6 Ways Forest School Outdoor Activities Help The Gaming Child
In a Forest School Session - Outdoor Activities
Is your child spending too much time on screens? Contracting illnesses more easily? Getting allergies and poor eyesight? Or is your child neglecting friends, mealtimes and bedtime to game more? When you switch off the computer, does your child throw a tantrum, or worse, fly into a rage?
How many hours of gaming are acceptable a day and when does it become a problem? What can we do to help them?
What Impact Does Gaming Have On The Child
Research shows that gaming can affect attention span, reduce exercise, sleep, energy, academic performance, quality of rest, and increase eye strain and anxiety or stress. Poorer performance in communication, problem-solving, and social and motor skills are also factors caused by excessive gaming.
A research study by Cambridge University found that on average, 14-year-olds spend 4 hours watching TV or being online, and an additional hour of screen-time each day was associated with dropping a grade in two subjects at GCSE. Two extra hours of screen-time was associated with dropping a grade in four subjects. Even if pupils spent more time studying, the additional time spent watching TV or online still hurt their results, the study suggested.
Statistics on gaming hours in Singapore
In Singapore, According to a 2010 study conducted by the National Institute of Education and the Media Development Authority, nearly 9% of Singapore's young people are "pathological gamers," spending 37.5 hours per week playing video games — double the time that non-addicts spend. The study also suggested that on average, singaporean adolescents spend 20 hours a week gaming, versus 13 hours for american youths.
Guidelines on gaming by WHO
WHO has guidelines on gaming for kids under 5 years old and does not encourage screen time at all for kids under 2. For kids 2-5 years old, no more than 1 hour of screen time a day is recommended, the less time spent staring at screens the better.
What does all this mean for our youngsters and how can participating in Forest School Outdoor activities help gaming child?
What is Nature-Connectedness And Why Is It Important For The Gaming Child
When our children are hooked on their devices, they may be seeing their devices as the answer to their problems, while in reality, it is more of a coping strategy, maybe even a distraction from a problem or worry they may be facing at the moment. If they are allowed to continue using digital divices as a coping strategy or distraction, the root issue will remain unsolved and they will become reliant on this virtual reality to escape their growing problems. Simply limiting the hours without finding a substitute may result in a temporal fix than a long-term sustained solution- as many parents may have inevitably found out.
Definition of Nature Connection
What do we mean by nature connection? Nature connection or nature-connectedness here refers to a sense of belonging to the natural world. It has been positively associated with greater self-acceptance,
vitality, good moods, life satisfaction, well-being and pro-environmental and pro-social behaviour. So it makes sense that we will want to increase our bond and connection with nature.
How is Nature Connection created by participating in Forest School Outdoor Activities?
Research suggests that just being in nature does not help connectedness- one has to have contact, and engage with nature to feel the connection. For example, picking flowers or vegetables from the garden, playing in the forest, planting trees and seeds, and being involved in nature in a non-academic way. Studies show that even simply holding academic lessons outdoor has a negative correlation with nature-connectedness!
In addition, studies found that it is about having Sustained contact with ONE singular place (not about repeated contact with many different nature spaces). They also found out that the younger you are when you start engaging with a specific nature space via immersive experiences and FREE outdoor play over a sustained length of time, the greater the gains.
As such Forest school is perfect for kids to pick up nature connection seeing as regular contact with nature getting to know a place, ownership of a space, spatial autonomy, feel safe in the space, claim the space as one’s own, is true and applicable for all children, with or without special educational needs.
Furthermore, kids with special education needs have been known to thrive in forest schools as well.
How does having nature connection help the Gaming Child?
With time taken away from gaming, it needs a substitute. The Forest School outdoor activities adhere to the Forest School Philosophy, which offers a nurturing, heart-centred rhythm for children to engage in free sensory play in a natural and safe setting. The curriculum of the holiday camps is unique in the fact that it is learner-driven, which fuels the children's intrinsic motivation to create and learn new things on their own terms.
As forest school is child-led, children tend to enjoy forest school outdoor sessions tremendously (so much it is often said to be used as a reward), kids can enjoy it as a quality substitute to gaming online! This will help to cut down the hours that the child spends on gaming and help make it fall within healthy limits.
2. Importance Of Social Skills For The Gaming Child
Many a time when kids play online, it is with friends, but because it is not real physical play, they can have many friends online but still feel lonely or isolated. According to research, the health risks of prolonged loneliness are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Children Engaging in Forest School Outdoor Activities
An 80-year-old Harvard study suggests that deep and connected human relationships are what are pivotal to a well-lived life.
Gordon Neufeld argues that Maslow got it wrong - connection should be the primary need of all humans, not food. This is because in the absence of connection to others, getting food will be an issue, and without the feeling of safety we have when we feel connected to others, we cannot even digest the food we are eating well!
To have a real deep connection with others, social bonding skills are naturally needed.
How are social skills created?
How does one learn social bonding skills? Usually, it is just like any other skills they pick up from adults’ role modelling and upbringing or from each other. As important as this skill is, it is not a subject being taught in traditional schools.
Some people may lack social skills because of a lack of exposure to social situations, and often, excessive gaming affects social behaviours negatively due to the above-mentioned impact on psycho-social health.
The extent of social skills also differs widely, varying based on the person. Not knowing what to say or do in social situations can be a huge impediment to the success of a job, not to mention self-esteem and a sense of loneliness. This is also where Forest School can step in and help.
How does participating in Forest School Outdoor Activities help the Gaming Child learn social skills?
In NatureDen, coaches are trained in conflict resolution skills, and role modelling language that children can use to repair conflicts with friends, without resorting to blaming or violence. As these learning moments are real, children can apply what they learn with support and guidance on actual conflict situations they encounter!
Children are also taught helpful language to use when negotiating points of view so as to not unintentionally hurt someone else’s feelings, and how to join a social group. With support from our coaches, these positive experiences can build their social confidence and give them a step up towards achieving the greatest levels of life satisfaction.
Having more friends in real life and the skills to make them, also means the likelihood of playing outside with friends in the neighbourhood is greater - which means that more time can be cut down on gaming!
3. Eye Health Of The Gaming Child
This is another worrying statistic, in that Singapore is known as the Myopia Capital of the World.
65 per cent of our children are myopic by Primary 6, and 83 per cent of our young adults are myopic. Degrees over 500 increase the risk of glaucoma, cataract and other eye diseases with increasing age.
By 2050, it is projected that 80 to 90 per cent of all Singaporean adults above 18 years old will have myopia with 15 to 25 per cent of these individuals having high myopia.
What do studies show to be factors of declining eye health and increasing myopia?
Studies have found that dopamine prevents elongation of the eye. Dopamine is released when our eyes are stimulated by natural light. Lack of dopamine results in the elongation of the eye, resulting in nearsightedness.
This might be why British Royal children are known to have lots and lots of daily outdoor play regardless of rain or shine!
Dr Christopher Starr, an ophthalmologist from Weill Cornell Medical College, suggests a solution that children should spend one to three extra hours per day outdoors. This is in addition to school recess time.
How do Forest School Outdoor Activities Help Prevent Myopia in the gaming child?
When children are kept indoors studying or gaming or watching TV, they do not get sufficient exposure to natural lighting during the day. Professor Saw Seang Mei, co-head of the Singapore Eye Research Institute's Myopia Research Group explained that the light level inside a room is about 200 to 300 lux on average, usually below 1,000 lux. However, the amount of light outdoors can be as high as 30,000 lux. (Lux being is a standardised unit of measurement of light level intensity) Participating in outdoor activities like forest school facilitated sessions will definitely help children get the hours they need outdoors and provide the needed natural light for their eye health!
4. Importance Of Sensory Play For The Gaming Child
Sensory play is any activity that stimulates children’s 5 senses plus the sense of movement and balance. The simplest way to help children engage their senses is by playing outside with nature, which is full of stimulation in its infinite diversity of colours, shades, textures, sounds and smells, and possibilities for movement.
Why do children need sensory play?
Sensory play has been found to be crucial for brain development, accomplishing more complex tasks, improving language and communication, motor coordination, and problem-solving.
A child whose sensory needs are met will be more focused and ready to learn.
How do forest school outdoor activities help meet the sensory needs of the gaming child?
Gaming or passive TV watching does not require much physical movement - it is more of mental exertion (if it is the former). While we can have active video games, the sensory elements, e.g., touches or smells, of bio-diverse natural materials will be lacking.
Forest school provides a learner-driven environment for a child to freely explore and discover their interests and inclinations, which means that if the child has a need for balancing, the child will be able to seek out the activities that allow him to meet those needs e.g., climbing a tree, balancing on rocks or a log. The possibilities for exploration are limitless - imagine the amount and quality of neural connection that could be developed if your child were to join Forest School!
Forest School is also not only about doing, it is also about being. Children who have a sensory overload will also be able to find the much-needed downtime they need in forest school and quiet space to spend time by themselves, while under the nurturing care and support of trained practitioners.
5. Growing A New Hobby By The Gaming Child
Gaming can be addictive and gamers usually end up spending more and more time gaming but never quite feeling satisfied. If they are not gaming, they need to find other hobbies to fill the gap. However, this seems like a chicken and egg problem.
How does forest school help the gaming child grow a new hobby?
When the child joins forest school, real-life experience and its infinite possibilities often allow many children to discover a new love be it gardening, physical athletics, music making, storytelling, drama or building etc. Early childhood educators are familiar with the term schema which refers to an activity that is repeated over and over again by a child while learning about the world. Noticing the specific schemas actually helps to give useful clues to parents and caregivers about the current interest of the child and give directions on the new hobbies that can be explored by the child with glee. This can help to then bring a child out of excessive gaming habits and into more balance and a more well-rounded lifestyle.
An Example Of Forest School Outdoor Activities - Whittling
6. Release Stress And Emotions Of The Gaming Child
Emotional suppression is a common issue among gamers. As gaming is easily turned into a way to deal with stress and become lost in it to avoid uncomfortable emotions, these emotions are stuck in the body and remain unprocessed. This creates a potential time bomb. When a child learns effective and healthy ways to identify, process and manage their feelings, then harmful effects of gaming such as suppression will be less of an issue.
What can stress symptoms in a Gaming Child look like?
The body can feel like an unsafe place to be in when too many uncomfortable emotions build up in the body.
Symptoms can be disproportionate anger reaction, rage episodes, inability to fall asleep easily, procrastination, checking out, self-harm, aggression, anxiety and depression, boredom, attention problems, bullying, agitation, adrenalin-seeking, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
These signal a state of turmoil in the child and possibly even a crisis situation when it is left unattended for too long.
How does stress of the gaming child get released
How do we safely let these emotions get released? All these stifled stress and emotions need to be managed in a safe way to be processed. This can be found in the movement of music, creation, physical activities, play and so on. These should be done for its own sake without expectation of any outcome, for instance, learning music for its own enjoyment and not for the sake of performing later on.
It can also be identified and processed properly with journaling, or by taking walks and for the gaming child, it helps if there is an adult who can understand, acknowledge and validate the emotions of the child.
How can forest school outdoor activities help a Gaming Child release stress and emotions?
We all need our own safe emotional spaces for what is inside us to come out to the surface and be expressed, so that our hearts stay open and not closed off, and our spirits stay free and joyful to experience life to its fullness. After all, we only live once. This is an antidote against the rising trend of depression in children and youths. Without a safe space to release emotions and express ourselves, we can run into serious trouble.
Forest school is a child-led area with lots of natural spaces for children to explore and do as much or as little as they wants. NatureDen Forest School outdoor sessions are also facilitated by therapeutically trained practitioners who knows how to affirm children and let them express what is inside them safely without guilt or shame (which can add on to the burden carried by the individual if not done correctly) and let it come out naturally- not longer a emotional burden to the child. The result is that the child is able to be more present in the body and ready to learn and engage.
The children at Forest School see numerous opportunities to work together to resolve any conflicts that may arise. While reconciling their differences, they will need to identify, process, and manage their emotions which contributes to their self-regulation skills.
In conclusion, gaming can have adverse effects on well being of children especially when excessive. Forest School Outdoor Actitvities help to mitigate many of these negative effects while developing the child’s resources, resilience and capacity for learning and growing in a wholesome manner. This applies for all children, including children with special educational needs.
If you would like to find out more on how forest school holiday camps helps your child’s academic performance, click on this article “3 Reasons Why Forest School Holiday Camps Help Academic Performance”.
References
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