January 18, 2012 Vol. 91 No. 3
Missouri families
Winter Fun!
are encouraged to ‘Be Out There’ in 2012
Get Outdoors! By Mary Anne Meyers
IN this Issue
A pre-Christmas Neilsen survey found that 44 percent of kids between the ages of 6 and 12 had an iPad on their wish list. No report yet on how many saw that wish come true, but electronics certainly dominate the lives of children these days. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is trying to help families pare down the average eight hours a day children spend in front of screens. NWF naturalist David Mizejewski says even in states like Missouri, with tons of free winter fun, kids still tend to prefer technology. "It's not that there's anything necessarily inherently bad about all those great technologies, but I think anyone would agree that eight hours a day for a kid to be indoors, sedentary, in front of electronic media is too much,” Mizejewski said. Those technologies can be used to research locations for outdoor adventures, he acknowledges, and he notes that applications can be downloaded on phones and tablets to help families identify plants and critters. According to the NWF, the nature of childhood has changed. There's not much nature in it. American childhood has moved indoors during the last two decades, taking a mental and physical toll on today’s kids. The negative impact of decreased time outdoors includes a doubling of the childhood obesity rate-accompanied by an incremental hundred billion dollar cost to our health care system – as well as declining creativity, concentration and social skills. Some say it takes a village to raise a child. The NWF said it takes a backyard, a playground, a park. Studies show outdoor time helps children grow lean and strong, enhance imaginations and attention spans, decreases aggression, and boosts classroom performance. In addition, children who spend time in nature regularly are shown to become better stewards of the Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5 School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7 Learn & Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
environment. Fast Facts about Outdoor Time and Children • Children are spending half as much time outdoors as they did 20 years ago. (Juster et al 2004); (Burdette & Whitaker 2005); (Kuo & Sullivan 2001) • Today, kids 8-18 years old devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes using entertainment media in a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). (Kaiser Family Foundation) • In a typical week, only 6% of children ages 9-13 play outside on their own. (Children & Nature Network, 2008) • Children who play outside are more physically active, more creative in their play, less aggressive and show better concentration. (Burdette and Whitaker, 2005; Ginsburg et al., 2007) • Sixty minutes of daily unstructured free play is essential to children’s physical and mental health. (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2008) • The most direct route to caring for the environment as an adult is participating in “wild nature activities” before the age of 11. (Wells and Lekies, 2006) Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Joe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2139 Bryan Valley Commercial Dr. • O’Fallon, MO 63366
Missouri families can start by going to www.mostateparks.com to find things to do. Missouri State Parks Director Bill Bry-
an says now that the leaves are off the trees, lots more wildlife is visible during a winter hike. Just remember to plan See GET OUTDOORS! page 16
Movie Talk
See Movie page 9
Universal Pictures' Contraband - 2012
Shelly Schnieder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Recipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 What’s Happening . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13
P: 636-379-1775 • FX: 636-379-1632
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15
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