Outdoor Activities Support Emotional Health for Children Especially During Covid-19
Ukiah, CA - The Covid-19 pandemic has created a shift for families and caregivers that has left many not only the main caregiver but, also the role of educator, athletic director and full-time (or close to it) entertainer.
Typically, before Covid, children would spend a large amount of their time in school with professionally trained educators, behavioral aides and other special need supports. While our education system has adapted to offer a classroom-like setting where children can learn and thrive, virtual schooling and partial in-person schooling cannot offer the same necessary physical outdoor activity levels students were accustomed to.
Many families are experiencing historical levels of stress including financial, housing, food, and employment insecurity. According to the December 14, 2020, Annie E. Kasey Foundation Kids, Families and Covid-19 report 21% of respondents who had children in their home said they had felt down, depressed, or hopeless in the previous week. 14% of adults with children reported that their household sometimes or always did not have enough to eat in the last week. And 18% reported having only slight confidence or no confidence at all that they would be able to make their next rent or mortgage payment on time.
Despite the added stressors caused by this pandemic, there are ways in which children can be supported and guided to learn coping behaviors that have long-term positive effects on their social and emotional wellbeing. In addition to all the physical benefits, exercise increases endorphin production (the feel-good hormone), and the more movement and activity children have, the more stimulated their brain is, thus developing improved attention for all those long days doing virtual schooling. In this way exercise can help us weather the life stressors we all experience (like a pandemic).
Studies such as The Cognitive Benefits of Exercise for Children by Gwen Dewar, PhD, that have looked directly at the brain during and after physical activity show that kids who are more physically fit have a larger hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with learning and memory and are better at certain kinds of tasks than kids who are less active. These changes in the brain go for adults, too: adults who get regular physical activity perform better on tasks related to memory and reasoning, and it is a recommended intervention to help prevent memory and cognitive decline as we age. Exercise can help kids (and adults!) feel less stressed, more open, focused, motivated to learn, and better able to retain and use the information we have gained. Combine exercise with some time spent out in nature and we take one giant step towards becoming healthier, happier human beings who can withstand the inevitable storms that life will sometimes bring.
Getting outdoors and doing something active can benefit the entire family especially when incorporated as a regular activity. Clinician, Tina Simms, AMFT offers a way to engage children. “While walking out in nature, around your community, or even just at home you can try to have fun with some mindfulness practice in an “I spy” kind of game. Simply take turns “spying” something with one of your senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste), tell the other person what sense you are using (e.g., “I hear something rustling” or “I feel something warm”), then have the other person try to guess what you are experiencing. It is an effective way to make exercise fun, play together, practice some mindfulness to reduce stress, and can inspire a lot of curiosity and conversation about the world around us. TIP: if you want to use your sense of taste for the game, best to have some snacks handy to make this one easier to experience.”
Since 2006Redwood Community Services has provided a therapeutic outdoor program, The Interpersonal Skills Training Center (ISTC) at Arrowhead Ranch. This program is in a wilderness setting, where children can build various skills to improve their overall functioning, in addition to emphasizing and engaging in physical activity, while also reaping all the incredible benefits of being in nature. Many community children accessed this service prior to the Covid-19 pandemic; however, group services have been severely reduced for the past year in adherence to Public Health orders. “We find that children in our program make remarkable strides not only in their treatment, but overall physiological and mental well-being. The ISTC program often creates behavioral change that also bodes to a lifelong appreciation and value on nature and being active because they experientially feel the satisfaction and contentment that it provides for them,” explains Manager of Rehabilitation Services, Kinsey Metts.
The ITSC program has resumed group rehabilitation services on a smaller scale of the typical, approximate 20 clients a day to about four to five clients per day. Kinsey is happy to welcome children back to the program, “Adjustments have been made to assure that we are taking measures to not only minimize our numbers, but also limit potential exposure through sanitation procedures, mask wearing, and maximizing time spent outdoors as a whole. Our client’s need this outlet now more than ever to overcome the additional challenges that the pandemic has created, and begin the journey to resocialization, and healing.”
Whether through a formal program, at home or virtual supports, children and families can incorporate outdoor play into everyday routines giving children a sense of normalcy and a positive outlet for expressing feelings and that ever present energy. “It is crucial now, more than ever, to assure we are supporting our children to be physically active in some capacity. It is best to do so outside or find another way to spend even a little time in nature each day,” shares Kinsey.
Incorporated in 1995, Redwood Community Services provides services to children, youth, families and adults in Mendocino, Lake & Humboldt Counties. Beginning with the implementation of a Foster Family Agency in 1995 providing foster homes for children & youth in Mendocino County; Redwood Community Services has built a continuum of programs including behavioral health, crisis services, youth and adult residential, substance use disorder programs and youth resource centers. For more information about services Redwood Community Services provides please call 707-467-2000 or visit their website at www.redwoodcommunityservices.org.
