Michele: The rise in childhood obesity, heart disease, and diabetes is a growing national crisis. The health and well-being of children is critical. Experiencing nature in early childhood can help children get on the path to a healthy and active lifestyle, and create the next generation of stewards of our natural resources and parks. The Great Park Pursuit is an Outdoor adventure game that challenges all ages to disconnect from TV and cyberspace and reconnect with open space. The biggest challenge to saving our children is reaching out and connecting with their parents. If parents don't teach or give their children the opportunities to hike to beautiful views, pitch a tent, and discover nature, the children suffer. Putting kids in front of TV is an easy way to deal with them. Some believe that for every hour of TV watched per day by preschoolers increases the likelihood by 10 percent that they will develop concentrations problems and other symptoms of attention-deficit disorders by age six or seven. Kids diagnosed with the syndrome have trouble paying attention, following directions, focusing on tasks and listening.
The Park Passport program gets kids to start exploring the parks. When visiting the parks they get their passport stamps and experience the diverse natural, cultural and recreational resources our parks offer. Richard Louv said it best - "The most effective way to connect our children to nature is to connect ourselves to nature." The No Child Left Inside, is a special initiative designed to encourage Massachusetts families to enjoy all the outdoor activities and recreational resources the state parks have to offer. Tim On Mon, Jan 4, 2010 at 5:56 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Tim, all; > > I'd heard of the "No Child Left Inside" program but didn't realize it was > a DCR program... learn something new every day! So, Tim, are you involved > with the program? just curious. Is there a specific link to access > general info about it that you could conveniently post for those of us who > want to learn more about it (notwithstanding the notion that everyone, > including me, could go through the process to find the specific link...)? > I must say that over the past two decades it seems so ridiculous to me > that so may kids seem to prefer to be inside playing video games, watching > tv, etc. When I was growing up, my friends and I always had some kind of > project going on outside somewhere that we could hardly wait to get to > when not in school or too dark outside; of course, the 'nature deficit > disorder' has also contributed to a major blowup of the population of > obese kids... > > Michele > > > > > Ed: > > > > The No Child Left Inside Initiative has been one of DCR's best programs > > during the last four years. The connection between ADHD and kids > > watching > > TV is great. Our big push is to get kids off the rugs and on the dirt so > > they can connect with nature. > > > > Its Your Nature! > > > > Tim > > > > On Sun, Jan 3, 2010 at 7:44 PM, Edward Frank <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > >> ENTS, > >> > >> We have in the past brought up the idea of Nature Deficit Disorder. > >> Tonight I am watching an episode on PBS of the program Ecosense for > >> Living > >> dealing with this issue. http://www.ecosenseforliving.com/ Featured in > >> the > >> first part of this episode is Richard Louv - author of the book, "Last > >> Child > >> in the Woods" where the term was first coined. There are four video > >> clips > >> from the episode that can e viewed online at the web address above. > >> Reconnect with > >> nature<http://www.ecosenseforliving.com/info/02_clip1.html> > >> Nature therapy for ADD & > >> ADHD<http://www.ecosenseforliving.com/info/02_clip2.html> > >> Nature and the urban > >> jungle<http://www.ecosenseforliving.com/info/02_clip3.html> > >> Try this at home! <http://www.ecosenseforliving.com/info/02_clip4.html> > >> > >> Ed Frank > >> > >> > >> http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ > >> http://primalforests.ning.com/ > >> http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=709156957 > >> > >> -- > >> Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > >> Send email to [email protected] > >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > >> To unsubscribe send email to > >> [email protected]<entstrees%[email protected]> > <entstrees%[email protected]<entstrees%[email protected]> > > > >> > > > > -- > > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > > Send email to [email protected] > > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > > To unsubscribe send email to > > [email protected]<entstrees%[email protected]> > > > > > -- > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > To unsubscribe send email to > [email protected]<entstrees%[email protected]> >
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