Last Child in the Woods

In 2008, Richard Louv wrote a powerful book on the dangers of our increasing dependence on all things electronic, and the lack of nature in many children's lives. This book is called, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. I highly recommend this book for all parents.

The consequences can be dire when children stay inside all day - an increase of attention-deficit disorder, a rise in obesity, more depression (even in the very young), and less creativity and problem solving skills. He calls this "Nature-deficit disorder" - which, to be clear, is not a medical condition, but rather a description of what happens when children are alienated from nature.





Here at Summers-Knoll, we have a beautiful cure - our lovely wooded playground. It is a magical place, full of sticks to build forts with, small trees to climb, weeds to pull, and logs to roll over, so as to discover all those lovely little roly-polies. We give children the time and space to explore, work together, and just to daydream.