Climb Trees. Touch Grass. Repeat
It’s almost summer vacation. There are three more days left of our local school year. And for some (if not most) kids, this is a purely tortuous time of year. The weather is getting nice. The classrooms are too hot (not all schools have air conditioning). Because testing is over and learning is wrapping up, school schedules are packed full of one “fun” activity after another. It’s like everyone is just trying to string together enough moments of motivation and distraction to make it to the final bell.
Teachers are exhausted. Students are done. Everyone’s ready for summer—a time to relax, reset, and finally play.
Does this sound familiar?
As both a teacher and a parent, I’ve seen kids come home from school totally mentally drained. Their days are so packed with learning that there’s barely time to eat lunch, let alone use the bathroom. Recess is often only offered to younger grades (middle and high school kiddos don’t really get outside during the day), and studies continue to show that children are spending less and less time outdoors. Kids' brains barely get the time they need to process new information, let alone store it in long-term memory.
Which is why downtime…real, unstructured, joyful downtime….for kids AND adults….isn’t just a nice extra. It’s essential.
And maybe that’s part of why summer feels so magical.
When my kids were in sixth and third grade, our family spent a year living in New Zealand. My kids were lucky enough to attend school while we were there. And, they got to experience firsthand how different learning can look in other parts of the world.
On the tour of my daughter’s new school, we strolled past a familiar-looking playground with swings, slides, and painted courts for basketball, tetherball, and four-square. The strangest thing, however, was that we could hear children laughing and playing somewhere else where we couldn’t yet see. The principal that was leading our tour chuckled a bit as she took us around the corner of the building to a thickly wooded area. To our surprise, there was an obstacle course between the trees, made to look like and blend in with the forest. Kids were balancing and climbing….some 50 feet above us. Most of the kids we couldn’t even see unless we looked up.
My daughter’s jaw dropped. “Wait… the kids here can climb trees here?”
The principal smiled. “Of course. They love it.”
My daughter turned to me and said, “We’re not even allowed to climb the rock in the backyard of my school back at home!”
She wasn’t wrong. Back home, the playground was just as colorful and well-equipped, but tree climbing was forbidden. So was playing on the giant boulder that marked the edge of the school grounds. And the truth is, a lot of kids didn’t know how to climb safely. They’d get stuck on the climbing wall, or fall from the rock and get hurt.
In New Zealand, though, the kids seemed stronger, more resilient, and more in tune with the natural world. They played outside constantly, rain or shine, and learned how to manage risk through experience, not restriction.
When my daughter started school in New Zealand, she stopped coming home mentally exhausted. Instead, she came home physically tired. Her arms would be sore, her legs would ache, and she slept like a rock at night. Every day, she needed a bucket hat and sunscreen because it was expected that students would spend lots of time outside….during breaks, for learning, and just because.
Even though the curriculum was a bit different from back home, she learned “heaps” (as the Kiwi kids would say). And when we returned, she wasn’t behind her classmates. If anything, I think the extra time in nature helped her truly absorb what she was learning. It gave her brain time to rest and reflect.
And it gave her something else, too….it felt healthy. It gave her time to connect with her peers, with herself, and with nature.
No matter how old you are, you need time to play, unwind, and be outside. Yes, tests and papers and grades matter. But why do American schools wait until the very end of the year to give kids permission to have fun? Why can’t play be part of the routine for all school age kids?
There’s decades of research showing that time in nature improves focus, creativity, emotional regulation, and overall well-being for everyone. Play isn’t a reward. It’s a biological need.
So what’s my message here?
I guess If I ruled the world, I’d structure school a little more like they do in New Zealand—or honestly, like when I was a kid. I’d find a better balance between instructional time and the freedom to play. But since I don’t rule the world, I do what I can…..I encourage kids and families to protect downtime and make it sacred.
I’m not talking about structured playdates or after-school sports. I’m talking about real rest….intentional breaks for your brain.
Schedule it.
Set reminders.
Make it a habit.
And don’t overthink it. Rest might look like reading, drawing, riding your bike, writing stories, listening to music, or (yes!) climbing trees. And whenever you can, take it outside. Breathe fresh air. Feel the sun. Put your feet on the Earth….even if it’s raining or cold outside.
Be like a Kiwi and just go for it!
Your brain (and your body) will thank you.
