Fall is a beautiful time of year to be outside and experience all that this changing season has to offer. The research and our own experiences with nature shows us how being outside in nature can provide us with the “just right” experience to engage and calm our sensory systems.
The visual system is calmed with the hues of green and brown and the beauty of pops of colour from changing leaves and flowers.
The tactile or touch system is heightened as we feel bumpy bark on the tree trunk or glades of grass between our fingers or toes.
Our auditory system hears sounds of birds, wind moving through the trees and sometimes just no sound at all.
Our movement and balance systems are challenged and strengthened by the uneven surfaces and textures we are walking on and opportunities to swing on a branch or climb a tree.
For our sense of smell, nature offers mild, not overwhelming fragrances. Together, the experience of nature has a calming effect on our sensory systems for both children and adults alike.
With the increasing use of screen time in homes and schools, time in nature and exercise for children is decreasing, while the research points to increasing rates of obesity, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, depression, ADHD and even migraine headaches among young children.
The term “Vitamin N” deficiency was coined by Richard Louv the co-founder of the Children and Nature Network and author of multiple books about children and nature including: “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,” “The Nature Principle,” and “Vitamin N”.
Many doctors and pediatric therapists are prescribing nature as the needed remedy.Let’s get back to the basics and back to nature and all its wonderful benefits for our children and ourselves.
Happy Fall!
Additional Reading
Dr. Lawrence Rosen outlines the research and his prescription for nature in an article entitled “The Whole Child: A Pediatrician recommends the Nature Prescription”
