take your kids outside for real this spring or summer.  If you can make it to an actual national park, here are my best recommendations.  If you don't want to go to the places on my list, the Parks Service website is quite helpful for a government site.

If you can't get to one of these wonderfully preserved places, you can probably find a state park in your area or a local greenway.  If none of that is available, just go outside your house, choose a direction, and walk in it.  Look at trees and plants and squirrels along the way.  Watch some birds.  Dig a hole in the dirt (and don't wash your hands until you get back home).  Don't go back inside as soon as you get thirsty; drink from the garden hose (It actually tastes different).  Examine a caterpillar; blow bubbles; watch a bug; run in the sprinkler; see if you can find a lizard; catch a firefly; literally stop and smell the roses.

Just spend some time outside.