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14/05/2014 21:47NATURE IS THE ULTIMATE SENSORY EXPERIENCE: A Pediatric Occupati…ist Makes the Case for Nature Therapy : The New Nature Movement
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About the Author
Angela Hanscom is a pediatric occupational therapist and the founder ofTimberNook, which focuses on nature-centered developmental programming inNew England. Angela holds a master’s degree in occupational therapy and anundergraduate degree in Kinesiology (the study of movement) with a concentrationin health fitness. She specializes in vestibular (balance) treatment and sensoryintegration. She is also the author of the upcoming nonfiction book, Balanced &Barefoot, which discusses the effects of restricted movement and lack of outdoorplaytime on overall sensory development in children.
By Angela Hanscom on May 12th, 2014
NATURE IS THE ULTIMATE SENSORYEXPERIENCE: A Pediatric OccupationalTherapist Makes the Case for NatureTherapyComments 0
hen I tell people I’m a pediatric occupational therapist and that I run nature programming, a look ofconfusion often crosses their face. “Huh?” they say. Or, “You’re a special needs camp?” Or, “I don’tget it. You’re going to do occupational therapy with our children?”
From the beginning, I quickly realized that the concept of TimberNook is “out-of-the-box” thinking for manypeople. Some don’t get it at first. The concept is totally foreign to them. Typically, when people think ofoccupational therapy, they automatically think of children with special needs. I’ve used my skills as anoccupational therapist in an unconventional manner. I view nature as the ultimate sensory experience for allchildren and a necessary form of prevention for sensory dysfunction.
What most people don’t realize is that pediatric occupational therapistsare in a unique position to do something about a very real problem.
More and more children are presenting with sensory issuesthese days. They are not moving like they did in years past. Itis rare to find children rolling down hills, spinning in circlesjust for fun, or climbing trees at great heights. In fact, our
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Last Child in the Woods & The Nature Principle"Last Child in the Woods"introduces the concept of nature-deficit disorder, offering practicalactions for families andcommunities. "The NaturePrinciple" extends the issue toadults and reports the restorativepower of the natural world.
14/05/2014 21:47NATURE IS THE ULTIMATE SENSORY EXPERIENCE: A Pediatric Occupati…ist Makes the Case for Nature Therapy : The New Nature Movement
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society often discourages this type of play due to liabilityissues and fear of falls.
The more we restrict children’s movement and separate children from nature, the more sensory disorganizationwe see. In fact, according to many teachers, children are frequently falling out of their seats in school, runninginto walls, tripping over their own feet, and unable to pay attention. School administrators are complaining thatkids are getting more aggressive on the playgrounds and “can’t seem to keep their hands off each other” duringrecess. Teachers are looking for answers.
Pediatric occupational therapists can help. We have the neurological background to explain why restrictedmovement causes behavior problems in children; why fidgeting is becoming more prevalent than ever before;and the underlying reasons why kids are hitting with more force during a game of tag.
Pediatric occupational therapists can also use their unique understanding of child development to educateothers on the therapeutic qualities of nature. For instance, they can explain how listening to bird sounds innature helps to improve children’s spatial awareness, why spinning in circles establishes a strong balancesystem, and walking barefoot integrates reflexes that prevent further complications such as toe-walking.
raditionally, pediatric occupational therapists are found inside schools or indoor clinics. We’ve venturedout to start using animals and gardening for therapy in more recent years. However, I have to wonder…what if more occupational therapists started venturing out even further? What if they used giant mud
puddles to get children to explore their senses more fully? What if they went deep into the woods to inspirechildren to think openly and creatively, while building forts and dens of their own design? What wouldoccupational therapy look like then?
I believe occupational therapists have great potential to usethe sensory benefits of play outdoors to help childrenintegrate their senses in the most natural of ways.
Using the Outdoors for Occupational Therapy
Here are some wonderful ways therapists and others can step back and start to see play outdoors as therapeuticin design:
1. Climbing trees. In a clinic setting, we traditionally have kids use a plastic climbing wall to work onfull-body strengthening and coordination. What if we started letting kids climb trees outside fortherapy? This is a little more challenging since trees are not color-coded. Children will need to usetheir problem-solving skills in order to scale the tree, testing branches as they go to make sure theyare safe and sturdy. They would learn safety skills and the tree offers a nice tactile and natural touchexperience as they hold onto the tree limbs during the climb.
2. Playing in a mud puddle. Occupational therapists often let children play in sensory bins that arefilled with colorful rice, beans, and sand. In order to fully maximize a child’s sensory experience and
to make it even more meaningful, what if we allowedchildren to play in mud puddles during treatment sessions? Our mud puddles here at TimberNookheadquarters are so huge that they also have real frogs and frog eggs in them. The kids have tomaneuver through the mud, using their balance, visual scanning skills, and engaging their tactile(touch) senses as they search for a frog.
3. Walking barefoot on a log. In the clinic, we often have children go barefoot on plastic balance
14/05/2014 21:47NATURE IS THE ULTIMATE SENSORY EXPERIENCE: A Pediatric Occupati…ist Makes the Case for Nature Therapy : The New Nature Movement
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beams, which have been engineered to be “sensory” with little plastic bumps. If we take childrenoutside, we could let them go barefoot on fallen trees, enhancing their sensory experience on amultitude of different levels. Not only would they be experiencing different textures, but they wouldfeel the sensations of moist versus dry, crunchy versus soft, noisy versus quiet, and changes intemperature.
4. Hooking up therapy swings outdoors. Therapists are SO lucky when it comes to swings! We havejust about every type of swing imaginable–all for a different purpose. If we brought them outdoors,we would only add to the sensory experience for children. Now they are exposed to bird sounds, thewind on their face, and the shadows playing across the ground as they are swinging. By takingswings outside, we engage all of their senses — not just the vestibular (balance) sense.
5. Building forts. In clinics, it is very common and fun to have children design their own obstaclecourses. This helps them with problem solving, creativity, and planning. If we took this outside, whatmight it look like? Children love creating forts of their own design, using everything from sticks andbricks to fabric and Plexiglas. They are still working on the same skills – only they are exposed tomore sensory input, while igniting their imaginations at the same time.
Nature truly is the ultimate sensory experience and the perfect medium for occupational therapists to utilize,both for prevention and treatment methods. It is time we step beyond the confining walls of buildings, take ourtherapy swings outdoors for fresh air, and use the occupation of play outdoors to enrich children’s lives.
Additional Reading & Resources
WHY I PRESCRIBE NATURE - by Robert Zarr, M.D.
TIME FOR YOUR VITAMIN “N”: Ten Great Ways Pediatricians and Other Health Professionals CanPromote Health and Wellness
VITAMIN “N” and the American Academy of Pediatrics - by Mary Brown, MD
THE WHOLE CHILD: A Pediatrician Recommends the Nature Prescription - by Larry Rosen, MD
THE “VITAMIN N” PRESCRIPTION – Some Health Professionals Now Recommending Nature Time forChildren and Adults
“SITTING IS THE NEW SMOKING” — What We Can Do About Killer Couches, Sedentary Schools, and thePandemic of Inactivity
GROW OUTSIDE! - Richard Louv’s Keynote Address to the American Academy of Pediatrics
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“If you go with long-termsignificance, my pick for the topstory of not only 2009 but also ofthe 21st Century is the pandemicof Nature Deficit Disorder, a termso aptly coined by Richard Louv inhis best-selling outdoor book, LastChild in the Woods....”
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