Nature-Deficit Disorder: Remedies for NDD

Technology has all but pushed outdoor time to special occasions. Kids are simply not playing outside. The disconnect many have with nature leads to recognized children's health problems. Obesity and ADD are two mentioned in researcher Richard Louv's book, "Last Child in the Woods." In it, Louv draws attention to the issues facing children. As a parent, you can make a conscious choice to prevent NDD from affecting your family.

Introduce your child to nature
Nothing shows the widespread evidence of NDD like the choices in the new Oxford Junior Dictionary. Instead of searing words and images of nature like "beaver" and "dandelion" they are being replaced by "MP3 player" and "blog." Let your child see what a real beaver looks like at a zoo, not just the animated versions and spend time popping the heads of dandelions, making flower chains or blowing wishes into the wind.

In a surreal moment during library story time with my son, the librarian asked him where corn came from. He said the store. While completely true, I was a little shocked to discover he did not know all those fields surrounding his grandmas house were full of corn. I used to play hide and go seek among the corn stalks. For crying out loud how did my nearly three year old not know this? I should add this did not even elicit a snicker from the other kids. I would have been laughed out of preschool when I was a child.

Go ahead and point out the obvious to your toddlers. Make it a point to continually learn about the nature in your area so you can share with your kids as they grow. This uncommon knowledge will quickly put them far ahead of their peers apparently.


Help them care
Direct nature experiences are important for not only for education, but eventually for the protection of our environment. If children do not know, or care about the woods at the edge of town, they won't care if they are replaced with parking lots when they are grown up.

It seems ironic to me that so much focus is placed on saving the environment through recycling and other good activities at school, but at the same time much of the school children are missing out on the very fundamental recess time and free play.


Play together
Leisure time has turned into technology time for adults and children. Make it a point to break the cycle. Insert frequent family activities that pull everyone away from screens even if just for a half hour a day at first.

Get up and throw a frisbee, toss a football, stroll around the yard, anything to relax your eyes and slow the frantic pace down. Kids are just as tightly wound these days as the adults in their lives. Give them a chance to decompress without an electronic voice talking to them.

As a working mother, my day never ends. Play breaks can seem frivolous, but they are so energizing. Even if all you can muster is blowing soap bubbles on the front lawn, taking deep breaths of fresh air is good for all involved. Who knows, you may just inspire your neighbors to take some time out, as in outside, too!



More by Sylvie Branch:
Stress causes permanent damage: What this means for foster children
Helping children cope with a sibling's cancer diagnosis
Parents of toddlers, it is time to reclaim your role as CEO