All of Life is Education: The Skills that Nature Builds

[Editor’s Note: This article is one of three in a series looking at all of life as education. Daily activities during the months of academic studies and of summer are all building the skills and character of children. Read and consider these extremely practical articles as we move steadily into reflecting on the past academic year while planning for the next. Be encouraged. What you do EVERY day is truly education.]

There are so many benefits to being outdoors. Nature automatically encourages occupations, also known as engaging in activities a person wants or needs to do. Research shows participating in any meaningful outdoor activity can benefit mental health by improved wellbeing and resilience as well as positive effects on mood, concentration, self-discipline, and physiological stress. Nature/outdoor activities can also specifically target motor, processing, and social skills. There are many options to consider.

Here is just one example: kayaking.

Some motor skills are:

• Rotating and strengthening the core
• Coordinating the upper body
• Strengthening grasp
• Building endurance

Some process skills are:

• Persisting throughout the entire trip
• Using the paddles as directed
• Attending to safety
• Initiating each step and continuing until completion
• Navigating through an unfamiliar environment
• Responding to problems or unexpected circumstances

Sometimes, the social skills encouraged in a new, safe, exciting area are the best part. Recently, when I took my nine-year-old on our kayak, we talked about his progress this school year, memories from the past, and even directly about how to have a conversation. My nine-year-old dropped the knowledge bomb, “Mom, everything we see on TV or on my iPod gets out of date. But being outside never does.” So true, kiddo, nature builds relationships on something that can never get old!!

Resources:

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001

Schweitzer JP., Gionfra S. (2018) Nature-Based Education for Resilient Cities. In: Azeiteiro U., AKERMAN M., Leal Filho W., Setti A., Brandli L. (eds) Lifelong Learning and Education in Healthy and Sustainable Cities. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69474-0_21