Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, has been on the Today Show.  American Profile, the newspaper magazine insert, has introduced the idea of No Child Left Inside.  Maybe we can achieve critical mass for getting our kids outdoors together.

Here's a piece written for the Williamsport Guardian on the subject last year, to give you the idea:

Bringing Nature into Play

March 2008

“My son said it was the best playdate EVER!”said one happy parent this fall…

The other afternoon, my children and I went out to play in town.  We went to two different parks and saw only one other person, plus a small dog.  Granted, it’s the end of winter.  It’s still fairly cold.  But it’s a gorgeous day.  Bright, windy, deep blue sky.  The trees are thick with potential.  A landscape holding its breath.  A world to discover outside.

We ended up flying a kite at park #2, quite successfully – even the toddler got in on the act, no one was blown away and we finished up still in possession of the kite. 

The scenario of a deserted outdoors is not uncommon these days.  Playing outdoors – specifically frequent opportunities for self-directed spontaneous outdoor play – is one of the best “activities” we can offer our children.  Studies show it’s the single most effective means of instilling a love of the natural world, an environmental ethos, that will last a lifetime.

But who has time for it these days?  Between the music classes, organized sports, dance, crafts, and a regimen of playdates, many kids hardly ever get outdoors.  And once they’re there, there’s no one to play with.

Kids like to play together.  Playdates are de rigueur.  It’s time to take the playdate outside – and time to reclaim nature as a playground.

I have written in the past about the idea of the nature preschool, where children get supervised and safe free play outdoors in all seasons with peers on a regular basis.  My son has been participating in one for the past year and a half.  But if you don’t have that option, as few do in our area, what else might you come up with?

Over the past two years a small community group in Lewisburg has been experimenting with regularly scheduled outdoor playgroups – right through the winter.  We will also be rolling out the concept through the local recreational authority (LARA) over the summer this year.  And we have offered several “All Ages Hikes” or family hikes geared more toward being outdoors in a great place in good company than to covering ground or putting another notch in anyone’s walking stick.  (This season’s SC outing is scheduled for May 10; see the outing schedule for details.)

It may seem silly or desperate to schedule time for “spontaneous play,” but it seems to me that desperate measures are in order.

We meet in public outdoor spaces that (mostly) aren’t playgrounds.  If you are going to find anyone outside these days, they will likely be at one of these purpose built sites, but those settings can so easily stifle more open-ended play options and the impetus to creativity we may all remember from kicking around an empty lot or being the now-extinct free-range child familiar up until about 20 years ago.  Some of the sites are parks.  Some are campuses.  Some are in between spaces.  The undeveloped parts of parks.  The places people who walk in the community know but the drivers don’t.  The ones you can’t come up with until you really start making a list of possibilities.  We may move to more of an outing club model for the summer when there are fewer constraints on schedules, but in winter we’ve tried to keep our sites inside our community.   Many of us can walk or bike to these sites.

There is some organizing involved and a bit of coordination.  Email or a phone tree is essential.  The site gets suggested two days in advance, with an eye to the weather forecast and the rhythm of major holidays.  And we make sure everyone understands it’s not a form of daycare.  Each child or group of siblings has to be accompanied by their caretaker.  And everyone has to sign a liability waiver.

We’ve also been developing some ground rules to help things go smoothly.  For example,  we ask that people refrain from bringing their own toys with them, which helps to minimize battles over possession.  Similarly, sports equipment is usually not something we bring out; we try to focus on natural materials and the stuff on site, finding that organized sports have already staked a clear claim to the children’s lives.  That said, we don’t want to exclude them for all time.  That means we schedule the occasional get together to include sports play or riding toys and then feel comfortable leaving those things home the rest of the time.  That’s also how playgrounds can creep into the rotation too.  Rather than making an absolute ban on them, they just become one component of the mix – and never as successful as the huge snowpile or the day of blowing leaves…

We don’t have all the kinks worked out and would love to hear if others are working along similar lines.  A great afternoon outside is a wonderful thing to share.

If you’d like more details or have suggestions for bringing nature back into play, please feel free to email at info@LocalActionPA.org or call 570.522.8159.