Get Out for a Green Hour
Fight nature deficit disorder and get your family outside for an hour of unstructured time with nature. I was just mentioning that kids needed more unstructured play time and then I came across this Green Hour.
Create a Wildlife Habitat:
The National Wildlife Federation has information on how to create and maintain a wildlife habitat. It’s a great way for kids to get a hands on education and learn how to attract birds and butterflies even if they’re in the city.
You can make a Community Wildlife Habitat and have it certified through the National Wildlife Federation. Communities will learn about sustainable gardening, conserving water, planting native plants, composting and more.
It sounds like a wonderful way to get the community out and learn together. I’m excited about it! It’s the dead of winter here, but we’ll be ready for lots of gardening action come the spring. In the mean time birds still eat and we can work on making feeders and planning our community and wildlife habitat.
According to GreenHour.org children who regularly spend unstructured time outside:
· Play more creatively
· Have lower stress levels
· Have more active imaginations
· Become fitter and leaner
· Develop stronger immune systems
· Experience fewer symptoms of ADD and ADHD
· Have greater respect for themselves, for others, and for the environment
It makes sense to me because you don’t get fit sitting and watching television or playing video games. Creative play is important and although sports are great, a lot of them are very organized and structured. Children do need to use their imaginations and come up with their own activities.
Collecting rocks, pine cones and dandelions count as fun activities to me. I used to have a purse full of dandelions and I never thought I would say this but I miss it.
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