The Preschool Times

The days are growing shorter and cooler and more and more of our activities tend to focus us indoors, especially if we have an older child who, more often than not, has homework.

Today’s children spend an inordinate amount of time indoors.  Think about it…..  A good portion of their time is spent is school, a few to several hours in structured activities and still more time completing homework and project assignments. Children barely have any down time to design and implement their own play, while outdoors.  The lack of contact with nature has become and will continue to be a grave problem for the development of creativity, environmental studies and the health and well being of earth’s inhabitants.

Children need the opportunity to play outside daily, a reality which is swiftly growing into impossibility. As children’s work days become longer and more structured, the ability to come in direct contact with nature has been compromised. The result:  The frequency of children exhibiting “ADHD like” behaviors is on the rise. A recent study on children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder has found a link between children’s routine play settings and the severity of their ADHD problems. Those who regularly played outdoors with lots of green grass and trees had milder symptoms then those who regularly play indoors or in built outdoor environments. In other words if children are not given the opportunity to create their own outdoor games or just run free in a natural environment their symptoms may actually become worse.

ADHD aside, the same holds true for all children. As we gravitate closer and closer to a sterile environment, we run the risk of creating disharmony within our own children. Our young children are experiencing increasing difficulty feeling calm in their own bodies. It behooves us all to look at our schedules to find time for our children to be free of our antiseptic, overscheduled environment. That may mean that schools and teachers will have to cut back on the ever growing mountain of homework assignments and allow time for children to play when they get home from school.

Perhaps if our children played outside every day after school for one hour, they would be better able to focus in school and on their homework, thus allowing teachers to accomplish more in class, eliminating the need for an abundance of homework.

We all need to simplify our lives for the well being of our children. Multi-tasking has gotten way out of proportion and life’s scale has tipped to one side. Time to remember what all that multi-tasking was for….to create a better life for our children. Simplify, your children will thank you for it.

Peace & light,

Grace