Several investigations suggest that we spend less time outdoors. This is a worrying trend because apparently it also extends to the school environment.
I have dedicated most of my career as a university professor and researcher to examine the relationship between people and nature and during the last decades society has increasingly distanced itself from the natural environment, especially due to urban densification and our dullness with technological devices (which are normally found indoors).
Contact with nature can foster creativity, lift your spirits, reduce stress, improve mental acuity, well-being and productivity, promote social connections and encourage physical activity. It also has endless benefits in the field of education and education.
Outdoors and learning
The term "kindergarten" (originally kindergarten in German) was created around 1840 by the German pedagogue Friedrich Froebel. According to the idea that we all have an innate curiosity and imagination, Froeble believes that children learn best with creative games and exploring with the help of their curiosity.
Outdoor games are not only essential for happiness during childhood, but also teach us fundamental life skills and foster growth and personal development.
Practical outdoor lessons are easier to remember in children's brains compared to learning a lesson through a book.Current research shows us that learning based on outdoor games can also help improve academic results. A recent study concluded that spending time outdoors stimulated learning and improved concentration and test scores.
He contact with nature also plays a fundamental role in brain development and a recent study concluded that cognitive development improved with exposure to green spaces, especially in schools where there were more green areas.
Personal autonomy and freedom in outdoor spaces make children feel more motivated and the extra use of energy makes them feel calmer and encourages more sociable behavior.
Teaching and learning in natural environments promote self-control thanks to risk taking, physical activity, adaptability, self-regulation and discoveries that depend on the student. Imagination is also reinforced thanks to free games without structures.
How to make children spend more time outside?
Children need outdoor games, but we don't give them enough opportunities. In countries like Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, half of the school day is done outdoors (rain, hail or sun) exploring the real-world application of what was learned in the classroom. It is a good example of what parents and teachers can do for children to spend more time outdoors.
Take the class out of the classroom
Children learn best when they can experience what they have learned instead of simply listening to the lesson from a textbook. A study in Chicago used brain scans to show how students who received learning based on experiments showed activity in areas of the brain related to sensory and motor skills. Subsequently, they were able to remember the concepts and information more clearly and accurately.
Practical outdoor lessons are easier to remember in children's brains compared to learning a lesson through a book. This may be one of the reasons why in 2017 the Australian government has decided to add outdoor learning to the country's educational programs.
Options for teachers include taking the classroom to a natural environment so that students can write poetry about nature, measure the height of trees in math class or relax using meditation techniques sitting quietly in the shade of a tree.
In Australia there is also an initiative to celebrate the Day of outdoor classes on November 1: a day in which teachers are encouraged to teach in outdoor spaces. It is also a good excuse for parents to make an extra effort to take the children to the park, the river or the beach.
Less time stuck to screens
Conversations with parents and teachers show that they increasingly care about the impact of technology on children, both large-scale and small-scale.
Our desire to use technology has replaced in many ways our desire to interact with other people face to face. To combat it, parents can try to establish hours in which the use of devices is not allowed.
Parents have to set a good example for their children and that is why they must be the first to control the time they spend with the devices and spend valuable moments next to their children without relying on digital devices.
The sad reality is that sometimes technology can be a kind of device that replaces the educational tasks of parents, keeping children occupied. What we should do is to encourage children to play simple and unstructured games.
Under this type of games, activities such as creating an outdoor yincana where they can gather objects from nature, build fortresses or dens incorporating affordable materials such as branches or old sheets, climb trees or lie on the grass to look at the sky and see the shapes that clouds make.
Other activities could be making pies or mud castles on the beach or in the sand; Encourage them to start collecting bird feathers, petals, leaves, stones, twigs or sticks to make crafts or murals on cardboards; plant a vegetable garden with vegetable seeds or flowers with the help of their parents (letting them decide what they want to plant); put on your coat and boots when it rains and jump puddles together; or build a swing or a toy car.
Nature offers endless possibilities for games with all kinds of materials. If you run out of ideas, you can search the Internet for groups of parents to do outdoor activities near your home, something that is very fashionable. But the most important thing is to consolidate the idea that getting wet, getting dirty and getting your hair tangled is good for children and is part of the fun.
This article has originally been published in The Conversation. You can read the original article here.
Translated by Silvestre Urbón.
