Wild Play

NPR's Weekend Edition interviewed Chris Palmer today—he's the author of Shooting in the Wild, the wonderful book I edited for Sierra Club Books last year. It's worth a listen—and a read!

That reminded me that I never told you about another wonderful book I did for Sierra early this summer. It's called Wild Play: Parenting Adventures in the Great Outdoors. The author is David Sobel, who is perfectly suited to write such a book: He's a father, an outdoorsman, and a professor of early childhood development and education. The book is aimed at parents who want to incorporate more nature—and, specifically, more nature play—into their kids' lives. 

Sobel makes a compelling argument that we have gotten away from nature and from allowing our children to learn how to make their own fun in the natural world. Certainly computers and TV and video games are at fault, but so is our over-reliance on organized, supervised activities. We don't let our kids just explore and invent and create anymore. We are always there to mediate and intervene and guide and direct their activities.

One problem is that kids don't know how to make decisions about appropriate risks anymore, because they are so used to looking to a grownup for the thumbs-up or -down. One extreme antidote to this idea is to teach children how to build and extinguish fires safely, how to know which plants are edible, and how to determine whether a body of water is frozen solid enough to skate over. These are important lessons, but may be daunting to some parents. But even less risky lessons present themselves daily: Let a child get dirty outside while exploring, learning about the plants and creatures that live nearby. Go swimming or skiing or camping or canoeing or hiking as a family and build memories of adventures and learning experiences. Take advantage of young children's eagerness to personify the stars and the moon, to communicate with squirrels and dogs, to imagine being a tree or a lake. 

Sobel mentions Lenore Skenazy (remember her?) and the idea that every parent ought to decide when his or her child is ready to take the next step toward being independent. Some kids are ready earlier than others, but I think in most cases kids can handle—and, indeed, should handle—more than we let them. Working on this book gave me a lot to think about in terms of my own kids. I do wish I had immersed my kids in more nature play when they were very young, but I also think I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping them "down to earth." (Yes, we are still the only family we know who doesn't have a video game system!) Granted, I would somehow feel more guilty if my kid broke a leg falling out of a tree than playing soccer, but I'm working on it. This letting go thing is not as easy as it sounds.

I'll let you know when Wild Play is published next April—I think it will be a must-read for parents.

Comments

[Katy]

This sounds like a fantastic book! Do remember if it was geared toward parents of kids of all ages or mostly older (i.e. fire-starting age) kids?

[Karen]

All of the above! The book is divided into three sections:
1. Early Childhood, which corresponds to the meadow just outside a child's home -- safe to explore and still be close to parents.
2. Middle Childhood, which corresponds to the forest -- still close to home, but a child might lose sight of home briefly and still get home safely.
3. Adolescence, which corresponds to the "rocky ridge," where children must make important decisions about risk-benefit situations, often without parents around to guide them.

[Naomi]

That book sounds like it's right up my tree! We're still in the meadow phase, but I love what my kids come up with when given the chance to just bop around outside.

Glad to know of another holdout on the video game system. We are blissfully wii-free!

[Jennifer Douglas]

The Wild Play book is out that you worked on! Can you tell us more? -Jen in San Diego