Resource Pages

▼

May 23, 2013

Children losing contact with outdoors... And paying for it emotionally and physically

From the National Wildlife Federation

  • Children are spending half as much time outdoors as they did 20 years ago. 


  • Today, kids 8-18 years old devote an average of 7 hours and  38 minutes using entertainment media in a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). 

  • In a typical week, only 6% of children ages 9-13 play outside on their own. 


  • Children who play outside are more physically active, more creative in their play, less aggressive and show better concentration. (Burdette and Whitaker, 

  • Sixty minutes of daily unstructured free play is essential to children's physical and mental health. 


  • The most direct route to caring for the environment as an adult is participating in "wild nature activities" before the age of 11.