Family & Education

7 Minutes Outside: Reconnecting Kids With Nature

The crunch of leaves, hum of insects, and cool touch of running water offer children a sensory-rich world that screens can never replicate.
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7 Minutes Outside: Reconnecting Kids With Nature
Spending time outdoors has been linked to improved mental health and emotional resilience in children. Even simple activities are valuable. Halfpoint Images/Getty Images
Walker Larson
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Instilling a love for nature in children from a young age is one of the best gifts you can give them. But it’s a gift that’s becoming rarer and rarer. A 2015 report from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research unearthed a troubling statistic: The average American child spends just seven minutes per day in unstructured outdoor play. That marks a 50 percent decrease in just 20 years.

This is concerning for many reasons.

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Walker Larson
Walker Larson
Author
Before becoming a freelance journalist and culture writer, Walker Larson taught literature and history at a private academy in Wisconsin, where he resides with his wife and daughter. He holds a master’s in English literature and language, and his writing has appeared in The Hemingway Review, Intellectual Takeout, and his Substack, The Hazelnut. He is also the author of two novels, “Hologram” and “Song of Spheres.”