How does one cultivate the outdoor lifestyle? It is essential for well-being–both for your children and yourself. However, it’s not just about leaving the house to go somewhere. Rather is about going outside for the sake of being outside.
If you are reading our blog, chances are that I don’t need to convince you of this fact. So I won’t waste too many words on preaching to the choir. Perhaps if you live on a full-time operational farm, you already have outside time easily integrated into family life. However, many other families who desire this as well have to be a bit more conscientious about it. Here are some following thoughts concerning this deeply-held principle of mine.
Every kind of Weather is the perfect Weather.
We all have our ideal weather for being outside. At this point, I’d be flooded with a chorus of everyone saying Autumn is their favorite season. But many of us all too easily fall into this trap of developing a strong preferences concerning the different kinds of weather. As we get older, we decide we like only this kind of weather and we hate that kind of weather. Before you know it, we have wasted a good deal of our life waiting for the perfect weather. We forget that we were actually created to live outdoors in all kinds of hot, dry, cold and wet. Not accustomizing ourselves to the different weather conditions is doing us no favors.
The usual Scandinavian adage is that there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong type of clothing. Whether really hot or frigidly cold and anywhere in-between, the trick is about moving at the rhythm of the weather–and dress appropriately for it.
The Right to Roam as Every Man’s Right
There is one thing (of several things) that I am a bit jealous of:
In the Scandinavian countries, there is a unique law called the allemansrätten, or every man’s right. Essentially, it is the recognized right for anyone to wander in nature–whether it be on public or private land. This is actually one of the oldest laws in these countries. The right actually probably stretches back into ancient times where it was recognized as unofficial common practice, before government legislation enshrined it as a law. Generally, the law allows for camping, foraging, and off-trail wandering. Just think what this kind of right can do to cultivate the outdoor lifestyle?
The Outdoor Lifestyle as every Child’s Right
There is a big difference between getting in your vehicle to drive somewhere in order to go hike, as opposed to going out your door on foot. One takes more planning and is a bit of a day event. The other is spur of the moment. I was lucky enough in the part of my childhood in the Northwoods to be able to do that. Most of the land around us was still owned by relatives and acquaintances–all descendants of the original homesteaders. Without compunction, I could wander through woods and fields at will. With a child’s imagination fueled by stories like the Chronicles of Narnia and the Germanic sagas, this ability to wander was an enormous pillar to my formation. I realise now how much more of a privilege than a guaranteed right that was for me.
And a child ought to have the right to roam in Nature. But how does one cultivate the outdoor lifestyle when you don’t have that luxury of immediate land access? The reality is that all the conscientious parent can do is provide the best opportunity for them as much as possible. Obviously it will look different for every family. We live on a half acre property next to a noisy highway. However we found a creek that runs through a tunnel under the highway to allow us public access to go explore the river on the other side of the highway. This has been one of the most exciting things in my children’s lives at this point in life.
Ignite your Child’s Sense of Adventure
Here are some important elements of outdoor life I remember from my own childhood. These elements I encourage in my own children.
A Purpose for the Quest: Give them something to look for. Foraging (depending on the season) is a great reason to go on a quest. A good Winter activity is looking for and identifying the different kinds of animal spoor left in the snow.
Adventuring Equipment: a satchel or hiking bag to bring their essential outdoor gear and bring back what treasures they find. You’d amazed at how many treasures out in the wild there actually are!
A sturdy walking stick: very important. Great for walking up slopes testing ice and leaping over ditches and creeks, and general wacking of things.
Name their Discoveries: There is an innate sense in a child to bestow names upon the landscapes and features. It establishes a sense of fond familiarity and even a noble sense of ownership between Man and Land. When I was a kid in Venezuela, there was one mountain just outside town that I dubbed “Compass Mountain”. This was because I could always determine my location in town by looking at the mountain. Another one I named “Dragon Mountain” because I thought looked like a giant serpentine dragon lying stretched out on the landscape.
Maps: Lastly, a great craft project for your young explorers is to draw maps of their discoveries.
All I can say more that it is a blessing to be able to relive the imagination of wonder and exploration through the eyes of the next generation! I thank God that it is a good outlet for the part of me that never really “grew up”.
~ Nathanael
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