A book titled “Last Child in the Woods” is worth looking into as you consider ways to help your child do well in a more stressful world. It is deeply researched and shows something we have felt for many years at AWC. Children need the unstructured opportunity to be in nature that is becoming harder to come by. From a neighborhood forest or field, many of the safe places that made that unstructured time are gone. The average young person in America now spends almost 7 hours a day with some form of electronic media for company.

Richard Louv, the author of the book, draws a connection between all the skills and experiences that time in nature provides and the health and happiness of children. AWC is a place that purposefully gives young people the time and place for childhood.

If you would like to learn more about the research and get ideas about ways you can help young people find time to play, this site is a good resource:

 http://www.cnaturenet.org/