In my research for my Paletas 1-2-3 school presententations I stumbled across the book Balanced & Barefoot by Angela Hanscom. She is a pediatric occupational therapist that noticed an uptick of children with gross motors skills issues (read: children were becoming clumsier). She conducted research back in 2014-2015 and published her findings in 2016.
This book can be life changing at best, lifestyle changing at least. Hanscom explains for parents, caregivers and educators exactly WHY we need children to be outside for 3 hours A DAY. And that may seem like a lot but think of it, especially on long summer days as 1.5 hour in the morning, and 1.5 hour in the evening. If children have terrible gross motor skills, their fine motors skills to hold a pencil do not stand a chance.
Spinning actually helps with focus. And schools forbid kids from spinning or standing in their swings. Then they wonder why the children cannot sit still to listen for 7 hours.
Hanscom believed in her research so much, and saw outdoor play at such a high risk of dissapearing that she quit her office job as a pedriatric occupational therapist and founded Timber Nook, an outdoor school in her area which she still leads. Hanscom realized that she could not recreate in a clinic what Timber Nook and the benefits of outdoor play amongts mixed aged groups of kids breeds. Timber Nook has branches all over the United States now, including one in San Antonio and the Austin area. Not Houston yet. But here are some great options in our area:
You can check out former Tinkergarten leaders such as Ms Amber in old Pearland. She offers outdoor classes or short summer camps! Ms Katherine in the Delores Fenwick Nature Center offers story times and nature camps (sadly already all booked, but for next summer!) The Armand Bayou Nature Center offer nature based programs for toddlers to teens! They also have summer camps & adult programs. The Houston Arboretum is another that offer nature based summer camps. If you are North of Houston, The Wild School offers a variety of programs for different ages, including nature summer camps. Camp Outback Sugar Land First Colony focuses on outdoor adventures such as zip lining, horseback riding, and hiking.
The following slides summarize Hanscom’s work. I wholly believe it is solid and true. I will write more posts on the social benefits of outdoor play, but for now, I think just realizing the phisycal detriments of keeping children indoors is enough to get the ball rolling.
You can check out Balanced & Barefoot from the library (interlibrary loan if your system does not own it), buy it from an independent store, or Amazon. You can also find Hanscom on podcasts, such as the 1,000 hours outside podcast with Ginny Yurich. Search for 1KHO 489: Why Modern Childhood Is Failing Kids’ Bodies and Brains on Spotify as well. The 1,000 hours outside website is a great source if you need convincing that going outside is helpful to your physical and mental health.
I am happy that I can contribute in a small way to this movement through Paletas 1-2-3 ! Children in Southeast Texas will be especially excited to hold a book in their hands that has flowers they see in their own backyard, park, or state park!
Paletas is a great scavenger hunt tool to host in an outdoors only play date. They can take the book as a group and search for these flowers at a park, or woods in their area, supervised but undirected by adults. Grab your copy from Dreamers Books + Culure in person, or online!
Biblioterika 