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Writer's pictureAlli Bizon

Strolling Through Serenity: How Slow City Walks with Kids Foster Bonds and Mental Wellness

I'm not too sure about you, but usually, the time between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM tends to exist in a period of utter chaos, particularly in the home of a family with young children:


Leave work. Pick up my daughter from school. Drive to the next location (always in traffic). Park the car. Pick up my other daughter at daycare. Drive home. Unload the car and hike up the stairs to our apartment. Trade off with my husband between playing with the kids or cooking dinner while reminding our children that there are "no more snacks" because we will be eating in twenty minutes.


Preschooler enjoys playing in the golden hour shadows on a nature walk

We all somehow manage to get through (an often loud) dinner, clean the table, take a bath, and do our evening bedtime routine while attempting to minimize temper tantrums. We do our best to honor our children with quality time, but this routine can feel exhausting and unsustainable. Something for us needed to change.


Recently, I thought of the teachings of Dr. Maria Montessori. She recognized that each child develops at their own pace. Montessori believed it was essential for adults to respect and support this natural progression rather than imposing their own timelines and expectations on the child. This can feel a bit overwhelming to adhere to in practice, especially in our fast paced world, but the benefits are great. Children and families alike can feel dysregulated with all the stresses of a hectic evening schedule. Montessori's solution? Connect with nature: "The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth" (Montessori, 1948). While this can be difficult to always take on as a modern working parent, small steps can make meaningful impacts.


A few weeks ago, while admiring the beautiful setting sun gleaming

through my windshield, I announced to my older daughter that we'd be stopping at home first before getting her sister. "Today, we're going on a walk."


Toddler walks on ledges on city nature walk

Rather than stopping on route home, we took a few extra minutes to drive home first. We spent the time walking to the daycare and taking in all the beauty of the natural world right in our city neighborhood. It was amazing. We chased our shadows and danced in the light as it sparkled through the trees. We took time to point out some of the bird species we knew. We climbed the ledges and stopped to smell the blooming spring flowers.


Helping your child become more in tune with their environment builds self-regulation, supporting in calming them down. Time spent in natural environments has been correlated with improved mood and emotional well-being in children. Activities like nature walks were associated with reduced symptoms of depression (Li et al. 2015).


Implementing a few games and activities can support building more connected time with young children and the world around them:


  • High and Low - Take time to pause at each block. Ask your children to notice what they see high in the sky and low to the ground. Have them notice the animals and plants they see. It's okay if you don't know all the names of the creatures; make a note of them to look up together on another day. Move down the block and repeat.


Preschooler finds the letter "A" on a nature walk
  • Alphabet Hunt - Hunt for text around the neighborhood. While looking for letters, see if you can find anything in the environment that starts with the letter sound.

  • I Spy - Build language and cognitive skills by playing a simple game of I Spy. "I spy with my little eye something yellow..." Start with colors and expand to textures and shapes.

  • Listening Walk - You can build sensorial awareness by supporting your child's listening skills. Notice the birds, the wind in the trees, the dump truck passing by, the cicadas, etc.


  • Rainbow Hunt—Can your child find something around them in every color of the rainbow? To support toddlers' language development, bring a picture of a rainbow or make a small book of stapled construction paper with each color as a guide.


While time isn't always available for our family, the new change greatly impacted both the mental health of myself and my children. Adding a few walks per week into our schedule significantly decreased our kids' meltdowns. Perhaps dinner time doesn't work for your family's schedule. Consider a 15-minute walk after dinner or even after breakfast. Do what works best for your family. Taking time to treasure these tender moments increased our moods and family bonds. These little short walks indirectly supported their development by building joy and curiosity about our planet.


Photographers treasure the enchanting magic of the golden hour, a period shortly after sunrise or before sunset when the sun bathes everything in warm, diffused light. This time of day can be magical walking with young children, offering a special connection to nature. The golden hour enhances colors and textures, bringing vibrancy and life to the surroundings and turning ordinary moments into extraordinary experiences.


References:

Li, D., Zhang, H., & Zhang, E. (2015). Influence of outdoor environment and parents’ attention on preschool children’s emotional states. Procedia Manufacturing, 3, 4658–4664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.570


Montessori, M. (1948). To Educate the Human Potential. Adyar, Madras, India: Kalakshetra Publications.





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