Get Your Kids Involved in
Healthy Activities and in Nature

by John Slyer

Finding time to get outside and “play” around has become very challenging for many kids and families. With most children in the U.S. growing up with both parents working, kids’ lives are structured more than ever. Many children get up early with their parents and go to daycare before school even starts. Then they spend seven hours in school where they frequently are not allowed to run free during recess, if they still even have recess at their school.

After school, kids have homework to do and often go to other structured after-school programs until their parents pick them up, feed them and get them to even more structured evening activities. By the time the weekend comes around both kids and parents are so wiped out that many sit in front of the TV or computer. How do we get kids to be more active, healthy and aware of themselves, others and the natural world?

Exposure to nature and the outdoors has always been an essential part of my life and the lives of many others. Young people seem to be removed from real interactions with nature and they spend more time isolated from the environment and from each other. There are many causes of this growing isolation and its impact is only beginning to be understood. As a parent, teacher and outdoor educator I teach my children that all living things, including all of us, are literally made from the earth, sky, water, wind, sun and the universe and we are all connected and interdependent.

According to Richard Louv, author of “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,” within the past few decades, the way children experience nature has changed radically. Is what Louv refers to as nature-deficit disorder impacting you and your family? If so, what can you do to address it?

I believe that the best way to begin to form a healthier, active life is to just get moving outside as much as possible. With high demands on our time it is vital that we schedule time to be outdoors, active and engaged with others. I actually schedule my outside time right on my calendar so that it can’t be overlooked.

Getting outdoors benefits everyone and taking the time to provide wilderness opportunities creates learning experiences that cannot be replaced with a virtual visit. Getting very young children and even infants involved in camping, swimming, hiking, biking or paddling activities are a challenge to plan but the long term gains are impressive. Developing this active lifestyle requires some preparation and expense, but it improves a child’s quality of life and confidence from an early age.

Allowing yourself and others to get dirty, wet and sweaty should be more than okay, it should be part of the outing. I love to take my children and camp attendees through small puddles on bikes and on foot and we explore swamps and streams whenever we can. At times it’s great to just lay back on a trail and listen to the sounds of nature or catch some frogs, crayfish and fireflies.

Get rid of excuses and reasons why you or your kids can’t be outdoors and active. We’ve all used excuses for not getting outside: it’s going to rain, snow, be too hot, humid; I feel tired, sick, stressed out; it takes too much time, effort, equipment; it’s too dangerous, costly, far. Forget about why you can’t get going and simply focus on getting outside and doing it today.

Be an optimist to enjoy an outing’s challenges and difficulties – these are often what make lasting memories and fun stories! Even if I’m not feeling my best, I believe that it’s healthier to get outside. I also believe that taking in the full journey is so much more important than fixating on the planned destination or activity. If things don’t go as planned, then make the best of it to enjoy the quality time together.

As I reflect back on my childhood I now realize that one of the greatest gifts my parents gave me and my brothers were the time and permission to explore nature. My love for the outdoors started with my parents letting us play in the woods. We hiked, biked, built forts, played in the creeks and climbed trees. When dinnertime came or it was sunset, we hoped that our daily adventure would not come to an end.

They loved to get us out of the urban areas for the summer and would find campgrounds on or near small farms where we could “help” the farmers with chores and learn from them. It might sound primitive but living in a tent for a few weeks, waking up to the crow of a rooster, going to sleep with bullfrogs croaking and crickets chirping was awesome gift that I still cherish.

The Slyer family has created a way to reward each other with time, activities and “toys” that will get us outside. It’s really up to the parents to provide young children with healthy, active choices. My oldest daughter, Julia, was interested in alpine ski racing when she was a tiny tot so my wife and I found ways to make it happen for her. Now her passion for skiing engages and excites our entire family all winter long! Let your children lead a trip or game to increase their ownership. Letting our then four-year-old daughter, Caroline, lead a hike up Mount Rainier may sound crazy, but it led to a wonderful trek that brought our family up to Nickel Creek and into the snowline. As the hike progressed we realized that her leadership of this trek was more important than the hike.

Children become keen observers and notice things that they can’t learn in any other way except to experience them. Our youngest daughter, Ruby, has developed a keen sense of hearing and points out the sounds of birds that I may not even notice. The lessons of nature are infinite and are best discovered in a relaxed fashion where time constraints are not stressed and other distractions are minimized.

Although we have more ways to communicate, we are in such a technology-rich age that it’s hard to find time to really connect with ourselves, other people and nature. Technology makes our lives simpler in many ways, but it is actually isolating us and is harming our body and soul. This shift has been happening for the past twenty years at an increasing pace, but we can do something about it. All you really have to do is simply get your children outside on a regular basis. It is great fun – for kids and adults!

The key is that these active, healthy experiences in nature must not be considered an extracurricular activity. For change to happen, this sedentary lifestyle and isolation must been seen as a health and wellness issue – that wonderful things can happen for your children if you give them direct outdoor experiences. When that shift happens, I think a lot of parents will be hungry for it and will do what their instincts tell them to do. So start today and make it a regular part of your life!

John Slyer lives in Averill Park with his wife Kathy and three active girls. He is a four-time Ironman Lake Placid finisher, Sky High Triathlon race director, YMCA swim/triathlon coach and Sky High Youth Multisport Camp director.

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