This is what my grandfather; John McBride had to say back in the day:
“The Problem with children these days is they don’t spend enough time in nature”
As the first Parks and Recreation Director of Solano County he decided he had the power to do something about this problem.
He created a nature camp for kids and named it after the creek that it was held on. Camp Ulatis has been going strong for 50 years at the Pena Adobe in Vacaville, California.
In the summer of 1966 it cost $15 to send your child to Camp Ulatis all day for two weeks solid. Camp had two overnight campouts that included cook-offs and camp fires complete with songs, skits and pranks.
I lived at these camps during the summer. You were supposed to be 9 years old to attend, but I pulled some strings to get in at a younger age. When I was 8 years old I went on my first plant walk at camp Ulatis. I remember everything that naturalist said about every plant he talked about. It was the beginning of my life –long love affair with the plants. Thank you grandpa!
Excerpt from the Vacaville Reporter, July 1966:
John McBride says that among the activities which the children anxiously look forward to each day at camp are classes on folklore, nature studies, historical talks on the Indians who lived here, map reading and cookouts.“During camp boys and girls really enjoy catching frogs, snakes and other wild animals, McBride said”
Hmm, I wonder how many parents would sign their children up for a nature camp today with a description that included catching snakes and other wild animals…
If my grandpa thought things were going downhill in 1966, I wonder what he would say about the children of today.
I went for a walk with some children recently and the comment that seemed to keep coming up was, “ I am bored” I thought to myself, “Ahhh, finally they are bored, good, they are on the threshold of discovering something magnificent about the dirt they are walking on.”
There is plenty of research now about the over use of media and the effects of a sedentary childhood on the brain and physical health of children.
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[/one_third_column][two_third_column]The book, “Last child left in the Woods” by Richard Louv is a great resource with lots of research confirming that direct exposure to nature is essential for the physical and emotional health of children.
He talks about the direct correlation between the lack of nature in the lives of today’s wired generation—he calls it nature-deficit—to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders, and depression.[/two_third_column]
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Take some advice from my grandpa: Shut down the screens, get outside.
Breathe the fresh air, watch the sunset; listen to the birds and let nature wash you clean each day.
