How Small Groups of Older Kids Might Benefit

I published this post at Rainlilies.substack.com but wanted to make sure you could see it here.

I want to lead one or more groups for older children, walking through our woods and prairies, finding wonder, and feeling at home among trees and grasses. I have taken parents and children on walks like that, and I often lead groups of adults out into one or two of our nearby nature preserves. What is the attraction, for me and more importantly for the kids, in doing such a thing? Is there some benefit other than learning a couple of facts? And will kids want to go along on such walks?

Some of you will have read one or more of Richard Louv’s books (Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle are the ones I’m familiar with). If so, these questions and their possible answers are not new to you. Louv came up with the phrase “nature deficit disorder,” not as an actual diagnosis but as a way of talking about how children used to spend more time in nature and would benefit from doing that again now. I agree wholeheartedly.

I’ll offer myself as an example, and maybe I’m representative of how a lot of kids might benefit. In the 1960s, on most days during summer break I was at the creek or at a museum in Fort Worth. My parents took me to the museum for their “Natural History Club” because I had developed an interest in snakes. From there I was introduced to the creek and its harmless water snakes, ribbon snakes, turtles, frogs, bluegill sunfish … and the list could go on. I got acquainted with armadillos, spotted skunks, crayfish, and copperheads, with friendly guidance (and hands-off supervision with those copperheads) from John Preston and then Rick Pratt at the museum. 

And so I was outside in nature somewhere quite a bit, either on field trips with the museum or with friends in some nearby place. After a time, I felt most at home in the prairies, woods, and wetlands of North Texas. My home with my family was fine; I was not escaping from anything. It’s just that being outside in nature was familiar and felt safe and free with something new and fascinating around each bend in the trail. I knew how to wade or swim, where was safe to climb up a hillside and not fall, and how to investigate a hollow log or rock ledge without getting bitten or stung.

In other words, I became physically competent in those places, developed problem-solving and creative skills, experienced wonder, and had a few homes away from home that I could always count on, regardless of the ups and downs of school and society. Do those things seem important? They meant the world to me.

Some people would say that the world has changed so much that those experiences are now unworkable and maybe dangerous. And it is true that in the last fifty years, kids’ freedom to explore neighborhoods and parks on their own has been restricted by loving parents guarding against malignant strangers, traffic, and any number of hazards. Richard Louv makes the case, with logic and statistics, that we have overreacted. Others agree with him, but even if we wanted to return to the way it used to be, we’re not sure how much to ease up and still be responsible parents. 

And so I would like to see kids have some supervised time in nature in which exploration and discovery can take place in a small group. It would not be freewheeling like some of my days at the creek, but more like the museum outings in which an adult could not only offer some guardrails but also help interpret and explain what we were finding among the trees, grasses, and ponds.

A growing number of studies have explored how time in nature benefits our bodies and minds. Many of them document lowered blood pressure and other cardiovascular benefits. Some show decreases in the stress hormone cortisol, and some document boosts to the immune system. Another gift from nature concerns how our attention systems can be restored. One group of researchers emphasizes how our executive attention, keeping us on task and dealing with multitasking, can become exhausted in today’s world. The kinds of experiences we have in nature turn out to be very good at letting that part of our attention system recover. 

Further benefits have been documented in mood and stress. After walks in nature, people often experience improved mood and less ruminative thoughts (the angry, guilty, or shame-based thoughts that can get stuck in an endless loop). Anxiety may be diminished. 

Such benefits are needed by a lot of our kids. A 2023 survey of kids in grades 9-12 showed 39.7% of those children with persistent sadness and hopelessness, and 20.4% had seriously considered suicide (this was a CDC study you can find here). That is, on average, one in five kids in those grades at some point thinking in a serious way about killing themselves. Another study found that between 2016 and 2020, there was an increase in anxiety and depression among kids up to age 17, as well as decreases in exercise and in the emotional well-being of parents. Those unfortunate trends with the children were occurring before the Covid pandemic began (this was in a JAMA Pediatrics study you can see here).

The benefits of nature are there for anyone, and may be especially helpful for those who struggle with stress, anxiety, or a number of other issues. I’m not suggesting it is a cure-all, and it’s no substitute for therapy when the issues are severe, but it can make a difference. 

The walks I would like to lead for older kids, just like the other walks I currently lead, would not be offered as therapy. Their purpose would be to make a healthy life richer and fuller, and to make health challenges less likely. 

Would kids want to go on such walks? To some extent it depends on kids’ comfort level when out in some place that is a little bit wild, and whether the walk includes fascination and active discovery. A lot would depend on children’s interests, preferences, and temperament. I’ll explore that question below.

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Is Nature Boring?

After writing about my interest in taking older kids on nature walks, I said I wanted to follow up on was whether kids (or adults) would stay engaged and interested, or might they become bored. How do people maintain their interest and stay “present” to what nature offers? Let’s start by considering what nature does give to anyone who notices.

Every place in nature offers multiple levels of beauty and fascination, whether in the delicate, concentric rings of a shelf fungus, the color and structure of flowers, the call of a bird, or the flowing, muscular movement of a snake moving among rocks and fallen branches. Being fully present means noticing as much as we can and not being distracted by external things that can wait. When we bring knowledge and understanding to what we are experiencing, we may know that the fungus is helping return wood to the soil and that the color and shape of flowers is to attract pollinators like bees, wasps, and flies. One thing connects to another and another, and there is so much to imagine and think about.

Equally important, we can wonder about things that we don’t yet know. How can the snake coordinate movements to push forward and not just thrash around? Can all those pollinating insects see the flower’s color (and maybe some of the light spectrum that we cannot see, like ultraviolet)? Later, we look for answers that will add to our understanding.

Our adaptable brain

Does spending time in nature sound like a good idea except that it would be hard to stay focused and not get bored? If so, you (or your kids) would not be alone. We are a society of multitaskers and screen-watchers. We live at a time when working two jobs (just two?) may be necessary and our phones are with us everywhere we go. And our brain adapts to our habits and activities. If we live a life of constant input and multitasking, that builds a brain that expects it and even wants it. 

Imagine all those neurons firing in response to rapidly shifting stimuli and a flood of information. And here’s an insight from neurology and psychology: “Neurons that fire together, wire together.” The parts of the brain that get lots of use become stronger, while areas that are not used a great deal have fewer connections. If our brain is wired for high stimulation, then in quieter times we may feel bored and restless, as if there’s not enough going on.

If you would like to be able to slow down when you are in the woods or at the pond, there is some good news – the brain can change in the other direction, too. The brain has the ability, called “brain plasticity,” to rewire itself in response to patterns of stimulation and activity. There are limits to this plasticity, but to some degree, our restlessness might begin to decrease if we practice being still and noticing things while in nature. A good strategy is to start small and easy, and find ways to make it enjoyable to notice things. Sometimes games like nature-based scavenger hunts may give kids or adults a structure for focusing on nature.

Attention

To talk about boredom we need to talk about what seems like its opposite – paying attention. When we notice something, choosing that thing to look at or listen to and letting everything else become background, we are paying attention to it. We may shift our attention often or we might stick with it for a while if we have a long enough attention span. There is some reason to think our attention spans are becoming shorter. I wonder if that is related to the fast-paced, multitasking lives I referred to above. 

We can think of paying attention as a skill which develops during childhood. For example, by kindergarten age, most children can sit through fifteen minutes of circle time or listen to a couple of picture books, and by grades 4 or 5, they can usually spend between 30 and 60 minutes in homework (as reported in Dawson & Guare’s Smart but Scattered, 2009, Guilford). It is up to us to meet the child where s/he is for age and ability, and to encourage the child in a positive way.

Does it take effort to pay attention? Yes. Researchers describe two types of attention – one that requires effort to direct our attention and shut out distractions, sometimes called “executive attention,” and another that seems to respond pretty effortlessly to some things that are inherently interesting or attractive. Stephen Kaplan and his colleagues say that our executive or directed attention becomes exhausted and needs opportunities for recovery. Their research says that nature can play a role in this. What we experience among trees, water, sunsets, and such things offer what Kaplan calls “soft fascination.” That uses a kind of attention that is not particularly effortful and does not trigger the executive attention system to concentrate on something to the exclusion of other things.

Boredom

“Bored” can mean different things at different times. Sometimes “I’m bored” is what we say when we would like things to move faster in a more interesting way. At other times “bored” is probably about our preference for something different – “what’s going on is not what I wanted.” Boredom is a signal that we are not finding what is in front of us to be meaningful, and so we need to either change our surroundings or else see if we can discover meaning in our surroundings.

Sometimes a feeling of boredom is about brain chemistry. When we see something we like, or hear something interesting on television, or successfully respond to a challenge, our brain gets a little bit of dopamine, which feels good. If nothing is happening, maybe nothing is stimulating the release of this “feel good” neurotransmitter. Since dopamine is linked to pleasure and reward, when it gets low we may feel like nothing is fun, things seem gray and blah. At its worst, when we are stuck in boredom our mood may become depressed or irritable, we become impatient, and we might also feel slowed and drained of energy.

Is there anything at all good in being bored? Maybe. If we can respond to boredom by finding something meaningful and useful in our situation, we become better at coping with boredom. Lacking something to do may be a helpful trigger for us to learn to be flexible and creative. And that would suggest that we should not always rescue children from boredom. Maybe we can support them in finding other ways to respond to the surroundings that currently seem boring.

Temperament

Each person is a little different when it comes to their need for stimulation and activity. Some are more restless and become bored more easily than others. These qualities are, to one extent or another, part of who we are over the years. One person may be more adaptable while someone else is more rigid. We all know people who are outgoing and comfortable with some risk, just as we know people who are more inhibited and cautious. These things are part of our temperament. And so it’s not surprising that some people find it easier to sit quietly and take in their surroundings, while others seem to need shifting, high-energy stimulation or else they become bored.

Even these relatively stable traits can shift when the person is motivated and regularly engages in practices that can bring about change. A person who is ordinarily restless can become more comfortably still and quiet, at least to some extent. To work on this, it is best to start by choosing easier and shorter activities with lots of points of interest. If a parent tries to enforce more challenging activities as a required lesson, hoping the child will somehow shift from uncomfortable compliance to joyful engagement, they are likely to be disappointed. We have to start by meeting them where they are.

Emotions and trauma

A history of trauma, anxiety or depression sometimes makes it harder to be quiet and contemplative in nature. Being in a new place and simply taking in the experience might feel unsafe, like waiting for something to happen. Sometimes people feel that constant distractions help shut out troubling thoughts, and if they get quiet it opens the door to let all those worries and memories in. Such discomfort can also change with practice and time, but each person has to decide what their tolerance is and what support they need in order to venture into what might seem like unsafe territory.

In situations such as those, there is a need to consider whether psychotherapy can help. In my earlier post I mentioned that time in nature is very often helpful for depression and anxiety, but not necessarily a substitute for therapy. A person for whom trauma, depression, or anxiety are issues could think about how to create enough safety for nature to be the comfortable and secure refuge that it can be. Maybe it’s taking someone along for quiet companionship, or maybe it’s choosing the right spot, weather, and time of day. 

The bottom line

Every person has a different level of comfort, interest, and motivation to do things that are quiet and involve paying attention. The capacity to pay attention (vs. experience boredom) changes with age and development, and it also varies according to the person’s inborn temperament. These things can change to one degree or another, especially if the person is motivated and they experience some success and enjoyment when they work on it.

Time spent in nature can help recharge our attentional abilities as well as lower stress, anxiety, and depression. However, it is important to respect a person’s interests and capabilities. I never want to take any child or adult on a walk if they don’t want to go or the demands of the walk will be higher than their ability to benefit from it. 

I would like very much to hear your thoughts about this. Maybe you’re a parent or relative, or maybe you’re a kid with a point of view about what you like or do not like about nature. You can reply to this post and tell us what you think!