Book Review: Fifteen Minutes Outside

Well, this isn't EXACTLY a book review, because I will discuss other things than the book, and I haven't even finished the book yet, but in honor of Earth Day, I figured I'd post these thoughts today anyway.

So here's the book:

I'm only about 1/4 of the way in, but I'd call it a good read... especially for parents or educators.

Heard a review about this book on NPR a while ago (actually, while driving back from a day trip at one of our favorite places, Horicon Marsh) and when we came home, I added it to my Amazon wishlist.
Note: Anytime I buy something on Amazon I usually add a book or two from my wishlist to the order to get free shipping... If I'm gonna pay an extra $6 for something, I'd much rather pay for a book than just for shipping :)

Anyway, the book is written by a mom who made a New Year's Resolution to get her very indoor-focused young children outside for 15 minutes every day of the year. She admits that since her children are younger, on a handful of occasions they didn't actually make it outside (due to inclement weather, etc), but she gives a few suggestions for ways to still cultivate a love for the outdoors even while being stuck inside.

Note: in most cases, even newborns can spend time outside every day, and SHOULD. Many other countries recognize this... the idea that cold weather alone makes people sick is some sort of Western convention, I think. But the author of this book does give a few tips about proper attire; make sure you do your own research about safety in not only cold weather, but also extreme heat and other weather events. All that to say... don't let the fact that it is windy or rainy keep you inside! The real key to teaching children to love the outdoors FOR THEMSELVES is to teach them that weather is not something to be afraid of. If you have the right attitude, there is really no such thing as "bad" weather. Sadly, most children these days will not ask their parents to play outside if it is rainy. This author's goal was to get her children to a place where they are pestering her to go outside, rather than her pestering them to turn off the video games and get off the couch.

However, there will always be days of the year where sickness, travel, obligations, or other circumstances may prevent you from actually playing outside. The author suggests that even walks to the car or rides on a bus can be used as teaching opportunities for observing and appreciating the outdoors. And she gives some good examples of ways to "bring the outdoors in" as well. As I stated before, the point is to cultivate a love for the outdoors from a young age. My husband remarked to me the other day that he sometimes can't believe that he went 22 years of his life without ever seeing a beaver in the wild. So when we saw one the other day, even though it wasn't his "first" beaver (that one was on our honeymoon), he was still in awe as we watched it do its beaver things. Sadly, due to the fact that we tend to shy away from the unfamiliar, many adults these days would be at best ambivalent to such an observation, and at worst, afraid of the animal itself ("Is it going to chew my leg off??"). Hopefully-- if you've read this far-- this is NOT the type of person you want to raise in your own family.

Let me take this moment to plug another book for you... I've mentioned a lot so far about the fact that it's a good thing to teach children to love the outdoors. But I haven't really mentioned the WHY. That would take far too long to explain here; this post is already pretty lengthy. So here, take it from someone who is much more articulate than me and find this book:

Granted, this WAS used as a college textbook for one of my classes, so if a 335 page book about the subject seems a little too daunting to you, just search for "last child in the woods" or "nature deficit disorder" or anything by Richard Louv and I'm sure you'll find a ton of [shorter] internet articles and resources. Internet overload, childhood obesity, fear of the outdoors, lack of independence, and social disconnection are just a few of the maladies of the modern child that are believed to be at least partially linked to the absence of "wildness" in a person's life.

Ok, so back to the book at hand. I guess the greatest thing that I've taken away from Fifteen Minutes Outside so far is all the suggestions of easy ways to make the outdoor environment fun for kids: things that I want to try with my own family. Though I can't say that I've taken my son outdoors EVERY day of his life so far in the past 18 months, I have tried to make it a point to get him "out there" on a regular basis ever since he was born.
I am someone who is much more comfortable in the wilderness than here in the "city" (yes, a place with a population of 24,000 feels like a metropolis to me. I've heard the people around here call it a "small town", but what we called a "city" growing up was less than a third this size, and by far the largest town in the county.). So, living for the first time in a neighborhood where I not only have other people living within a few yards of my home but within the same BUILDING??... it's been a little difficult for me to think of taking my child out to our shared "yard" (really a patch of grass with a tree) as a real "outdoor experience". But this book has reminded me that ANY outdoor space can be a classroom and a playground. I don't have to take my kid to a state park or on a three day camping trip every week in order to get him to love the outdoors. He's already started hugging trees, seeking out mud and puddles, laughing when we get caught in the rain or snow, and trying to imitate every bird he hears. He's gotten better at spotting the neighborhood wildlife than I am! The other day he pointed out a family of ducks in a backyard long before I saw them. This is not to brag-- I don't remember TEACHING him any of these things-- but just to emphasize, as the author does, that a little outdoor time goes a long way. And the benefits to your family are innumerable. The subtitle of the book is "365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids"... the goal is not only to grow your child closer to the natural world, but to grow your child closer to YOU and consequently to grow YOU closer to the natural world as well.

One of the great things about a book like this is the fact that it recognizes that not every mom, dad, and childhood teacher "comes to the table" as passionate about the outdoors as I do. It's not called "Two Hours Outside" (though if you do make this a lifestyle, I'm sure you will find yourself wanting to spend much more than 15 minutes outside every day)... it is a book written with the idea that introducing your family to the outdoors is something that can happen by starting small. Even if the thought of getting outside every day is not your idea of a good time, this book gives some great suggestions of fun things to do to get even the most "indoorsy" parent to want to don a raincoat and head out the door.
And it's an easy read... the book is divided into seasons, and then further into months, with a separate 15 minute activity idea for each day of the month. If you're not a cover-to-cover reader like I am, just find today's date and read the author's suggestion. If your climate and/or circumstances prohibit you from using that exact suggestion (I've noticed that since the author is writing from her home in Virginia, a few of her "winter" activities are not things that would be feasible on any Wisconsin winter day), then just keep reading till you find something that sounds fun to you. Though I'm blessed to come into parenthood after a lifetime of homeschooling (where my sometimes less-than-outdoorsy mom still took every "teachable moment" to get us excited about learning and observing the natural world), I still have found many new activity ideas that I want to try with my own kids soon.

Ok, to conclude, just a thought on child-directed play. I think the author does emphasize that the best way to teach kids is to let them lead. But since this book seems to focus on the idea of DEVELOPING outdoorsy children (i.e., from children who haven't spent much time outside already, sometimes due to their young age, other times due to current lifestyle)... and in order to do that, many times you need to start with a little bit of adult guidance. That's where the book comes in, with the 365 generally adult-led suggestions. Most of them are simply idea "kernels" that you and your children will expand upon once you get outside and try them. Before you know it, your children will be the ones directing the experience, and you will simply be the one privileged enough to get to tag along. As your children get older, letting them have not only independent outdoor experiences, but also UNSUPERVISED outdoor experiences becomes even more vital, but since my own family is a little too young to allow this at the moment, that is a discussion for another time. My point here is just to say, try not to let your outdoor times become a "Mom says do this" type of play, but rather a "Let's see what we can do together" experience. This will become easier the more you do it... pretty soon your family will be able to write your own book of outdoor activity ideas!

Ok. I think I'm done. Hopefully all this has served to "whet your appetite." If you don't find this particular book at your library, I'm sure there are a ton of others like it. If you'd rather look online, there are infinite resources there, too. The point of this post is really just to encourage the "child-influencers" of this world (parents, grandparents, teachers, childcare workers, etc) to get excited about teaching this next generation of people to spend a little less time "plugged in" and a little more time connected.

Thanks for reading.

Ramblings about Seasons

As I was selfishly complaining about the snow today (April 4) and feeling slightly sorry for the middle-schoolers I saw walking home in their shorts and flip-flops, I had a thought. Not very profound, but a thought nonetheless that I wanted to put in writing.

When God created the seasons, He never made the decree that Spring begins somewhere between March 20-22.
Likewise, when He created the reproductive system of humans, He never made a decree that a woman's gestational period ends at 40 weeks.

He just set the laws of nature in motion and promised to sustain them. It was some human who "intelligently" figured out these timetables. These timetables are meant to be estimates, and they are meant to be helpful. But what they actually seem to do is make us discontent. Nothing causes more complaints than snow on or after the first calendar day of Spring. Ok, I take that back... ONE thing causes more complaints... a pregnancy that lasts past 40 weeks. (You can tell this is a pregnant lady's blog; I'm pretty much always thinking about this "wonderful" season of my life and how it affects my own personal comforts. Sorry for working it into the post here, but I never specified what SEASONS I was going to ramble about!)

Can you imagine how much more content a pregnant woman would be if she was never told a "due date"? Can you imagine how much more content a Wisconsinite would be if we never had the "promise" that Spring would begin on a certain date? Even though we know these facts in our head, we still seem to think we have the "right" to complain about anything that doesn't follow our time schedules.

Hooray! This is a (somewhat) shorter one. I really should replace all of those "we"s above with "I"... this may be something that only I struggle with. But just in case it applies to you, too, I'll leave the "we" in there. Ok, here's one more "we" for you:

"This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it!"

Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)

Thanks for reading.