Let Nature Teach the Children

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Let The Children Play

So very many of today's children are never really given a chance to play.

Play should be that opportunity of discovery. Discover abilities. Discover self reliance. Discover social nuances. Discover relationships. Basically, discover how the world around them works. Play is the interaction between themselves and other children, between themselves and nature. Play is unstructured, non refereed, minimally supervised.

There is an tendency for parents to over supervise their children's lives. Children are becoming over controlled and seldom given chance to creatively learn. There is very little discovery, imagination or creation integrated into the common, single dimensional, store bought toys. No matter how complex the toy makers build them, they are very limited in the ability to teach.

Photo Courtesy: Exploring

Almost every parent has observed their toddler open that large birthday present, placed the child on it, rang the bell, flashed the lights, only to find within the hour the child is having more amusement playing with the box the toy came in. That child is discovering. The box is anything he wants it to be. He is using his imagination, he is becoming creative. He is playing.

Parents are often frustrated by their child's exploration of the world about them. Crawling babies get into cupboards, it's part of the world they need to discover. Toddlers are drawn to the workings of the broom closet, the toiletries, Dad's tools. It is in their nature to be adventuresome, learn new things about their physical environment, how things work, what things do.

The best environment for a child to be adventuresome and develope his own latent creative imagination is nature. Out doors. Not in controlled parks and playgrounds that offer only limited chances to explore, but, in the woods, on the fields, by the creek. Watched, not supervised. Nature is a far greater teacher than toy makers. And nature is not only free, but ever renewing and evolving, a far widening field of exploration and wonderment for a child that no toy can ever duplicate.

Children need to get dirty, catch bugs, eat grass. Dig, climb, splash. Allow children their opportunity to commune with creation, their own minds develope to higher degree of appreciation, imagination, and motor skills, the three most important factors in learning. When children can explore their world in company with other children, all the better. They are learning social integration in the best environment, the real world.

Parents instinctively want to protect their children. It is not the world outside where children are most at risk; it's inside. More children are hurt at home than any other environment. In second place is the neighborhood playground. Both are un-natural environments. Nearly all molestations of children are by parents, not strangers, yet, the media dwells on the single incident and places unwarranted fear in parents minds.

Take any group of children 4 to 8 years old to the playground and within a short time there will be squabbling. There is nothing to explore in a playground. They have been there, done that. They soon become bored. Their natural creative imaginations need more.

Take the same group of children to a natural setting without toys and they will play for hours. Their appetites will improve, their metabolisms will develope, they will sleep better at night. They will be healthier children, less prone to illness and allergy. They become happier and more contented. Most often the better adaptable and creative compared to the children who are conditioned within their parents superficial, boxed world.

Let nature teach the children.

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