NEWS

Let’s get outside!

It’s early autumn, and with sunshine and crisp air, it’s time to get yourself and your family outside to enjoy it! Take A Child Outside Week is September 24 through 30, so think about great outdoor activities. Stumped? The Museum has dozens of excellent activities for you to do outdoors with your kids, starting with these!

Beth Cranford, Coordinator for the Windows on the World here at NCMNS, shares the importance of getting outside this special week and as often as possible. Beth is typically found leading activities at the Museum, like teaching children with live animals or reading stories in the Windows on the World theater. She has experience teaching all ages both inside and outdoors, and is learning new things every day from her young son:

Fresh perspectives from a new mom

“There are so many things mothers (and other caregivers) do for their children, and there’s an even longer list of all the things we’re told we should be doing. While that list of things we should or shouldn’t do is incredibly long, it’s our job to figure out what matters the most and how to make it happen.

As an early childhood environmental educator, a top priority of mine is getting my child outside as much as possible. I also realize that some parents don’t have the experiences or resources I do for making this happen. The goal of this, and future blog posts, is to share my experiences, both successful and not, so that we can learn together about outdoor parenting.

How the outdoors is beneficial

If you haven’t already read about the benefits of children spending time outside, here are a few links to get you started:

1. Infants who spend time outside in the afternoon generally sleep better at night. What parent doesn’t need that? Article: “The relationship between daytime exposure to light and night-time sleep in 6-12-week old infants”
2. Experiences are more beneficial for forming relationships than material objects (new toys), with nearby experiences being as beneficial as big trips. Article: “There’s a science to gift giving”
3. An overview of how outdoor experiences are beneficial for children’s health from the Children and Nature Network includes benefits to vision, vitamin D levels, birth weight, reduced risk of obesity and improved relationship skills. Infographic: “Nature Can Improve Health and Wellbeing” (PDF)

We really need a movement to ‘Take a Child Outside Every Day,‘ or at least to ‘Take a Child Outside Once a Week,’ so the NC Museum of Natural Sciences chooses to celebrate September 24-30 annually, as a time to “Take a Child Outside.” By encouraging outdoor time for one week, we hope to give adults ideas, resources, and support to initiate ongoing outdoor experiences.

I’ll be extending the Museum’s support by sharing my experiences and ideas as well as answering your questions year-round.  Look for future posts from me and feel free to contact me with your concerns and questions via beth.cranford@naturalsciences.org.

Your partner in getting kids outside,

Beth Cranford”

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