Giving your children a #naturalchildhood

Something David Bond said last weekend at a National Trust property in Sussex really struck a chord with me: that our children are free to roam in a much smaller area now than they used to be able to. I immediately thought of my childhood in Cyprus which-in my head at least- is comparable with an upbringing in 1950’s England. Outside school hours we were free to roam the local scrub-land- not much grew in the lands around our Army Quarters- on the understanding that we check in at home regularly. This was the best impetus ever for learning to tell the time: once we had a watch to tell us when to head home, we could get up to whatever we wanted. In my brother’s case that usually spelled trouble but it certainly gave us a great amount of freedom.

It’s this freedom that my girls just don’t have. We live a few minutes from Bromley South station, only 8 miles from Central London, and a long way from Cyprus in the mid-1980’s. My girls are free to roam in our garden- larger than most at about 120 feet long- and that is all. We go to the park, their school, swimming lessons, in the car.Even the dog gets for a walk in the car. There is little alternative: we live on a busy road, they are pre-schoolers and therefore too young to go out by themselves, and frankly I am a nervous parent. Names like Madeleine, Jamie, April and Milly haunt my dreams. Stories of stabbings on London, drugs being offered to primary-school-aged children and attempted abductions in nearby Sydenham are enough to give me palpitations.

On the other hand, I don’t want my children growing up believing that eggs come from wheat. Neither do I want to keep them cooped up inside all day long when there is so much benefit to being outside. I want them to know that pleasure can come from a walk in the fields and not a purchase on the internet. I want them to have the practical skills to be able to find shelter and food in the event of some kind of disaster or other. And as children of someone with a tendency to depression, I want them to get as much sunlight and endorphins as they can growing up so that- God willing- they won’t have to live with such a stupid and frustrating illness.

Which brings me back to David and his Project Wild Thing: a cinema documentary about nature, evolution and the future of childhood. He showed us some clips from the film this weekend at Nymans which gave a group of fellow bloggers and I the chance to talk about how to encourage our kids away from the screens and out into the open air. Whilst we chatted, DH and The Girls made bird feeders from pine cones, sculpted mud creations and explored the grounds with the staff at Nymans and Play England. Reunited, we all pitched in whilst Rob Cowen taught us how to build a den and we toasted marshmallows.

The joy on all the children’s faces as they managed these things (mostly) independently, made me realise more than any statistics, how important outdoor time is. They relished their day, and slept all the way home. When you think that we are third on the list of the worst countries in the developed world for getting children outside and playing, it makes me more determined not to be *that* parent. I am lucky that DH is a reasonably active person: he likes to get out and do things and so we do beach walks and camping trips and dog walking with our children on a regular basis. This was brought home to me last year when  I was taking part in the Project 366 linky run by The Boy and Me. There were very few weeks that my selection of photographs wasn’t eligible for the Country Kids linky at Coombe Mill, which is specifically set up to encourage us to get outdoors and enjoy the fresh air with our children. It’s satisfying to know that my kids may well go against the trend that currently exist. Wouldn’t it be great to see all our children enjoy the outdoors more regularly than they enjoy the indoors?

 

 *disclosure: the DG family were invited to enjoy a day-including lunch and activities- at Nyman’s as the guest of the National Trust and our children were given goodie bags to take home. All opinions are our own.*