Time to get those kids out of the house

On a walk through a typical American neighborhood, one might be hard pressed to find a barefoot kid chasing down a toad, or building a tree fort in the woods, or walking to a favorite fishing hole with a rod and a can of worms. Organized play at the soccerplex has replaced unstructured play down at the creek.

As American childhood has moved indoors, research shows that many of today's children are actually gaining weight during their summer break. And as electronic entertainment replaces both structured and unstructured outdoor experiences, many children are being raised so cut off from their natural world that they are not developing a connection with nature. Not only is this connection an important quality-of-life issue by contributing to emotional and physical well-being, it also forms the cornerstone of an environmental stewardship ethic.

Connecting children to nature through outdoor experiences pays clear dividends: Children who play outside are more active and more physically fit.

Time in nature improves children's academic performance, concentration, balance, coordination and self-esteem; and playing outside even reduces the severity of symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which affects millions of American children.

The National Wildlife Federation, home of Ranger Rick, states that one of the contributors to the childhood obesity epidemic in America may be this lack of outdoor play. Children today are spending 50 percent less time outdoors than they did just 20 years ago.

Ranger Rick and his crew have put together a report full of ideas and solutions for getting kids to "go outside and play." Some of these include connecting children to nature through environmental education, promoting outdoor play through the public health systems, and encouraging parents to build in regular time for outdoor play.

For more information, visit www.nwf.org/kidsreport.

This story provided by North American Precis Syndicate Inc.