A toy can be a wonderful thing for a child, and as we
approach the Holiday Season, toys may be the first thing on the minds of
children everywhere. Toys can be a
source of inspiration, entertainment, creative play, family togetherness, and
the development of cognitive reasoning, social and fine motor skills. The question I am pondering today is: Do toys
need to come at the expense of time spent in nature?
Looking again at that list of benefits, I see no reason that
nature cannot do the same. In fact, I
have witnessed this to be true during my time with Nevada Outdoor School as
well as in my personal life.
However, there is an advertisement that was run by Toys ‘R’
Us® recently that might suggest otherwise.
You can watch that ad here: Toys R Us Ad
Many of us in the outdoor education profession are quite
disappointed that Toys ‘R’ Us® chose to run this. What a great opportunity for a group of
children, providing them with a toy of their choosing, but what benefit comes
from taking a shot at outdoor education and time spent in nature?
Outdoor education is certainly not boring as these smiling
faces will attest too:
 |
| Adventure Camp II |
In addition to having fun, studies show that these children
will have greater academic success, lowered risk for childhood obesity and
related diseases, improvement in attention disorders and stronger social
skills. Their time outdoors has
increased the impact of what they learn in the classroom and helped to make
solid connections to topics in science and ecology. Nevada Outdoor School’s programming is
engaging, hands-on and inquiry based. We
tend to sing songs on the bus as opposed to memorizing photos of leaves.
There is a lot more that could be said about all of this. We could turn it into a big battle between
commercialism and the environment, or comment on the billions of dollars spent
marketing to children each year to the point where their ability to recall
corporate brands and logos is astounding.
However, I think a simple conclusion is best: Toys can be great,
spending time in nature is great, both should be a part of every child’s life
and they don’t need to compete.
