My child always stays at home during holidays. How should we let him get in touch with the outside world?

01

Nowadays, adults basically cannot live without mobile phones and computers, and electronic products have also become an indispensable part of children's lives.

A three-year-old baby plays with an iPad with very fast hands; a six- or seven-year-old child takes selfies and has fun playing a small game; a primary school student plays Exciting Battlefield and King of Glory, and his level is no better than that of an adult People are bad at playing; middle school students, high school students, and stars from variety shows are all familiar.

Everyone only has so much time. If they use it to play games on their mobile phones, they will naturally not be able to read, study or be in contact with nature.

The people who go out for a walk in the square are usually the elderly and children below elementary school. Writer Sanmao's "Scarecrow's Notes" also reflects this problem.

Sanmao and Jose both had interesting childhoods. After school, Sanmao climbs trees every day, carries water snakes, catches fireflies, rides a bicycle in the fields, etc. When Jose was a child, he and his brother would make slingshots to shoot sparrows and catch hares. They knew which grass could cure inflammation. In short, they grew up in nature.

02

Once Sanmao returned to China, he saw his younger brother’s two children. They were three years old, but they had never seen fireflies, mountains, or sea. I haven’t seen a real butterfly, and I haven’t even looked at the moon seriously.

Sanmao thought that there were so many beautiful legends about the moon, so he took the two children out and let them see the moon, and also wanted to tell them beautiful fairy tales. But the two children looked up at the moon for a few times, but they were not interested in it and ran to the stationery store to buy something.

Sanmao suggested that the whole family take their children on a trip to let them see the real sea, but they were not interested at all and only liked playing in the swimming pool. I saw dogtail grass on the road. Everyone wanted to pick it but didn't dare to pick it in the grass. They were worried about snakes, so they all asked Sanmao to pick two for them.

After returning to the Canary Islands, the children of Jose’s sister’s family were sent for vacation. Sanmao and Jose decided to take the children for an outing to the mountains the next day and have barbecue on the way.

Before departure, the children found several comic books in the garage and immediately divided them up. When they arrived at the mountain, they turned a blind eye to the beautiful scenery. Instead of running around happily, they became quiet and concentrated on reading comic books.

Not long after, the children came to see Jose again, hoping to get back home before three o'clock, because they had been watching a TV series at home. I think this is a situation that exists in many families.

03

Is this scene very common in our lives? When taking the child for a walk, he is afraid of missing the TV series. When taking him on a trip, he just wants to play games in the hotel with the air conditioner blowing.

Today’s children prefer to watch TV at home than to go hiking in the wild; they prefer to read mobile web pages than to watch the stars outside; and they prefer to stay at home than to be in contact with nature.

Sanmao called children who did not like to be in contact with nature plastic children. There are many plastic children today, and many of them have grown from plastic children into plastic people.

Let us think about it: How long has it been since the child saw the Milky Way? How long has it been since you climbed a mountain and went to a forest? How long has it been since you last seen the sea? How long has it been since you saw the sunrise and sunset?

Psychologically speaking, contact with nature has a positive effect on mental health. When children are in contact with nature, they will have many positive psychological experiences. Their creative thinking, happiness, and life satisfaction will be improved, and their aggression can also be reduced.

Chad Love said: "Children need contact with nature just like they need sleep and food."

Contact with nature will strengthen children's relationship with others and the world. connect. If you have more time, you can go on a trip to a certain scenic spot. You can also go hiking nearby during the two days on the weekend. If you don’t have time on the weekend, it’s also great to go for a walk in the park.

04

So what can we do specifically?

I have the following three suggestions:

1. When at home, you can read some nature-related books or do some handicrafts.

Stimulate children's interest. For example, a series of books by DK are good enlightenment books, such as "DK Children's Encyclopedia" and "DK Children's Animal Encyclopedia"; Fabre's "Insects" records the details of observing animals in vivid and humorous language. Children can follow the author and become a little explorer, discovering the mysteries of nature through games.

You can also take your children to do some crafts at home, such as using flowers and candles to make aromatherapy; using leaves to make bookmarks; let the children raise a plant by themselves, watering, fertilizing, and picking it themselves.

2. Choose a nearby park to record.

We can take our children to the park every weekend and record the changes in the animals and plants we see, as well as the weather changes that day. Look at the changes in the leaves of the ginkgo tree, the changes in the growth of the fruit, how long it takes to grow, when it changes from green to yellow, and from full to shriveled.

You can also record the changes of the twenty-four solar terms and observe a specific bird's nest, from swallows building nests, hatching eggs, feeding, test flights, to migrating south. If your child is older, you can teach him to use a camera to record all this, and then organize the pictures regularly.

3. Take your children to zoos and botanical gardens.

Xu Jia, a member of Friends of Nature, recommends that you take your children to the zoo several times according to the route. For example, the first time is to observe Chinese animals, crocodiles and black-necked cranes; the second time is to see Australian and Those unique to Asia, such as kangaroos and emus; the third time, looking at those from America and Africa, such as alpacas and giraffes. The focus of your and your child's attention goes from near to far, and your child's interest is constantly stimulated, and his eyesight becomes wider and wider.

You can also take your children to observe according to animal types. For example, the first time we mainly saw primates orangutans and gibbons; the second time we saw amphibians and reptiles such as snakes and lizards; the third time we saw cats such as lions and tigers. This helps children understand and compare the living habits and behaviors of different types of animals, and feel the richness and diversity of living things.

We can also take a similar approach to take our children to the botanical garden.

Curiosity and desire to explore are children’s nature. As long as they are properly inspired, children will not only be willing to contact nature, but even fall in love with nature. When he takes the initiative to contact animals and plants and understands the world, life will open up another world. He may become interested in sports and mountain climbing. If he likes marine life, he may learn to dive or take photography. When he encounters setbacks in life, he will have another way to relax himself, and he may also get some insights from animals.

Even if you just love raising small animals and flowers, your life will be much more warm and interesting. I hope children can find another version of themselves in nature.