Green Time Over Screen Time: Ideas for Kids to Spend More Time in Nature
Screen time. It’s tough to escape, can cause stress for kids and adults alike, and is increasingly blamed for a growing number of problems, from anxiety to bullying, obesity to childhood aggression.
Yet it’s inescapable in our digital world—especially over the last 16 months as, during the pandemic, children learned remotely, and families remained connected across the miles by glowing screens.
For parents, striking the right balance between screen time and green time is increasingly challenging. A small but growing body of research, though, offers clues. In this article, we share what you need to know about green time and its benefits as well as easy ways to incorporate more green time into your child’s life.
What is green time?
“Green time” is a term that’s come into use recently to describe spending time outdoors in nature. It’s the exact opposite of screen time.
There’s nothing new about green time except the name. Think back to your childhood: did your mother or father tell you to “turn off the TV and go play outside?” If so, they were trying to up your green time.
Whether you liked being told to go outside or not, your parents were onto something. It turns out playing outside is not only better for the body, but it also benefits the mind. New research reviewing 186 studies has found a link between excessive screen time and poor mental health in children and adolescents. Excessive screen time can displace time for other important aspects of well-being (for children and adults), including physical activity, adequate quality sleep, reading, in-person social interaction, and more.
Screen time guidelines
Screen time isn’t all bad—with the right limits and safety considerations in place, games and online activities offer ways to build coordination, cognitive function, and social connection for older children. For younger kids, the science is a bit more clear-cut. According to 2019 guidelines from the World Health Organization, children ages 18 to 24 months should have no screen time other than video chatting, and children ages 2 to 5 should be limited to an hour of high-quality, educational content.
Declines in green time
Increases in screen time also seem directly related to decreases in time spent outdoors. The amount of time children spend outdoors has decreased dramatically in a single generation. A recent UK study found that today, children spend half the time playing outdoors that their parents did. One in 10 of the children in the study had not been to a park, beach, forest, or other natural environment for a year. It’s not just in the UK; similar studies have revealed a lack of outdoor play among preschoolers in the US.
Our children are simply not visiting our wild places, breathing in fresh air, and discovering all that Nature has to offer in the same way that we did. While this is sad, there’s a silver lining: it’s never too late. Over the lockdowns and social distancing of the last year, many people across the world have rediscovered the joys of being outside and of reconnecting with nature preserves, parks, trails, and other outdoor environments.
It’s easy to increase the amount of time you and your child spend in Nature, at any age. And you don’t need much; in fact, according to another recent study, as little as two hours of green time each week is enough to boost health and well-being at any age. The benefits are huge, from boosting healthy eyesight development and synthesizing vitamin D to lowering stress levels and improving sleep cycles in children and adults.
To get started, here are some simple ideas to incorporate more green time into daily life with your child, grouped by age.
Green time for babies
- Go for a walk. Taking your baby for a walk is healthy for both of you. Even the youngest babies are soothed by fresh air, and exposure to sunlight can help to regulate circadian rhythms (like if your baby has her nights and days reversed).
- Feel the grass. Share the texture of the grass with your baby—take off his socks and dangle him over the grass to feel it. Some babies won’t enjoy this, or they will prefer to explore with their hands rather than their feet.
- Introduce water play. Give your baby a small dish of water to splash her hands in. It’s fun for her and there’s no mess to clean up outdoors. (Always closely supervise your baby near any water, even a shallow dish).
Green time for toddlers and preschoolers
- Go for a nature walk. You can introduce a theme, like looking for colors or “signs of spring,” or learning the names of different kinds of trees.
- Take an indoor toy outdoors. Mix it up by bringing an indoor toy outside, which can spark new ways of playing. A hide-and-seek hunt for the toy in a yard or park can be a fun way to get physical activity in outdoors.
- Watch the birds and animals. Expand vocabulary and language skills by teaching your child the names of different animals or kinds of birds. Watch for them together and make up stories about them.
Green time for older children
- Walk to school. If possible, given safety, schedules, and weather, walking or biking to school can be a simple way to increase the amount of time you and your child spend outdoors.
- Teach the phases of the moon. This can be a wonderful way to learn about Nature’s rhythms and have something to look for together. This resource includes a book to share as well as images of the moon’s phases. You can also teach the names for the different full moons of the year and look for them together, weather permitting.
- Plant something. Whether you have a vegetable garden or plant a pot on the windowsill, growing something can be a great way to get closer to Nature and learn about the plant lifecycle. Children love to have something to look forward to and tend.
Ultimately, children value what they love—so helping them foster a lifetime love of Nature can be a way to forge strong bonds with the planet from a young age. How do you like to spend time outside? What are you looking forward to sharing with your baby or youngster?
