Nature Deficit Disorder spawns Leave No Child Inside movement

Our 3-year-old daughter has a very special life. I say that because the facts show that children who play outdoors have healthier, happier lives, and we apply that truth to her lifestyle. Our daughter knows what the rain feels like on her face. She knows how a caterpillar tickles as it crawls on her hand. She knows that trees have roots which go deep into the soil, and that lawns have thistles which can get stuck into little bare feet. She has watched birds in flight and has marveled at their joyous sounds. She plays with sticks and rocks, grass and sand, mud and worms.

Not all children are as lucky as our little girl. Many children don't have adequate opportunities to physically experience the world of nature they live in. However, there's a movement, which began gaining momentum around 2005, which aims at reconnecting children with the fundamentals of a natural world which their parents and grandparents knew so well.

The Leave No Child Inside movement is gaining new exposure, revelation and respect. It recognizes the fact that we are natural beings, and that we all need to remain mentally and physically connected to our natural world. Author Richard Louv, provided national exposure to the concept with his immensely popular book, Last Child in the Woods. It was he who originated the term: Nature Deficit Disorder.