Lure the Kids Outdoors
Tuesday January 18th, 2011
Lure the kids outdoors
By Amber Veverka
Special to the Observer
Posted: Friday, Jan. 07, 2011
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Peyton Lee put herself through a work out in the Nature Explore Zone at Reedy Creek Nature Preserve in November. The Nature Explorer Zone is based on the Natural Learning Initiative movement pioneered by Robin Moore of N.C. State. John D. Simmons -
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It doesn’t take anything fancy to create backyard fun: An old sheet makes a good covering for a fort. AMBER VERVERKA PHOTO
The new year is a great chance to look over the yard and think about what to change. For a lot of people, that might mean sprucing up a flower bed or upgrading a patio grill. For D.I. von Briesen, it probably will mean constructing connecting planks between backyard trees or tweaking the family’s zip line.
The east Charlotte father of five already has a mulch pile his kids snowboard on and has left a fallen tree in the yard for them to explore. So encouraging outdoor exploration is nothing new to him.
“We suffer from the same thing other families do,“ said von Briesen, who teaches information technology at Central Piedmont Community College. “If you let (kids) stay on the computer, they will.“ But he said leaving areas of the family’s yard natural and giving the kids adventurous ways to enjoy it entice everyone outside.
More than ever, kids need contact with nature, and there’s no better place to start than their own yards, says Robin Moore, landscape architecture at N.C. State University and director of The Natural Learning Initiative. Moore is one of the speakers at a workshop coming in March, “Designing Natural Play Areas,“ held by Mecklenburg Park & Recreation and aimed at educators and other child-development professionals.
“We’re trying to get kids really enthusiastic about being outdoors, conversant with the natural environment, and growing up with the understanding that it’s not a scary place,“ said Moore. A national movement, sparked by Richard Louv’s book, “Last Child in the Woods,“ has begun to turn playgrounds and parks into places with more open-ended discovery. Instead of only having play equipment and pre-fab castles, for instance, the new spaces might have stumps to jump on, rocks to scramble over and bamboo poles for building forts.
How can parents include some of these nature-play ideas in their own yards this year? Moore offered these tips:
Set aside a part of the yard with shrubs or a low picket fence that’s just for kids. Manicured yards may look nice to adults, but they are a fairly sterile environment for children’s play.
If your yard doesn’t already have them, provide a few interesting natural materials: Long sticks, a pile of sand or even dirt. An old sheet makes a good covering for a fort. It’s OK to include weather-resistant large-scale plastic blocks. Just don’t make the outside look too much like the inside.
Give kids age-appropriate, real tools, such as metal hand shovels.
Remember that kids are more engaged with the outdoors if there are what Moore calls “loose parts” they can manipulate and change. How many of us have seen the expensive playhouse sit empty while the kids create their own hideout under the azaleas?
Other ideas: Plant host plants for butterflies, such as milkweed for monarchs. A little unkempt brush may provide a home for turtles or chipmunks.
Let your kids help with planting native bushes and trees (check out Mecklenburg County’s annual native tree sale Jan. 21-22. Call 311 for more information). Partially bury wide stumps in the soil for jumping mazes. Add a water feature to attract birds and amphibians. Encourage outdoor art: painting on rocks, pressing flowers, making plaster casts of animal tracks or spore prints from mushrooms.
Von Briesen plans to plant blackberries in his yard: Giving children something they can pick and eat on their own is a way to engage their senses.
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/01/07/1960927/lure-the-kids-outdoors.html##ixzz1BPT07Twv
