While we’re indoors in greater numbers and for longer periods than ever before due to lockdowns, making the best of the space you have is more important than ever. Being indoors relying on digital means to conduct pretty much every affair of the world is a drain on your health—not the best deal during a time when you want more, not less, resilient immunity.
Do you know how the physical aspects of our environment — or your own home — can help us prepare for the transition of labour and birth?
No place else is more potent and intimate than the home for these preparations, as this is where our daily actions become habits for our mind and body. It also provides the new physical environmental and feedback look for baby.
building biology is also an art as it aims for harmony between a space and its occupants. Beauty is intrinsic to our sense of wellness too. It encompasss values such as balance, harmony, and attention to the human need for these in their daily lives. When we moved to our new home in Malaysia and had to design from scratch, yet on a tight timeline and small budget, we chose purposeful pieces that would add interest, be biologically appropriate, and would continue the natural aesthetic that I enjoy. Although I still love a very bare minimalist aesthetic, it was time to finally add some beautiful touches to our space in a simple way.
Updated 10 Jan 2022
Most parents know their children do better after a good bout of play outdoors. The fresh elements, natural sensory elements, and opportunities for creative imagination are part of why we as adults appreciate and enjoy the calming aspects of nature too.
Most of us would say our kids are spending too much time indoors (usually watching TV and playing video and computer games). A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average eight to eighteen year old kid is now spending an alarming 7 hours and 38 minutes of electronic screen time per day—that is almost half their waking hours.
Often the focus is on “pre-preparation” for academics, or the training of the mind; but we ensure our children develop healthy bodies by playing outdoors. The recommendation for the preschool years is at least 1 hour of outdoor play. In Singapore, the Health Ministry and Education Ministry in 2017 said that pre-school children will get at least an hour of physical activity a day, double the current 30 minutes.
Time outdoors in natural spaces help calm the body’s sympathetic/stress responses. Researchers at the University of Illinois have determined that 30 minutes of time in a park setting will help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to be able to concentrate in the classroom and act more calmly and with more focus at home.
Homeschooling curriculums recognise how important getting outdoor activity is to the success of the daily rhythm of learning and playing. For example, Charlotte Mason recommends even more — 4 to 6 hours of outdoor play!
(Side note: Charlotte Mason wrote books about educating children, and her philosophy advised delaying formal education until age six, instead advocating play (a lot of it outdoors!) and work with the gentle boundaries of the family. Nature study is a very important component to a Charlotte Mason method. Mason believed children should spend as much time as possible outdoors, and had students keep detailed nature journals and used nature guides to discover and identify the natural world in their neighborhood.)
In this post, I'll share with you some ideas ideas that you can use for to build healthful habits with your little ones during outdoor play. Given the opportunity to play outdoors and have fun, children will develop meaningful connections with their natural environment and build habits into their grown-up years!
Once in Norway, and again in Finland, I heard the phrase: No bad weather, but poor clothing. Charmed by the Scandinavian attitude and the array of outdoor sports available in the worst of winters, I began to adopt this when I had my own children, and then learnt different cultures have their own variations of the same phrase.
I live where searing heat and persistent mosquitos can wear me down during the hotter seasons, and make any outdoor attempt a plain drag (if not danger for heat stroke). To work around this, we played early in the morning or snuck quick trips to the playground after the worst heat of the day was over. Outdoors is not a novelty, but part of our daily routine.
Modern research supports this. Lack of outdoor time is linked to many childhood problems, like Sensory Processing Disorder, obesity, and even ADHD.
“Never be within doors when you can rightly be out.” Charlotte Mason, Home Education, page 42
Have meals al fresco (or at a balcony). Take your chores and hobbies outside. Find any way to situate your activities outdoors, or a semi-outdoor environment.
Ask the child to go observe the clouds, a tree, flower, or other interesting feature. Have them come back to report what they have seen. This helps increase their vocabulary, ability to remember, and ability to recount without exaggeration.
This encourages a child to use their five senses while looking at things in nature, or objects around the house. It also sharpens their relationship to their natural environment.
If you’re wearing shoes all the time, try taking them off to feel the fresh grass. Pause to touch the soft petals of a flower, or hear the hum of a bee. These actions offer ways for your bodies to ground to the Earth and absorb its beneficial frequencies, instead of skimming past when we are outdoors.
Ask your children to “listen to the quiet or to any buzzes and hums you hear. At appropriate times, make space for a break to take in. If your children are a little older, ask them describe to you this landscape of calm silence. This can seem like an abstract task, but it can be enjoyable when presented as a game.
This helps a child grow awareness of the difference between feeling busy, especially if you live hectic schedules amidst city living, and feeling calm. He or she will easily connect the ways to access this, through attention to their body’s awareness.
When you and your child are outside for play, don’t waste the opportunity by impeding your child’s play. This means giving them space and time to play, uninterrupted (under your watchful eye). True free play is the work that children must do to grow and develop a strong body and mind.
Sometimes this means letting your toddler climb the rings higher without saying “no, that’s dangerous”. Or gently guiding or diverting him or her without saying “you can’t do that.”
Let your five-year-old holler his heart out for a bit and hold any comment as he seems to swing a little too high. You’ll be heartened to observe, that usually, children can find their own boundaries. Your toddler will likely pause if he cannot reach a bar, and your primary school age child will choose not to climb to the top after all. Usually they find these boundaries better playing by themselves or in smaller, rather than larger, groups.
You will observe your children naturally inclined to seek these activities which stimulate the proprioceptive sense:
Pushing (for example against heavy instruments as the swing, merry-go-round)
Pulling (tug of war, or hanging from bars)
Squeezing (climbing small spaces, crawling under structures)
Climbing or lifting
Stretching (e.g. more climbing and taking leaps!)
They are growing their proprioception (from Latin proprius, meaning "one's own" and capio “to take or grasp”) senses, which are what helps them understand their self-movement, force, and body position. Physical activities which stimulate this sense have an organising effect on the brain.
This sets them up for more disciplined movements later whether it is sports or sitting still for fine motor tasks — such as writing.
For some parents, getting outside seems more like a chore rather than a relaxing pleasure. There are risks and potential for accidents everywhere.
The hours that we spend outside are sure to make up some of your children’s most treasured memories of childhood. By making habits to connect better to our natural environment, you are building their toolset to help regulate their well-being, and growing their awareness of the natural elements.
Moving house or embarking on a major home renovation can be tiring, stressful, and messy. It is a long haul process that requires your stamina and patience, and understandably you need all the time and space to plan and prepare for a major change in you and your family’s lives.
As I have heard and witnessed many house moves and changes, a lot of the stress is caused by friction among family members and the thinking that a house transition ought to be a certain fixed process when it is an organic, dynamic process of change.
One reason children can feel disengaged and un-confident in their work is because they are not empowered to take charge of the environment that they do their work and play in. They’ve never been asked about what they want to wear or what they like or not like about sleeping in particular spaces.
They may hear their mothers and fathers discuss the practical concerns of a house (sometimes in stressed tones), but not the supportive, more emotive aspects of it.
When we involve our children in a house move or renovation, we are inviting them to experience a beautiful process — where they are with the ones they require love most and working through life questions and dreams together. This can be big or small, and any child, whether a toddler or a teenager, can appreciate and be inspired by this change in life.
If you keep your children “out of the way” during this phase, they will experience a lack of integration into the new space. They’ve lost their familiar nooks and crannies and their things have been taken and put differently.
You will face a longer period of transition with your children in the new space. How will their new routines look? Where will their stuff go? Why the new space not working the way you thought it would?
In 1921 Fritz von Bothmer was asked by Rudolf Steiner to develop the gymnastic education at the first Waldorf School in Stuttgart. When Bothmer confessed to feeling somewhat inadequate for the task, Steiner simply advised him to ‘be happy’ in his work. That is what he did; and gradually he evolved a series of gymnastic exercises for the children.
Moving home shakes up a lot of hidden or neglected assumptions about a space. This includes the sort of materials, too, in home furnishing that we did not realise are toxic.
Mold is a common example. Dismantling furniture, stripping wallpaper or paint, can reveal moisture issues. This can cause respiratory irritation, eye irritation and wheezing, especially in children who have underlying allergies or respiratory issues like asthma.
People often rush to renovate before a new baby arrives, but pregnant women should take care not to expose a fetus to harmful fumes and dust, especially in older homes.
Take the chance to explain to children why you do not want to be inhaling or ingesting harmful dust, especially for younger siblings who are infants and toddlers and spending a lot of time crawling on the ground.
Give your child a role and tasks. Open them up to the opportunities of being a family member who is able to create a beautiful, supportive space too.
Some thoughts to prepare your children for a house move or a major home renovation:
Before you start involving your children, clarify your own intentions for your house move or renovation. This dispels any fears of your own.
Show your child everyday items (furniture, kitchen utensils, toys, books) that you may want or not, and why you are keeping or letting go of them.
Explain a house move or renovation as a process of making a home that supports what you want for your loved ones living in the space. This is a great way to explain gratitude and connection to a place.
Plan for age-appropriate and peaceful tasks where your child can participate. It could be sorting out their books or clothes. Or imagining how they will rebuild a Lego set.
Ask your child what types of projects and playtime they would love at the new space, perhaps perhaps painting and drawing, or a spot to practise their basketball throws. Children have powerful imagination that can help propel their actions. They will be ready for the tasks along the way if they create their big picture.
Give them age-appropriate tasks in the new space. It could setting out their books or clothes, mopping the floor, finding their nook on the kitchen shelf for their pet plant/fermentation project. It could simply be placing their pencil case and papers neatly at their desk.
Flu data showed that the numbers vary predictably with seasons, whether it is annual flu numbers or a pandemic. These are studies from varied locations: the cold Nordic countries such as Sweden and Norway, the states across the USA, the subtropics such as Taiwan and Okinawa in Japan, to tropical islands such as Singapore.
In this study in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, researchers assessed 202 women who attended routine gynaecology appointments. They tested the blood lead levels and the neuropsychological score of women who were in their third trimester of pregnancy.
The mean blood lead of the respondents was 7.78 μg/dL (Figure 2), which is more than the blood lead of electronic industries soldering workers (6.10 μg/L) (4). Pregnant women need an optimum nutrient such as Ca2+ and Fe2+ or Fe3+, for the growth of the babies (5,6). The body tends to absorb lead if the calcium and iron intake were insufficient in the diet.
Almost one-third (27%) of the respondents have blood lead concentrations of more than 10 μg/dL—the maximum limit recognised for pregnant women.
The blood lead for these pregnant mothers had an inverse significant correlation with their scores in a neuropsychological test (Digit Symbol, Digit Span, Trail Making, Benton Visual Retention Test and Reaction Time).
The NCTB test result shows that pregnant mothers with high blood lead have difficulties in concentrating and have short– term hearing and visual abilities (Digit Span Test, Benton Visual Retention Test). They have slow motor speed through vision (Digit Symbol Test) slow reaction toward visual stimulation (Reaction Time Test) and low attention ability, visual scanning and visual motor trailing (Trail Making Test).
This supports previous studies showed that blood lead among female workers had the abilities to lower the NCTB score (12,13).
LINK TO THE STUDY: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340582193_Blood_Lead_Concentrations_and_The_Neuropsychology_Scores_of_Pregnant_Women_in_Klang_Valley_Malaysia
