Green Child Magazine Summer 2012 | Page 7

nge Summers Let Kids Be Kids |by Free Range Mama “Free range” is generally a term we use when we are looking for a healthier meat alternative, not discussing our upcoming summer holidays. But when the broad definition means "to roam freely instead of being contained" you have to allow me the rather unusual choice of terminology. Have you ever watched a child walk through a forest? Run her fingers through sand? Sit down on a soft, furry carpet of moss? Throw rocks into a pond? Build leaf boats and float them down a creek? Or lie on her back in a grassy field and make pictures out of the clouds? Have you ever just sat back and observed the intensity of imagination and the pure, unadulterated absorption of children becoming one with nature? Studies indicate that children are spending less time in nature, and are suffering more from anxiety, depression and behavioural problems than ever before. Richard Louv coined the term "Nature Deficit Disorder" in his book "Last Child In The Woods". Based on his own studies, he cla