Natured by Nature

A spring 2020 national survey of 3,300 school students found that a third of students felt unhappy and depressed much more than usual. One often overlooked mental health frontier is spending time in deep connection with nature. In our risk-averse and comfort-seeking society, being outdoors is often traded in for being on social media or playing tic-toc videos. Nevertheless, our children’s emotional wellbeing depends on a health relationship with the natural world. Many researchers agree that kids who play outside are happier, better at paying attention and less anxious than kids who spend more time indoors. Engage in the topic by reflection on ways to increase children’s time outdoors and foster a life-long love relationship between our young people and mother earth.