Written by contributor Eren of This Vintage Chica.

I once came across a saying that read “Avoid housework. Live outdoors.” I love this saying, and our family lives by it.

“Oh, it’s raining? Here’s your umbrella.”

“Oh, it’s 109 degrees outside and you are hot? Turn on the water hose, little man.”

Even when my kiddos were babies, we were outside as often as we could be. I remember when we first moved to Wisconsin we visited our new pediatrician. She told us that we should start giving my youngest, who was 6 weeks old at the time, Vitamin D drops. I politely said, “No, thank you. We just take him outside.”

We are in the garden each morning and each evening. We head to the beach a few times a week. When it is rainy we splash in puddles. We lay on the trampoline lat at night and look up in amazement by the number of stars. My boys are constantly bringing me caterpillars and telling me about the bird they spotted carrying a fish overhead.

But did you know all of this time spent out of doors is good for their health?

There is a quiet movement of parents who are realizing that several of the medical problems our children face can be overcome by getting our children out from in front of the tv or video game and back into nature.

Kids belong swinging from tree branches and digging in the dirt. And the list of health benefits to children who play in nature is a mile long.

But are our children the only ones who can benefit from time in the natural world?

Read on as we look more into how getting into nature with your kids can make them smarter and you a better mom.
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