Children just naturally want to discover new and wondrous things about the world around them and having opportunities to see and experience the outdoors is a critical part of that learning.
I believe that children will grow up to have a love for nature and a deep caring for the world if they are exposed to the outdoors (ideally with their parents) for at least for some part of their childhood. It is very rewarding to see children’s uninterrupted self-learning in action, however it is not so pleasant when someone has to clean up after them! I should know, I have been a daycare provider for over 30 years:)
I hope and pray that in this world of faster and faster technology, that the simplest pleasures of childhood do not get tossed aside for the nowadays habit of handing a child a cell phone to play with. Learning respect and awe of our immense world and all it encompasses cannot be found inside any flashing screen, whether it is 70 inches or a tiny 7.
Learning a healthy respect and love for this world means experiencing the infinite “bigness” and joy of it while feeling the minute “smallness” of yourself. And children can only wonder at it’s spectacular beauty and the pleasure it can bring when their tiny bodies are outside in it.
Playing outdoors is an unique experience that no screen can emulate. Whether it is playing under giant trees with their colorful leaves falling down all around, under a massive sky filled with rolling dark clouds or watching the gentle softness of one of a kind snow flakes. There is no photographic media that can capture the feeling of the warmth from our stellar Sun or the marvel that comes from seeing sparkling diamond stars in the blackness of space. No cell phone can stir the spirit like the sound of a flock of migrating geese as they fly high over your head on their way to some mysterious place.
The beauty of our world can only truly be enjoyed when you are absorbed body, soul and mind in the brilliance of creation itself.