There’s something ingrained in our DNA, something seared into our psyche that triggers a primal sense of harmony when we escape four walls and venture into the great outdoors. Team Kshitij feels that euphoria every time we step out on a trail. When you go out in the woods you feel good. You play. You discover. You feel peaceful.

It’s almost like going a little crazy if we can’t get a regular dose of outdoor activity.

We believe, we as humans have a special connection to the outdoors. It is a natural desire we have to feed. Driven by our own passions, Kshitij is trying to grow a movement to reconnect today’s kids with the outdoors. We evolved as part of the natural world. But today most children live in a totally artificial environment. It’s intriguing to watch what happens when kids are left to their own devices with a dose of unstructured outside playtime.

You will see them just start running and going to the creek and looking at bugs — they revert to what they are supposed to be. “We just have to encourage them to be free.”
It’s important for the body as well as the soul. They need to use their bodies to really develop properly. Movement affects cognition. A day of being in the outdoors, hiking, kayaking can pay off all week long, helping kids focus in school thanks to a subconscious sense of fulfilment — both physical and emotional. Obviously it is a great outlet for the pent up energy within kids these days. Being in the outdoors is a gateway to a healthy lifestyle, a critical element in an era of junk food and childhood obesity.

Given the bad influences and diversions surrounding children, an outdoor hobby “keeps the mind and the body pure. A national movement to combat so-called “nature deficit disorder” has been building over the past decade. The phrase was coined by author Richard Louv in his influential book Last Child in the Woods, which sounded the alarm about the staggering divide between children and the outdoors, and touched off a rallying cry to action.

Instilling children with a love of nature is critical for the well-being of society at large, which depends on a healthy planet. “They will be our future caretakers”.

Reference: http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/15851-reconnecting-today-s-kids-with-the-outdoors-is-critical-to-their-well-being

Edited by: Charmi Gada