I got an email a few weeks ago from a Mom by the name of Sarah. She was seeking advice about outdoor play/activities for children with learning challenges, specifically ADHD. Because I have little to no experience with this kind of thing I invited her to write up her experience in hopes that other parents might have more advice to share than I did.

If you have a child with a learning challenge or special need and have used the outdoors as a tool, we want to hear from you.(See the bottom of Sarah’s article for more specific questions, or add your own thoughts).

Thanks for sharing your story Sarah, I absolutely love this post. I for one think Michael is a pretty lucky kid.

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This is my firstborn, Michael:

His little fetus self hit me in the gut at twelve weeks pregnant and didn’t stop moving the rest of the pregnancy. At twenty weeks, he kicked the TV controls off my belly. After his birth, he screamed for three months straight.

I stopped comparing him to other kids, or asking for help from other moms a year into the adventure. My son was just—different. Tough, independent, confident, and able to take down a full grocery cart in 2.3 seconds. He climbed out of his car seat before other kids even realized they were in one. (P.S. Duct tape around the straps solved this problem for awhile).

Around his third birthday, he was evaluated for early learning disabilities (including autism and ADHD). Twenty minutes into the evaluation he pulled out every toy, had to be told to go back to his seat fifteen times, ran into the door twice, and spun in a circle for three full minutes… Oh and he tried to set some turtles free. Anyways, after all this, the evaluator scrunched up her face and went, “Yeah. It looks like ADHD.” As if to drive this point home, the kid ran into the concrete block wall and bounced off with a huge smile. Then did it again.

One of her suggestions—find a gross motor activity that allows him to practice his missing executive function skills.

A little bit about Executive Function:

Executive Functions are a group of key cognitive skills, the lack of which is where learning disabilities and ADHD collide. People with ADHD have less executive functioning skills than everyone else, plus, they acquire the little they do have much slower (about thirty percent slower).

The skills themselves are things like: anticipating the future, avoiding repetition of the same mistakes, planning, having a sense of time, paying attention, staying awake, finishing a task, controlling emotions, being able to internalize thoughts, analyzing, organizing information, error correction, and performance in situations where activity is not rehearsed or planned. (Zeigler Dendy, 3)

So when the therapist suggested a gross motor activity that included executive function practice, I immediately thought of climbing.

It made perfect sense that my son’s lack of executive function could be helped by rock climbing. My husband has severe ADHD, even as an adult, and has used rock climbing as part of his coping strategies since he was about eleven. His dirt-bag years in the New River Gorge got him through college. On the rock, he is safe, thoughtful, technical and precise. He is in control of himself and one of the most conscientious climbers I have ever come across. But when he’s in the basement packing his gear, he forgets to pack QUICKDRAWS. OR ROPE. OR ANCHORS. (true stories– I check the gear bags now).

But while it made sense, it was only a theory. Michael, after all, was only three. I couldn’t see climbing having a huge impact on a three-year-old. He’d been out with us before, but nothing focused on him, and especially nothing focused on working through these brain issues.

I decided to take the suggestion and run with it. What could it hurt to try?

Climb On:

The week before his third birthday, I strapped my ten-month-old in the Ergo on my back and *firmly grasping* Michael’s hand, we went to the climbing gym with the sole purpose of a quasi-therapy session.

Note: I would have taken him outside, but we have no safe outdoor climbing near us. Great Falls National Park is our local crag, but he is so impulsive that he will not go climbing there until he’s like…twenty-five. The climbs are all in a gorge along the Potomac River and you belay on ledges above the water. When you fall in the Potomac there, you die. Seriously.

I planned to keep it simple. I had a bag of M and M’s to use as motivation (to put in the holds for him to climb after). After getting the candy, he would sit on the mat for a set amount of time before moving onto another climb.

I went in the very early hours where he would be the least intrusive. And I kept my expectations low. The kid couldn’t listen to me read a book for more than twenty seconds, after all. Even if it was only ten minutes in the gym, it would be something we tried.

We were there two hours. Climbing for two hours.

He furrowed his brow and walked around the edges of the walls until he saw something he liked and pointed it out.

The candy piece went into the hold he was going for, and off he’d go.

Occasionally he had problems focusing on the climb. His eyes would ping back and forth in his head in excitement, and when he got on the wall he couldn’t keep his body from flailing. In those instances I pulled him off the wall and had him jump up and down on the mat in order to regain focus.

He climbed like a boy—all arms, pull-ups and aggro, brah. And he was proud of himself for getting the candy. I didn’t realize until that moment how little opportunity he had in everyday life to be proud of himself for achieving something.

When it came time to sit in between climbs, he sprawled out on the mat and relaxed without any problems. It’s very rare for him to even slow up, let alone stop and be calm. It did my mommy heart good.

In the calm space, I was able to point out the few other climbers in the gym. He normally cannot break out of his own fast paced world to notice other people, but that day he could. And we were able to practice climbing etiquette (no screaming for the most part, no running around, respecting other people’s space).

There was this moment about halfway into it where we were sitting on the bouldering pads just talking in between climbs. I’ve never gotten to just sit and talk with my child before like that.

For two hours my son could operate at a normal speed, be proud of his achievements, and connect in a way he hadn’t been able to before.

The other surprising thing? It lasted. He didn’t get a nap that day, but was still focusing and connecting better than if he had, hours after we left the gym.

Going Forward:

We’ve started changing some things at home. He asks to watch climbing videos on my ipad a lot now—the kid who cannot watch Sesame Street can sit frozen through Chris Sharma climbing videos. His favorites though, are the kids climbing. Anyone in a diaper climbing anything is awesome to him.

We’ve started taking him to the gym more frequently.

Our winter project now includes building a small bouldering wall in our basement for him. I think this might work out really well for “therapy” during those days where he just cannot get a grip on himself.

We’ve found some little baby boulders at a park that he loves to play on.

He asks every single day to go climbing.

And here are my questions to the Outside Mom community:
What other ways can I harness the outdoors and apply them to the way his brain works?
Have you heard anything about types of outdoor therapies that are succesfull with LD/ADHD/ASD children?
How do I help him progress in climbing?

Things I’ve learned about taking two small children to the climbing gym:

1. Go when no one is around. I mean 10:00 am on a sunny, seventy degree Tuesday type of no one is around.
2. Make them wear the harness even if you have no plans on putting them on the rope—thinking towards the future AND you can grab them quicker.
3. Do not have someone with ADHD check the harness you’ve never put on before and say “uhuh” when you ask if it’s on right. It’s not on right. He will tell you this after you get home all proud of yourself. Then he will have no recollection of telling you it was.
4. Give them something to climb for. We adults climb for something. Kids don’t have much awareness for esoteric reasons why they climb. They do understand candy. I’ve even used my keys. So they climb for candy and shiny objects.
5. One in the carrier on your back.
6. Pray everyone is forgiving of your toddler being fascinated with the echo.
7. Stash snacks in the Ergo and your pockets.
8. I think this is obvious, but don’t let them anywhere near chalk!
9. Point out other climbers for them to watch. I did this for the ADHD as I tried teaching him etiquette in a gym and to notice other people. He loved watching—especially the girls!
10. Don’t get sucked into “two mama?” because two climbs later, the question becomes “three mama?” and you’re like, wait, it’s ONE PIECE OF CANDY per climb. I don’t care how hard it is.
11. Don’t skip the sitting on the mat quietly part. Even if it wasn’t for the ADHD, I would make him do it, because at some point he will have to take turns climbing.

Works Cited: Zeigler Dendy, Chris A., M.S. Teenagers with ADD and ADHD: A guide for parents and professionals. Betheseda: Woodbine House, 2006. Print.

Article by: Sarah Lemon

The other day I was teaching an after school science lab at our local elementary school. My students hadn’t come to my classroom yet, so while I waited I watched the fourth and fifth graders playing outside. Soccer balls bounced on the field, girls hung from the bars, and two little boys squatted over an insect that had emerged too early and was struggling to deal with mud and snow. They poked at it with a stick for a minute—and then skewered it.

I winced for some reason, and then watched as they, fascinated, lifted the part of the skewered bug that stuck to their stick and examined its legs up close. One reached out to touch the hard exoskeleton. Then the other grabbed the stick and started chasing the girls with it.

Boys will by boys, I thought.

But what is it about boys that leads them to skewer animals, tie strings to flies, stomp on ants with wild abandon, and eventually ask dad if they can try out the beebee gun on the birds in the backyard? And is it bad? (more…)

Last spring was the first time I’d taken up playboating with any degree of seriousness. Playboating is where you dabble in the waves, skirting the edge of tumult, and using the force of the water to move around, but never really downstream.  Truth be told I’d rather run a river any day, but unfortunately my life situation (little kids to care for, a husband with a job, and–oh yeah–the lack of rivers in Nevada) doesn’t allow much time for that. Instead I started going down to the kayak park with a friend of mine; a fellow Mom and an amazingly good playboater.

I often met her down at the kayak park just as Joe was getting off work. I’d bring the kids down and Joe would meet us there on his bike. Joe and the kids would catch crawdads, throw rocks and play on the playground. I would play on the waves and as soon as I had sufficiently trashed myself we’d all drive home together.

One day in particular Joe and the kids were sitting on the sidelines watching me. As usual, I kept getting dumped over in the wave (i.e. tipped upside down). Despite the fact that I’d always roll back up, this really concerned Ari. He kept yelling at me to “be careful!”  Eventually he caught on to what was happening. He would still get worried when I went upside down, but he also started to celebrate with me if I actually did something that resembled a trick. “You did it Mom!” became music to my ears. So was “try it again Mom”. He made me try harder. (more…)

There’s a whole list of life lessons that we as parents want to help our kids learn, and it seems that every parent prioritizes this list differently.

The lesson I tend to focus on the most is I can do hard things.  I think this stems from the fact that Ari’s first reaction to any task set before him is that he “can’t do it”.  This concerns me.  Life is full of hard things.  Making decisions, learning a new skill, standing up for what you believe, passing a test, etc.  Life requires a certain amount of perseverance to survive, and an even bigger amount if you want to actually succeed.  I want Ari to know he has it in him.

For this reason I’m constantly pointing out to Ari when he does something that he was convinced he couldn’t do.  Fold his own laundry, draw a picture of a train, learn to read, jump off a rock, check the mail by himself, ride a bike, and hike to the top of a volcano.

Yes, a volcano. (more…)

I love TED talks.  They are varied, fascinating, and stimulating.  They make me think of things that it never occurred to me to think about. Here is one that I watched not too long ago. It has been viewed over 5 million times, and has been extremely well-received.

At first I was inspired: the idea that we can be ‘educated out of our creative capacities’ hit a chord with me, the girl who has spent the last 29 years being educated and is currently feeling rather water-cracker bland.

Then it hit me what he seemed to be implying and I felt slightly indignant. (more…)

I just read this fascinating article in Psychology Today that talked about what skills the current generation will need in order to be successful by the time they’re old enough to hold down a job.  The author points out that the model for our current education system was invented over a hundred years ago—when telephones were just being invented, refrigerators were blocks of ice, and television was pure science fiction.  In other words, during a time that today’s children absolutely cannot comprehend.  More importantly, the goals of education differed significantly a hundred years ago.  Today (as the author says):

“The best jobs will go to applicants who have the skillsets to analyze information as it becomes available, the flexibility to adapt when what were believed to be facts are revised, and to collaborate with other experts on a global playing field requiring tolerance, willingness to consider alternative perspectives, and articulately communicate one’s ideas successfully.”

How do we prepare our children for this future?  The author suggests encouraging activities that teach “predicting, planning, revising, and accountability”.

Here’s an idea: let your child plan the next hike. (more…)

It was cool among the Tamarisk, and they misted on me lightly.  I sat, hugging me legs to my chest, chin resting on my knees.  I resisted the urge to swish away the bugs exploring my ears and eyebrows.  My mind wondered to other places.  Lunch.  School the next day.  I ignored the sweat collecting in the crooks of my knees, and the way it tickled the backs of my calves.  Why was I here again?

I am not a patient person.  I am a now person.  The first thing I look at when contemplating a new recipe is how long it takes to make.  I want to know how the story ends by the last page of the second chapter.  I can’t diet worth beans because I want the weight gone by the end of the first day. (more…)

I know Bonnie because I know her daughters. I met Liv and Sus while living and working with them in the Grand Staircase. Never have I met women more selfless, self-sufficient, compassionate, strong, capable and outdoor savvy. I wondered how it was possible for two sisters to turn out so utterly amazing. I soon found out.

You should hear the stories Liv and Sus tell of their Mom.  She taught them how to slide down glaciers on the balls of their feet, using a stick as a rudder.  By excusing them from classes for a day of hiking, she reminded them never to let school get in the way of a good education.  She demonstrated the joy of mischievousness when she hid with them, snickering in the pitch black of a lava tube, while other tourists walked by unaware that anyone else was around.

She encouraged confidence by challenging them to jump off of even bigger sand dunes, swim in the even the coldest lakes, and find a way across (or down) even the angriest rivers.  And she taught them to appreciate fully the moment they were in, even as they prepared for what might come.  If you’d ever had the privilege to hearing these stories you would understand why I deemed Bonnie the perfect candidate for an OutsideMom interview.

Thanks for doing the interview Bonnie. Thanks for emphasizing that outdoor time can teach us about living no matter where we find ourselves. Thanks for reminding us of the value of spontaneity and the importance of throwing structure out the window.

Why did you emphasize the outdoors when raising your girls?

Being outside teaches children to see themselves in context. In the built environment of the city, everything natural is controlled. I think children in the city eventually come to believe that control of everything is their right, and even (sadly) their responsibility. It burdens them with an inflated sense of their own importance.

If you think about it, it’s just cruel. In the natural world, they are one part of something bigger. Their individual contribution makes a difference and can change things, but it doesn’t bring down the house if they make a mistake. They are free to play, act, wonder, discover and experiment and to learn the consequences of doing just that. For city kids, the loss of a life is an earth-shattering event.  For a natural kid, it’s part of a never-ending, life-affirming pattern. (more…)