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Blanket media coverage of the few such incidents that do occur may have contributed to this; in fact, there is a risk but it's minimal — the chance of a child being killed by a stranger in Britain is, literally, one in a million, and has been since the 70s. It's a problem we need to address, because the consequences of failing to allow our children to play independently outside are beginning to make themselves felt.
On the website childrenandnature. Obesity is perhaps the most visible symptom of the lack of such play, but literally dozens of studies from around the world show regular time outdoors produces significant improvements in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning ability, creativity and mental, psychological and emotional wellbeing.
Just five minutes' "green exercise" can produce rapid improvements in mental wellbeing and self-esteem, with the greatest benefits experienced by the young, according to a study this year at the University of Essex. Free and unstructured play in the outdoors boosts problem-solving skills, focus and self-discipline.
Socially, it improves cooperation, flexibility, and self-awareness. Emotional benefits include reduced aggression and increased happiness. Falling out of a tree is a very good lesson in risk and reward. Ask anyone over 40 to recount their most treasured memories of childhood play, and few will be indoors. Fewer still will involve an adult. Independent play, outdoors and far from grown-up eyes, is what we remember. As things stand, today's children will be unlikely to treasure memories like that: The picture isn't entirely bleak, though.
In the US, nature deficit disorder is big news: Louv is delivering the keynote speech at the American Academy of Pediatrics' annual conference; city parks departments are joining with local health services to prescribe "outdoor time" for problem children. Then she asked some tricky counterfactual questions: About half the 3-year-olds answered correctly. What will happen next? We found children who were better at pretending could reason better about counterfactuals—they were better at thinking about different possibilities.
And thinking about possibilities plays a crucial role in the latest understanding about how children learn.
The idea is that children at play are like pint-sized scientists testing theories. They imagine ways the world could work and predict the pattern of data that would follow if their theories were true, and then compare that pattern with the pattern they actually see. Even toddlers turn out to be smarter than we would have thought if we ask them the right questions in the right way. Play is under pressure right now, as parents and policymakers try to make preschools more like schools. Let her flower naturally, organically and in her own timing.
Editorial Reviews. About the Author. Born in Chicago, Selena was raised as a true south-sider. A Place Where Our Children Played - Kindle edition by Selena Harmon-Clayton. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC , phones. The children must, at last, play in the open veld, no longer tortured by the pangs of hunger or ravaged by the disease or threatened with the.
Play gifts our spirit to the world! Brooks to wade, water lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets; and any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of education. Your mind cannot heal without laughter.
Your soul cannot heal without joy. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.
So much of the healing of our world begins in healing the inner child who rarely, if ever, got to come out and play. We allow them to dictate their growth and development. The excessive need to control their flowering is a signal that we do not trust the power of our spirit to show the way, and specifically, we do not have faith in the vehicle of Play. What better gift to the world—authentic and loving human beings.
This is incredibly vital given that flow is the natural state of life. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity. To compensate, we plan, and over plan.
We overthink our words and actions to make us feel safe. Art is older than production for use, and play older than work. Man was shaped less by what he had to do than by what he did in playful moments. It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the optimal milieu for the unfolding of his capacities. The more we express our Self, the more life is lived as Play!
They remember what you are. Through an active, reciprocal exchange, teaching can strengthen learning how to learn. Play will raise the child in ways you can never imagine. More children are now admitted to British hospitals for injuries incurred falling out of bed than falling out of trees. Just five minutes' "green exercise" can produce rapid improvements in mental wellbeing and self-esteem, with the greatest benefits experienced by the young, according to a study this year at the University of Essex. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities. Blanket media coverage of the few such incidents that do occur may have contributed to this; in fact, there is a risk but it's minimal — the chance of a child being killed by a stranger in Britain is, literally, one in a million, and has been since the 70s.
They hardly know which is which, they simply pursue their vision of excellence at whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing.