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‘Vitamin Nature’ & Kids: Their Health Depends On It

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‘Vitamin Nature’ & Kids: Their Health Depends On It: A decade ago Richard Louv introduced the world to the “nature-deficit disorder”, and with that, he started a new nature movement.

‘Vitamin Nature’ & Kids: Their Health Depends On It

In his book Last Child in the Woods, he explores the concept that a lack of nature in a child’s life is directly to tie many of the health and behavioural issues witnessed more frequently in today’s generation.

It is interested me because when I think about how I was raising and the amount of time that I spent outside, and compare that to my kids, it stopped me in my tracks.

My kids are super active, they both play outdoor sports like baseball and softball, and they both ski all winter competitively long. This book states that organised sports are great, mostly when they are outside but it is more than this.

You have to make sure nature is part of their lives throughout their childhood and beyond.

Make sure that nature is in the lives of our children as they have unstructured playtime in the woods, down by the lake, or out in the fields or wherever they can find the Nature.

They need to exploring and discovering on the own. It turns out for building forts, climbing trees, and skipping rocks which is makes the difference.

Ten years ago, there are 30 research papers on the subject, and now there are more than 700 backing up this concept and more coming out of the woodwork every day.

Research shows that having nature in a child’s life mitigates stress, reduces obesity, enhances fitness, boosts creativity, and possibly helps with ADHD symptoms.

Kids that cannot see to think “out of the box” can be because they live in a box. We are raising “inside” kids.

There are many reasons for this issue, and screen time-technology is taking over their lives, kids are many times overscheduled and safety concerns. Louv states that the higher tech our lives, the more nature we need.

The book is fascinating. The writer is writing two others on the same subject.

The Nature Principle is reconnecting with the life in a virtual age, and latest is Vitamin N 500 Way.

To Enrich the Health & Happiness of your Family and Community.

He is on tour with his latest book, and I was very excited to meet him when he comes through an area.

I want to thank the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Professor Paul Shirilla for allowing me to interview Louv.

In the year 2006, the Children and Nature Network was established to gather the research and make it easy for the parents, schools, and communities which they want to work in makes nature which is accessible to the children.

They are currently working with the 18 cities from San Francisco to Atlanta, including the Twin Cities, to increase the equitable access to nature.

In Louv’s book “Vitamin N”, he lays out 500 ways to get your kids out in nature, I picked my favourites. Try some of these in the scorching sun.

Put together a family Bag.

Stuff a duffel bag with the comfortable shoes, a compass, binoculars, nature guides, water bottles, granola bars and map.

Put it in your trunk so at a moment’s notice you can go outside.

Adopt the sunny day rule

If it is nice outside, there is no reason to be growing roots on the couch! Get out, build something, exploring.

Going on a backyard bug hunt

Find bugs and then identify them, may you find stick insect.

Play hooky

Find a sunny day that you feel free and take your kids out of the school.

Unplug from all screens head to the park or the woods and have a picnic. They will always remember that day.

Pick a sit spot

Having a special place in nature, whether it is under a tree at the end of the yard, a hidden bend of a creek.

Knowing it by day, knowing it by night, knowing it in every weather, identifying the birds that are living there, identifying the trees that are growing there. Make this your sit spot and spend some time there, it will do you wonders.

These are just a few of his 500 suggestions, I know I have committed to getting out in nature and making sure my kids are with me as much as possible.

I know how it changes how I feel on any given day so I want to instil that in my kids. Good luck getting more Vitamin N into your family this summer!

So, these are the points to describe the ‘Vitamin Nature’ & Kids Their health depends on it.

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