Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own).
– Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

An online article on the UC Davis Health website reminds us of the importance of prioritizing time in nature. It outlines these benefits, confirmed by research studies:

1. Nature can help us improve our thinking, reasoning, and other mental abilities.
2. Nature can improve physical wellness.
3. Being outside can improve your mental health.

The article quotes a research study from Denmark focused on children that “examined 900,000 residents born between 1985 and 2003. They found that children who lived in neighborhoods with more green space had a reduced risk of mental disorders later in life.”

Here’s more from Richard Louv:

“An environment-based education movement — at all levels of education — will help students realize that school isn’t supposed to be a polite form of incarceration, but a portal to the wider world.”