Children and nature: who let the kids out?

From Great Schools
By Connie Matthiessen
September 21, 2014

Are your children spending too much time inside? Learn the high cost of nature deficit disorder - and how easily you can avoid it by getting your kids outdoors.

You’ve probably had this experience: The kids have been cooped up all morning and now you're heading out to the park, just to get them outside. In the car, they squabble and sulk — the oldest doesn't want to go, the second complains about the third's singing, the third begins to cry — and you’re on the verge of losing it. No one, you're convinced, will make it back from this outing alive.

But when the kids pile out of the car, everything changes. They begin running around, exploring, getting dirty, discovering rocks, and making up games. When it's time to pack up, everyone is cold, muddy, and hungry but miraculously transformed.
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