C'mon out and Get Wild

I joke that my kids are wild and wiggly little children.  They have an abundant amount of en energy and I fantasize about moving to the middle of the woods and letting them run to their hearts content. But we like our cafes and Trader Joes too much to leave.  In the suburbs, there is a distinct lack of tree-climbing, bug catching, lake-swimming opportunities.  

A few weeks ago, though, we got to literally let our kids run wild.

We squezed this adventure into a sports filled day. After two soccer games, I felt no need to rush to another outing before our later afternoon skateboard play date but had been wanting to check out the Wild Zone activities set up in a nearby park.  The co-founders of the Wild Zone concept came to talk at a PTA meeting and I was enthralled with the idea of letting the kids loose in a muddy, tree-filled area allowed to do whatever they want. I like to think of my boys as nature loving creative adventurers, but frankly when we went camping they seem to enjoy a rousing game of UNO or soccer as much as building a fort or a hike through the woods. After the meeting, where I heard things like "creative brain development occurs throughout your whole life, up to 90 years old" and "play to allow a complex brain to create itself" I didn't not want to pass up on this opportunity. (I've included more words of wisdom from various experts below). As an added bonus, the volunteers are teenagers and my kids, like most little kids, love hanging out with teens. This free adventure is about 10 minutes from our house, so we had no excuse not to go. After a few missed turns, we arrived at the Ulistac Natural Area "Get off the Path and Play", said the giant sign as we made our way to the "wild zone."

Thankfully, my son quickly spotted a classmate of his. I knew Donovan would love this place, they had mud and water and kids and no rules, what more could this boy want?  Keegan, on the other hand, can take up to 30 minutes to get comfortable with new people and places, and of course we only had 45 minutes to play.  A couple boys had already constructed a giant and beautiful tepee, with sticks and palm fronds, and "flowers to make the place pretty and smell good" in the boys' own words.  They were in the process of building a floor and patio with flat rocks.  As I learned at the PTA meeting, the group brings in materials like bamboo, palm fronds, willow branches, flowers, and the kids make shelters or dens or forts, reclining chairs, or balance rocks to make a sculpture.

 

Play is serious. Self-directed play in nature is vital for physical, mental and community health.

 

There were a number of various structures (photos here) . One reminded me of a Christmas tree and another was a beautiful wall constructed of palm fronds.  I should point out how much teamwork was going on here. Not only did little groups form to create these fabulous places, but the kids walked around helping one another. A few little girls stopped to admire the flowers and add some of their own.  I remember growing up much of our imaginary play involved finding stuff in trees and on the ground.  We created tacos from leaves and seeds and make whistles out of blades of grass, although I don't think we ever actually made mud pies.  Our elementary school was surrounded by trees, and groups of friends claimed a tree and would obsessively sweep it out at lunch, although I can't  remember what else we did there.  At Keegan's school there is one tree in the middle of the playground, and his attempt at building a little bridge there is constantly thwarted by swarms of kids wanting to knock it down.

 People protect what they love, so they need to play in nature, grow to love it, to want to protect it.

Watching the kids carry around giant rocks, and my sons with huge sticks, I kept an observant eye, but let them play and chatted with the parents. Given their love of jumping off high places, I had to learn early on to let my kids take risks, and to keep my heart in check. I know taking risks is important, but it was nice to hear what some "risk experts" (ie. teenagers) had to say about the value of risks:

• Decision making about actual rather than virtual reality
• Gaining skills
• Agility, balance, reflexes
• Understanding limits
• Risk deprivation leads to excess risk...lack of courage and confidence
• Interesting and exciting
• Appealing to kids
• Trust and team building
• It’s life!

So if you're lucky enough to have a wild zone in your backyard, send those kids out to play, take risks and immerse themselves in the environment, and don't forget to invite us suburbanites.

Original Silicon Valley Moms blog post

Nicole Pelton is trying to capture all her children's wild moments on her personal blog Not Just a Working Mom.