TGSG Note: Parks are such a rich part of my childhood memories, and are still very much a refuge for me today. I am thrilled to have Nancy Heltman from Virginia State Parks stop by and share this post with us. Nancy is a great advocate for connecting kids and all of us with nature. I grew up in Virginia, so these beautiful patches of the planet hold special meaning for me.
See ya outside! ~ The Grass Stain Guru
I am hard pressed to resurrect a childhood memory related to being inside. Far and away the most memorable times are keyed to having fun outdoors. From simple treats like lying on my back in the grass and watching the clouds, feeding the ducks at Ridgway Park, flying kites at Gosnold’s Hope Park, visits to Buckroe Beach, family vacations in the Great Smoky Mountains, Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Shenandoah National Parks; having fun outdoors is what I remember.
I trace the legacy of the love of playing outdoors to my parents. My mother celebrates her eighty-fifth birthday this month and often talks about her childhood growing up in New Jersey. New Jersey, often maligned for industrial areas near New York City, has great community parks and beautiful places that earn its motto “The Garden State.” Growing up, my mother was always within walking distance of a local park. She reminisces about ice skating in the winter and playing year-round in these parks with one or more of her younger siblings. During my childhood I stayed with relatives in New Jersey during the summer and still remember the many parks in walking distance.
Growing up in Hampton, Virginia, we had parks but not within walking or biking distance from where I lived. My mother worked during the week so my favorite weekends were spent at Ridgway Park and later Gosnold’s Hope Park and Buckroe Beach in the summer. My father introduced us to National Parks on family vacations and also instilled in us a love for outdoor fun like fishing, hunting and horseback riding.
My seven year old nephew does not play outside. He has a nice backyard with fun play equipment but he prefers watching TV and playing computer games. What will he remember of his childhood when he reaches the half a century mark? At seven I spent daylight hours outside jumping rope, playing hopscotch, riding my bike. I remember making a tent fort out of the clothes line and trapping lightning bugs in old mayonnaise jars.
Those of us in Parks and Recreation have rallied around Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. We already knew about the demise of free play but Louv’s book reached a broader audience and started a movement well overdue. It has inspired partnerships and major campaigns to counteract the addiction to the indoors and changes in society that have reinforced the behavior. Just last week our National Parks, America’s State Parks (via the National Association of State Park Directors) and local parks (through the National Recreation and Park Association) forged an alliance to work together to help reconnect children with nature.
Watching the Ken Burns series on National Parks it is clear that those behind the movement that created our National and State park systems had incredible foresight. Love for the beauty of nature and need to protect the wild places in this country spawned the National Park movement and America’s system of state parks. Local communities skimp and save to provide parks and recreation to its citizens. But what will be the fate of these special places if our children do not develop a love for the outdoors and the natural world?
While nature experiences certainly start in the backyard, more and more suburbia represents overly cultivated lawns and very little of what is wild about the natural world. City dwellers have the additional challenge of even finding the grass. In other words, today’s at home opportunities to experience nature outdoors are of very little interest to children when compared with multi-media experiences indoors. I grew up in suburbia and often escaped to the more wild “woods” and a marvelous borrow pit lake that freaked my parents out when they discovered I had been there. Today more than ever our local, state or national parks are the best place, if not only place, to celebrate the wild places still accessible to the general public.
Working for Virginia State Parks [http://www.virginiastateparks.gov] I love hearing the stories from adults about their visits to our state parks as children and how they are bringing their children to the same parks today. This is a legacy that your children remember and pass on for generations. If you are blessed with local parks or can work to develop them, your children will thank you. If not, spend vacations and weekends celebrating the fun you can have in simple play and outdoors. Help your children make the memories they will look back on in their adult years.
Guest Blogger Bio: Nancy Heltman is Operations Director for Virginia State Parks. While she has always loved the outdoors, she stumbled into her career in State Parks after fifteen years in private sector management. She lives in Yorktown, Virginia with her husband, David, mother, four cats and three dogs. While her job involves all of the boring indoor park stuff like budget, procurement and paperwork, her responsibilities for volunteerism and marketing give her the chance to visit Virginia’s great state parks. She is their social media guru, so follow her on Twitter or read their blog.
Nancy, I agree with you. My best childhood memories are of outdoor times. They weren’t in the sterile lawns of suburbia, but on the beaches or in the weedy patches where wild things live.
I advocate both local, accessible parks and backyard nature, through planting native plants and trees. I’d like to see changes in city planning to allow for accessible green space. New Jersey sounds like a good example to be followed elsewhere.
Alison Kerr´s last blog ..Chasing the Beauty of Red Maples in Kansas
What a wonderful post and a reminder to parents everywhere. Give your children the gift of nature! Kids don’t need a bunch of stuff, they need to be exposed to the magic of our planet.
Wendy´s last blog ..WDAY Green Tip #16 – Healthy Indoor Air
This is so true! I remember those long summer days when we would play outside from the time we got up until my mother put the porchlight on signaling us to come home for dinner. Being in the midwest with the soft grass we literally would without putting shoes on. When the fall came we would help rake leaves knowing that we could jump off the picnic table into the pile.
During school I worked hard and earned lots of trophies and acheivements. While that may have gotten me into college, I don’t have any fond memories like that of being outside.
Thanks, ladies. I love this post. I am just heartbroken when I hear that kids don’t get outside any more or about all of their indoor, plugged in play. I can’t imagine what childhood memories they will make — if any.
Did everybody see my mom's guest post at the Grass Stain Guru? I am so proud! http://bit.ly/XYvuT #WoofWednesday thanks to @balmeras
RT @VAStateParks Overwhelmed by the RTs for my guest post at @balmeras ' Grass Stain Guru http://bit.ly/XYvuT < It's a GREAT post, Nancy!
RT @balmeras: RT @VAStateParks Overwhelmed by the RTs for my guest post at @balmeras http://bit.ly/XYvuT < It's a GREAT post, Nancy!
Thank you all for the wonderful comments. When I wrote the part about my nephew, I felt pretty guilty. He just lives in the next town over so I need to help do something about introducing him to nature!
For the night shift: What Will Your Children Remember? http://bit.ly/XYvuT
Rt @balmeras: For the night shift: What Will Your Children Remember? http://bit.ly/XYvuT
What Will Your Children Remember? | The Grass Stain Guru: While nature experiences certainly start in the backy.. http://bit.ly/1o9LcR
What Will Your Children Remember? from the Grass Stain Guru: http://bit.ly/3YH2Om via @balmeras
RT @BAlmeras For the night shift: What Will Your Children Remember? http://bit.ly/XYvuT #playoutdoors
RT @OakleighVermont RT @BAlmeras For the night shift: What Will Your Children Remember? http://bit.ly/XYvuT #playoutdoors
RT @OakleighVermont: RT @BAlmeras For the night shift: What Will Your Children Remember? http://bit.ly/XYvuT #playoutdoors
A lot of my childhood memories have to do with being outdoors. We used to holiday at the coast (Australian coast, as I’m an Aussie) every year, catching fish and crabs, collecting shells, chasing skinks – not very state park friendly perhaps? I think it is so important to help your children make a connection to the natural world. And when I think over the games we played and what we did it doesn’t seem so hard to acheive for my children (perhaps with a little more “standing nearby” supervision than we had though).
Catherine´s last blog ..what can we do with water (at home)