Running head: BLUE SKIES PROJECT

Blue Skies Project: Transforming Childrens Experience of Nature Ann Lau Ward West Chester University ECE 513 Advocating for Young Children and Families

Running head: BLUE SKIES PROJECT Blue Skies Project: Transforming Childrens Experience of Nature Across blue skies and snowy landscapes, in fields, meadows, and secret gardens, nature rests and waits for children. She appears in both unexpected and expected places to young explorers, cloaked in iridescence of morning dew in a spiders web, rough texture of a windswept beach, and the sound of a buzzing honeybee. It is not a mistake that it is children who notice the peculiar way that flowers take root in cracks of the neighborhood sidewalk, how soil

shifts under the rainspout at the corner store after a sudden rain, and how ladybugs appear out of nowhere and disappear into the ether without a moments warning. Even the perpetually spinning, orbiting planet we call home seems to slow when children watch butterflies emerge or clouds change form over head. While we share an agreement that the loose parts of the natural world foster invention, spur creativity, nurture inquiry, and stir the imagination of young children, what would childhood be if we boldly declared the mud pies, dandelion wishes, and wild berry potions that emerge in unstructured time in nature, the right of every child? And, if it were, how would we respond when we learn that access to the natural world through play is an endangered element of our childrens lives and that this loss is taking a toll on our childrens health and wellbeing? We know that children actively receive and respond to the world they are offered; over the course of a lifetime, from neonate to adulthood the diversity of the human landscape reflects our experience in an ever-evolving cultural, social, political, spiritual, and natural world. With exposure and time in nature, a childs sensory experiences are heightened. The child who plays in natural settings constructs understanding and builds knowledge through primary experience (that which is experienced through the senses). The child without a connection to nature through play constructs understanding about the world through processed information (that which is

Running head: BLUE SKIES PROJECT informed by technologies such as books, photos, videos, online resources). When a childs connection to nature declines so does a childs active engagement within a landscape rich with sensory experience. A chronic lack of sensory experience undermines the expanding neuron connections within the brain and ultimately shapes a childs understanding of the world (Louv, 2008). Though childhood obesity is on the rise, children are spending less time outdoors in

unstructured activities such as hiking, walking, fishing, playing on the beach, and gardening and more time indoors, confined to smaller spaces (Louv, 2008). In the United States, 16% of children ages 6 to 9 are considered overweight or obese. The rise in childhood obesity rates have doubled over the past 30 years in preschool aged children and teens while rates have tripled for children ages 6 to 11 (National Environmental Education Foundation, 2013). Active, unstructured green outdoor activities that fosters healthy lifestyle choices, reduces blood pressure, improves mood, reduces stress and mitigates the symptoms of attention disorders. Unfortunately, outdoor play is slowly disappearing from our childrens lives as a consequence of the growing dependence on video games, computer use, and television as well as chronic academic pressure, overscheduled children, and an increase in structured activities (sports). (National Environmental Education Foundation, 2013) (Louv, 20008) (Kuo & Taylor, 2004) A growing body of research suggests that exposure to nature may reduce symptoms in children with diagnosis of attention deficit disorder; cognitive abilities and resistance to stress and depression are improved with exposure to nature (Louv, 2008) (Kuo & Taylor, 2004) (Chawla & Cushingo, 2007). Nature-deficit disorder, writes Richard Louv in The Last Child In the Woods, affects an individual alienated from nature with diminished capacity for sensory enrichment, attention, and increased risk of physical and emotional illness. While the prescription

Running head: BLUE SKIES PROJECT of antidepressants has almost doubled in a five-year period according to a 2003 survey, research asserts therapeutic benefits of spending time in nature as a critical element of reducing stress (Louv, 2008) (Chawla & Cushingo, 2007). From experts who describe the benefits to children of the architecture and artifacts of

the natural world to theorists who embrace loose-parts theory (Louv, 2008), there is agreement that by fostering the child and nature connection, we are stimulating a childs imagination and creativity with open-ended time to explore, create, and invent. Research is emerging from the field indicating that children engage in more creative, inclusive, language-based play, demonstrate a sense of wonder, are more alert, are in control of their bodies, and emerge as leaders in social play when they have access to unstructured time outdoors in green spaces (Louv, 2008). With regard to directed attention and fascination (two kinds of attention described in 1890 by philosopher and psychologist William James), current research suggests that an attention-restorative environment mitigates the effect of direction-attention fatigue as expressed in children as impulsivity, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and irritation (Louv, 2008). In an environment where fascination and wonder elicit attention and focus, directed attention rests; this type of attention heals the wear and tear of directed attention and renews concentration. An expanded view on attention-restorative theory, Louv suggests, would have us considering the design of our homes, classrooms, and curricula with greater consideration for fostering environments for learning that reflect fascination and wonder (Louv, 2008). Creating more green time for the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of our children necessitates the agreement of parents, educators, and more broadly speaking, the communities, towns, and cities within which we live. Greater consideration must be made for healing the broken bond with the natural world with intention and deliberate choice to do so. Though our

Running head: BLUE SKIES PROJECT starting points may look very different, a growing consensus for charity, wildness, and the rights of children is a possibility (Louv, 2008). While the No Child Left Indoors movement (year) continues to strengthen across the United States (49 of 50 states now have NCLI active coalitions or related organizations) (American CAMP Association, 2012), there are bills of rights, executive orders, legislation and education plans on the horizon in a growing number of states. Organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, the American CAMP

Association, and The Children & Nature Network are reaching across state lines to stir advocacy for legislation and policy focusing on outdoor play and learning. They are working to build awareness and understanding of the complexity of the work that needs to be done for the nations children in this regard and provide concrete support to parents, teachers, and community leaders who are seeking the initiative in their families, school communities, and neighborhoods to reconnect children to the natural world through grassroots efforts. Playing under blue skies where children are free to develop authentic and meaningful connections to the natural world is a right of all children. As advocates for a childs connection to nature, it is imperative that we continue to foster awareness of a childs need for a relationship with the natural world. We must work to ensure that every child has opportunities to explore, investigate, wonder, and seek joy through play. Our childrens health and wellbeing are dependent on our taking action before its too late. Blue Skies Project, originally conceived in 2010 as a one-time event that honored the child-nature connection through a citywide butterfly release, moves into the year 2013 under the umbrella of advocacy. Blue Skies Project is committed to transforming childrens experience of the natural world through play and learning in the present moment, believing that these are the moments that shape a childs future. Using social media Blue Skies Project will be a hub for

Running head: BLUE SKIES PROJECT advocacy, an online "think tank" for advocates of children and play and learning in the natural world. We want children to be able to wonder, to explore, and have first hand experience with nature. Through Facebooks multi-faceted social media network Blue Skies advocates (families, caregivers, educators, community members) will work together to stay current on policies and legislative efforts in the United States and share ideas about activities, projects, and programs

inspired, designed, and created with children and nature in mind. Facebooks Blue Skies Project will be the place where advocates can share photos, stories, updates, videos, links to articles and research, and it will serve as a shared, online resource page on the topic of children and nature with the potential to be received on every continent. It is an expectation of the creators of Blue Skies Project to forward the dream of possibilities of blue skies for children by organizing and funding an annual butterfly release for children in the Philadelphia area. The intention of Blue Skies Project is to begin with those serving children in early childhood education. The policy and the legislative briefs will create awareness of the topic for those in the field and inspire early childhood educators to act with renewed commitment for nature learning and play in their current roles and to share their knowledge with families. The ripple effect, the ever widening circles of awareness, inspiration to act, and desire to share with others, will engage many who are already involved in caring for children in authentic and meaningful ways and reach into the community at large. Blue Skies Project urges you to seek the possibilities of blue skies for children and nature; join us now!

Running head: BLUE SKIES PROJECT

References American CAMP Association (2012, May). Children and nature-related state public policy initiatives. Retrieved March 15, 2013, from http://www.acacamps.org/sites/default/files/images/publicpolicy/documents/Childrenand NatureRelatedStateInitiatives.pdf Burdette, H. L., & Whitaker, R. C. (2005). Resurrecting free play in young children. Looking beyond fitness and fatness to attention, affiliation, and affect. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 159, 46-50. Chawla, L., & Cushingo, D. F. (2007, April). Benefits of Nature for Children's Health. Retrieved March 15, 2013, from Children, YOuth and Environments Center for Research and Design website: www.cudenver.edu/cye Cooper, A. (2009, March). Children and the outdoors state policy soluions guide. Retrieved March 15, 2013, from National Wildlife Federation website: http://www.nwf.org/~/media/PDFs/Be%20Out%20There/State_Policy_Solutions_Guide_ FINAL.pdf?dmc=1&ts=20130317T2128164833 Kuo, F., & Taylor, A. (2004). A potential natural treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Evidence from a national study. American Journal of Public Health, 94(9), 1580-1586. The Library Of Congress (2013, March). Bill summary and status 112th Congress. Louv, R. (2008). Last child in the woods. (2nd ed., Rev.). Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

Running head: BLUE SKIES PROJECT National Environmental Education Foundation (2013, March). Improved health from the natural environment; Where's the evidence? Retrieved March 15, 2013, from http:// www.neefusa.org/health/index.html Taylor, A., Kuo, F., & Sullivan, W. (2001). Coping with ADD:The surprising connection to green play settings. Environment and Behavior, 33(1), 54-77. White, H. (2008, May). Connecting today's kids with nature; A policy action plan. Reston, Virginia: National Wildlife Federation.