Columbus area celebrates kickoff of Explore the Outdoors and Family Nature Clubs

Increased focus on the health benefits of free play in nature spur new programs

(Columbus, OH) – More and more studies are concluding that free play in nature is a cheap and simple treatment for many recent childhood ills, including obesity, childhood depression, attention disorders and more.

Today’s children spend hours a day plugged into electronic devices or otherwise kept indoors. Many factors conspire to keep kids from the childhood their parents or grandparents experienced: hours-long stretches of free play in neighborhood parks, yards and forests.

To help, two major programs are working together, beginning in April.

1. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is launching its second year of Explore the Outdoors, a guidebook of outdoor activities children can complete over the summer to qualify for prizes. www.exploretheoutdoorsohio.com  These booklets are being distributed to schoolchildren across Ohio.
2. The Children & Nature Network, represented in Columbus by the Leave No Child Inside Central Ohio Collaborative, has announced its new Family Nature Club model. A simple toolkit is available for free, which will help any family turn a regular weekly or monthly nature outing into a club or playdate with other families or friends. www.childrenandnature.org

More and more families, teachers and health workers are seeing how far removed today’s children are from a “normal” childhood, where kids learn about their world, learn to play with others, and work off energy by walking, climbing and playing in fields, forests and grass—or even in their own yards.

• See the Explore the Outdoors colorful pocket guide.
• Watch families and neighborhood groups gather for hikes, picnics, fishing and more IN COLUMBUS.  (Example: Preschool in the Garden: Colors of the Season program at Inniswood Gardens, TODAY 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.)
• Interview program leaders.
• Interview members of the citizen’s movement called Leave No Child Inside, which is bringing together health, education, conservation, city planning, and parenting groups to get kids back outside.

Media contact: Alice Hohl  614-440-6475  alice@alicehohl.com