The Missing Piece of Childhood

It seems that due to an enforced lock down and with many families spending far more time together than before, we have turned to nature and the outdoors to help us cope.

Spending more time outside and amidst nature improves physical and mental health, boosts immune systems, builds resilience, confidence, the list goes on.

With schools set to return from June and the need to create physical distance between children many are starting to look outside for the answer. “ Not an ideal solution” some may say “its just not practical.”

But what if this enforced change actually brings MORE benefits and a BETTER Education system than we had before? Delivering more responsible, healthier and confident children with a broader set of skills who have the belief in themselves to cope with that life throws at them? What if their mental health is improved and because they are getting more exercise in the fresh air, their physical health too?

So by taking learning outside back into schools what kind of benefits could we start to see?

Most of us have now experienced the physical and emotional benefits of spending more time outside, we understand why nature works and how it can help.

Time spent on recreational activities in the fresh air have offered a welcome respite for us all. The chance to run outside, to play in the garden or park or just to breathe some fresh air and feel some of the tension slip away, it’s a release.

However, behind the scenes, there is a far deeper cognitive process taking place here ? What if we are actually starting to feel more connected with the outside? What if we are starting to form an attachment to it?

If the suggestion that spending more time in a place or an environment strengthens our connection to it then it makes sense that we will value it and want to nurture and protect it. This increases our connection to the land – where our food comes from and the farmers who produce it. As online stores sell out of seed supplies and supermarkets sell out of flour because we are all reverting to baking and growing, we all feel a little bit more aligned with what we are eating and how it gets to our plate.

The birds and wildlife that we can encourage into our gardens through bug and bird houses. The fact that we can make treats for them cheaply and easily and the satisfaction that we feel when the first bird sits on a feeder we have made.

The joy of seeing a seed emerge as a seedling, that little green shoot of hope, has a new significance in our children’s lives now. They have succeeded in creating a new life and when that plant produces a tomato or a strawberry how much confidence and self esteem will they gain from that?

So when our children return to school, if more of their day is spent outside then those links and benefits remain strong. The connection to the outdoors could remain a consistent and strong thread and we could just be starting to raise a generation of children who start to value nature, and the outdoors and who will feel more comfortable and engaged with this space and the benefits that this environment can offer.

So bring it on,…. Take more learning outside and equip the next generation with the missing piece of childhood that is so essential in their ability to cope in life

Better lives, better communities, better environments through better education.

Rachael Frossell Founder of wild for life!

www.wildforlife.co.uk