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Many years ago, when I was involved in inspecting and licensing child care programs in PEI, I remember visiting a center in the dead of winter and being given a tour of the facility. I noticed that the backyard was an unmarked drift of snow. When I queried the early childhood educator she indicated that it was too cold for the children to be out and that the mess they created upon returning made a lot of extra work for the staff. She added, “Besides, they can have just as much fun and learn more inside.” There is increasing evidence that this “thought virus” may have spread across the country. Let’s cut to the chase right away – movement is life. You may have heard the saying that to ask a child not to move is like asking him or her not to breathe. It has been my experience that to ask an adult, like you or I, not to move is like asking them not to breathe as well. Let’s check and see if this is true – stop reading right now and wherever else you are doing, and be still in every part of your body for 30 seconds. This included your limbs, neck, shoulders, eyes, mouth, etc. Go ahead, do it right now! How long did it take before you moved something? Did you notice how uncomfortable it is, almost painful isn’t it? So movement is one of life’s forms of pleasure. So logically then, outdoor play can be considered one of life’s forms of pure pleasure. Why is movement, as manifested in outdoor play, so important? I heard a physician say that the best definition of death in the human body is the absence of all movement of all types from the limbs to the internal organs to the synaptic electrical activity of the brain. So it might be said that the human body is the perfect motion machine, that its destiny is motion and that its destiny is determined by the choices that each human body makes with regard to motion. So it is really not surprising that all of us find it difficult to not move – to be still. It really goes against our very nature – it is unnatural. There is alarming evidence suggesting that many early childhood educators are minimizing and even eliminating outdoor play. Is this due to Canada’s inclement weather, the priority of academic pursuits, the costs to staff, the space required, or the equipments costs? Or perhaps something more insidious is going on? Let’s explore briefly seven of the prevailing myths associated with outdoor play and movement in early childhood education to uncover the truths that lie hidden. In so doing, I will be challenging the comfortable, i.e. we as Early Childhood Educators and thereby hopefully, comforting the challenged, i.e. the children in our care. Myth # 1 Outdoor play in ECE programs is not really important because the children are there for such a short time. Truth – movement is life and outdoor movement is child development at its very essence. Maybe we have forgotten that Jean Piaget, considered by many as the “Father of Early Childhood Education” said that children build their intelligence by interacting with the real world. Maria Montessori also demonstrated a respect for this principle in her approach to child development. It is difficult to interact with the real world when one is only in a box of some kind, regardless of how well intended this “boxing processing” may be. I met a woman many years ago at an ECE conference that did a lot of public speaking. She told me how she needed to crawl on her hands and knees around her hotel room for fifteen minutes before each speech because it enabled her to balance and coordinate her thoughts about what she was going to say. She explained it quite simply with the story that as a toddler, her mother, who worked in the fields picking fruit, would put her in a wash tub to play so she would be safe. She was convinced that this restricted environment significantly delayed not only her physical coordination development but also her mental abilities. She said she found that the bilateral act of crawling as an adult enabled her to compensate for this de-habilitating childhood experience. Myth # 2 Early childhood educators can do enough movement activities indoors to meet a developing child’s needs. Truth - when we reduce the space around people we also reduce the number of choices and opportunities for their development. While we may increase our efficiency and even reduce our costs with indoor activities, this restriction is of course the foundation for ineffective concepts such as “punishment”, “grounding” and of course in adult form “prison”, i.e. - restricting peoples ability to make choices. Unfortunately, when you reduce people choices you also reduce their freedom and ability to learn. Several years ago, I heard an early childhood educator comment in a day care staff meeting, “How come we can hardly notice the ADHD kids when all the children are in the back yard together?” This led of course to the inevitable discussion about whether the ADHD phenomenon is biological or environmental or perhaps just the “flavor of the month” for psychologists like me. Maybe it is about choices. We know the stories about how these children when placed in front of their favorite television show will sit for great lengths of time focused and engrossed. So we know they have the capacity to control their movements when they choose, but they do need to move. Have you ever had a child come to you while at free play in the out of doors and request to be taken inside because it is more fun there? If it ever occurred I will bet my pension plan that either the child was ill or felt left out of some activity. Out of doors is where children usually experience the most freedom of choice. It is also the preferred choice for developmental activities for adults in our society as well. This is reflected by the popularity of such diverse phenomena as golf, camping, hunting, hiking, fishing, ropes courses, eco-tourism and numerous other outdoor recreation activities. Myth #3 Outdoor play activities can easily be postponed and the responsibility left with parents. Truth – outdoor play is such an integral part of life in general and child development in particular that it cannot be portioned off to segments of a child’s life. We see frequently now in the media the impacts of limited movement in children and adults with obesity rates for both adults and children at epidemic proportions in Canada. We also are seeing all levels of government establishing “movement” programs of all kinds to address this alarming trend. Also, restrictive, passive, inside lifestyles are associated with several medical and psychological conditions including depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, heart disease and others. As one of my clients said to me one day, “It is so hard to feel depressed when I am out for a brisk walk on a clear and cold winter’s day.” We have a billion dollar sports and recreation industry dedicated to encouraging us as adults to move our bodies to keep them healthy. Many adults sneak away from work to go do it because it feels so good and it adds so much to their life. This is in keeping with the popular theory of human development developed by Dr. William Glasser called “Choice Theory” which is currently used by thousands of people in over sixteen countries. One of its primary tenants is that every human has, besides the biological needs of safety, nutrition and reproduction, four psychological needs of freedom, power, love and fun. Choice Theory views power as “the ability to influence” and suggests three kinds. There is power to be in control your own body, power to be in control objects and power to influence others. Personal fitness and activities like walking, running and the martial arts are examples of the first kind of power, while sports like golf and other ball-based sports and creative endeavors like crafts and painting are examples of the second kind of power. Influential relationships are what the third kind of power is all about. Considered inside Choice Theory one can appreciate that outdoor play activities for children are one of the primary ways in which they learn to develop a sense of personal power in all three subcategories. To limit children’s exposure to outdoor play in early childhood education programs could be considered to be neglecting their developmental needs, not just physically, but also socially, emotionally and intellectually. Myth # 4 Early childhood educators are effective modelers for movement education. Truth – early childhood educators are part of a Canadian society that is over 50% obese, which would strongly suggest that over half of us are currently obese. We are part of the society of couch potatoes, junk food eaters, and TV addicts. What is surprising is that we ignore the fact that once we decide to be in a child’s environment, we are automatically a model for them. I recall when I worked in a drug crisis center, talking to a young drug user who said that we as adults have a credibility problem. He said it was epitomized by his father who had said to him “Don’t let me catch you doing drugs.”, while holding a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Perhaps, we as early childhood educators, have the same challenge. Do we actually model for the children the lifestyle we want them to learn from us in terms of nutrition and exercise? We are certainly vigilant about modeling academic and social skills. I suspect that if we were as committed to a healthy life style as we want the children to be, then we would have no hesitation in getting them outside because it would be an opportunity for us as well to evolve through outdoor physical activity? Maybe our neglect of this professional role is just another part of our society’s own hypocrisy. Perhaps it is some form of jealousy we have of children with their youth, vitality, flexibility and beauty. Is it a subtle way of discriminating against them – is it a manifestation of ageism - but rather than perpetuated on the elderly, we have now targeted the young. Myth # 5 Exploring the capacities of the human body to interact with its physical world is not really an important part of early childhood education. Truth – the purpose of our existence is to explore and evolve ourselves within our physical world. Do you remember your very first toy? The one you explored so carefully first with your mouth and then with your eyes. It was your own body – remember? Each of us studied our fingers, hands and arms and how they moved and then our toes, feet and legs, all in preparation for our exploration of the whole world. Last year I had an opportunity to trek the Himalayas in Nepal. It was like climbing ladders continuously ten hours a day at altitudes of eight to twelve thousand feet. While it was physically exhausting I soon learned to pace myself physically and mentally. It was empowering to know that I could sustain my energy day after day. It was empowering learning to trek in all kinds of weather and terrain from muddy torrential downpours to pitch dark suspension-bridge crossings. It was empowering as well to be part of a group of people all on the same journey of discovery. When we ate lunch together at the Mount Everest look out, we shared a magical experience that we will probably never forget. Having had the privilege of watching children play outside for years, I suspect the outdoors, the backyard; the playground is like their Himalayan Mountains. To deprive them of these adventures is to deny them much of the magic of their evolution. Myth # 6 Children can learn the necessary social skills from their interactions within structured, adult controlled indoor activities. Truth – children also need freedom from adults to learn to think for themselves and be on their own in a safe environment, to make decisions, to initiate and develop their own relationships and to explore the world unencumbered by adults. If you think back to your own childhood, what were the memorable moments that are so clear in your mind? Was it the structured activities supervised by adults or those times when you were outside adult scrutiny playing with your friends. My most vivid times were in the backyards of the neighborhood where we gathered to explore, make friends, share adventures, negotiate relationships, support others, create, tear down, share secrets or even just stare at a passing ant. My own children, now adults, still talk about the single acre of woods around our house as if it was a separate and special world. On several occasions I have heard they reminisce about their adventures “in the woods”. Myth # 7 Children are safer indoors where they can be properly supervised. Truth – children are safest when they learn to be self-confident, independent and evaluative individuals who wonder, ask questions and challenge the adults around them to evolve themselves. Certainly the tragedy last year of September 11th has shattered the illusion of safety for the world. A dozen people with simple knives got the richest and most militaristic country in the world to sit up and notice them. But it has also helped us learn a priceless lesson - that security is mostly just an illusion, which we use to appease our own fears. We would like to keep our children safe but actually it is impossible. Our fear has reached alarming proportions. We are now not just fingerprinting our kids; we are also registering their DNA for future reference in a crime whose chances of occurring are almost nil. September 11th is challenging us to redefine safety in a new way. We have known for some time that the actual number of children kidnapped is minuscule and that when children are molested; it is usually by someone they know, not by a stranger. But we ignore these facts and pretend that we can keep children safe by putting them in boxes of all sorts of shapes and colors like – “organized activities”, “structured programs”, “supervised sports”, etc. It has been said that every child we meet is there to help us learn a lesson. I recall clearly while observing an early childhood student on practicum being approached by a four year old who asked me who I was and what I did. I gave her some vague and obviously confusing response, to which she replied, “What do you really do?” My mind went blank and I had no response for this child because she had asked me one of the most profound questions in life. It took me over two weeks to figure out an answer that made sense to me. Her question acted as a catalyst for my own evolution. Maybe this professional challenge that faces early childhood educators, of ensuring that every child experiences outdoor play every day will also be an opportunity for them to evolve as well in ways they have not anticipated. It has been said that wisdom is seeing an opportunity in a crisis. Maybe, this is another opportunity for us as early childhood educators to evolve not only our professional role but also our own self? So if we accept that the human body is a perfect motion machine, which requires outdoor play to develop to its potential, then seven myths can evolve into seven truths. And if we are really committed to nurturing children from where they are rather than where we are, - in so doing we will evolve ourselves. 
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