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Meeting will seek ways for kids to have unscripted outdoor fun

By Erik Robinson
Published: May 25, 2010, 12:00am

o What: Nature Play Summit, inaugural event bringing together leaders in parks, environmental education and health care to address “nature deficit” in children of all ages. Author Richard Louv will deliver keynote address over lunch.

o Where: Vancouver Convention Center, 301 W. Sixth St.

o When: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. June 22.

o Cost: $25 to attend the keynote address at 11:30 a.m. The fee, which includes lunch, rises to $30 for those who sign up after June 4.

o To register: Parks Foundation, 360-619-1170 or www.parksfoundation.us.

A new initiative to get children outside will begin next month with adults gathering indoors.

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The Parks Foundation of Clark County will host the inaugural Nature Play Summit on June 22 at the Vancouver Convention Center.

Richard Louv, author of the 2008 book “Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,” will deliver the keynote address. Louv’s address punctuates a new initiative designed to promote the physical, emotional, social and cognitive benefits of connecting children with nature.

Louv recently spoke with The Columbian by telephone.

Louv is co-founder and chairman of the Children & Nature Network, which connects researchers, organizations and individuals trying to find ways to encourage children to get outside. The network links family nature clubs forming around the country, and Louv acknowledged a small irony in the effort.

“In order to give kids some semblance of independent outdoor experience, we’re probably going to have to organize a lot of it,” he said.

Once adults haul the kids out to an organized hike, fishing trip or stream restoration project, Louv said the youngsters have plenty of space to explore independently.

“We’re not talking about hovering over the kids with nature flashcards,” he said.

Indeed, Louv says one cause of nature-deficit disorder is parents’ over-structuring their children’s lives. Even though violin lessons, soccer practice and other organized activities may be enriching, they cut into free time when kids can explore and learn on their own.

“Every second of their lives are scheduled, just like their parents’ time,” Louv said.

Louv, 61, makes a point to avoid demonizing video games and other electronic diversions — “I love my iPhone,” he said — but noted that a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey revealed young people spend 53 hours a week attuned to electronic media of one form or another.

Media saturation affects parents, too.

Even though abductions are rare and the rate has dwindled over the past few decades, Louv said, endlessly repeating news coverage forges the impression of danger lurking around every corner.

o What: Nature Play Summit, inaugural event bringing together leaders in parks, environmental education and health care to address "nature deficit" in children of all ages. Author Richard Louv will deliver keynote address over lunch.

o Where: Vancouver Convention Center, 301 W. Sixth St.

o When: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. June 22.

o Cost: $25 to attend the keynote address at 11:30 a.m. The fee, which includes lunch, rises to $30 for those who sign up after June 4.

o To register: Parks Foundation, 360-619-1170 or www.parksfoundation.us.

“Parents are scared to death,” he said.

At the same time, Louv said, the design of many neighborhoods prevents youngsters from easily getting to a forest or stream where they might engage in unstructured play. Instead, children rely on a parent to drive them to a play date across town.

Parents may be worried about the risk of skinned knees or broken bones, but Louv said they also should think about the comparative risk of raising overweight children who have little experience learning to function independently.

“This may be the first generation with a shorter life expectancy than their parents’,” he said. “That’s a real risk.”

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