Does Your Child Suffer from Nature Deficit Disorder? — By Richard Louv, Author of “Last Child in the Woods” As we have evolved, we have been able to bring amazing advancements to this world. Even with all of our innovation, we have forgotten a very important constant over time…. nature. Studies are showing just how critical our connection to the outdoors may be for our overall well being. Most of the new evidence that connects nature to well-being and restoration has focused on adults, but during the past decade, scientists have begun to study the impact of nature on child development. Environmental psychologists reported in 2003 that nature in or around the home, or simply a room with a view of a natural landscape, helped protect the psychological well-being of the children. Meanwhile, the California-based State Education and Environmental Roundtable, a national effort to study environment-based education, found that schools that use outdoor classrooms, among other techniques, produce student gains in social studies, science, language arts and math; improved standardized test scores and grade-point averages; and enhanced skills in problem-solving, critical thinking and decision-making. In addition, evidence suggests that time in natural surroundings stimulates children’s creativity. http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_articles.asp?id=1616