Ideas for getting your kids outside

It's a challenge but here are two great blogs to help.

Let the children play.

Kids in the garden.

Do it now, while they still listen to you.......

Green Exercise

At the University of Essex in the UK, Dr Jo Barton has been carrying out research for the Green Exercise program, analysing the health benefits of participating in physical activities whilst being exposed to nature and greenspace.

Their research shows that there are three broad health outcomes:

1. Improvement of psychological well-being (by enhancing mood and self-esteem, whilst reducing feelings of anger, confusion, depression and tension);

2. Generation of physical health benefits (by reducing blood pressure and burning calories);

3. Facilitation of social networking and connectivity (by enhancing social capital).

They are now looking at the effect green exercise has on children during a school day.....

Yay Richard Louv

The man who started it all, with his book "Last Child in the Woods", for me anyway.... is down under. On SlowTV there's a great talk featuring Richard Louv, Stephen Coleman and Mardie Townsend.

Great question and answer section at the end as well.

Time to chase those butterflies

Great article over at the Independent about our disconnect with nature.

"To seek an example of how this alienation from nature is subtly encouraged, you need look no further than the Oxford Junior Dictionary. Designed to meet the needs of seven-to-nine-year-olds, the latest edition of the dictionary includes such modish words as blog, bullet point, biodegradable, Xbox, chatroom and MP3 player, all of which are deemed to play an important part in the lives of children today. But to make room for them, the editor has excised many of the most familiar objects of the countryside, words such as acorn, conker, dandelion, minnow and magpie."

Read it and then get outside and let your kids touch everything.

Teens Turning Green

Inspiring to hear.... teenagers are leading a movement called Teens Turning Green, to educate and advocate environmentally and socially responsible choices for individuals, schools and communities.

The next generation are taking matters into their own hands already...... wonderful.

Daniel Pink

I have blogged about him before but the RSA have a great new feature on their blog where they have animated certain speeches, the one above being one of them.

Fascinating stuff. I'm going to try it out on my kids.......

Risk and Childhood

The Royal Society for the Arts (RSA) in the UK hosted a talk by Tim Gill, author of the book "No Fear: Growing up in a Risk Averse Society", called Risk and Childhood.

It's over at teachers.tv, so check it out. It's 54 minutes long but Tim's speech covers the first 25 minutes and it's well worth it.