Roots, Sunshine, Dirt, and Wonder

I was MIA summer. I had shared about have a real South Dakota farm summer with my three boys—trading screens for mosquitos, sweat, and the sacred gift of time with grandparents (read here).

Beyond nostalgia, there’s science, research, and wisdom confirming what so many of us feel deeply: we need the outdoors.

My husband was also reminded of the need to connect with nature this summer. While the boys and I were on the farm, he was riding his bicycle 2,500 miles. That meant five to seven hours a day fully immersed in the outdoors—not just feeling the breeze or humidity, but hearing the bugs buzzing, smelling animals as they passed, and noticing the subtle shifts in weather.

When he came back to "the real world,” he couldn’t help but notice how out of rhythm human beings have become. Hours behind a computer screen, trapped in a cycle of emails and endless busy-ness, are empty compared to the sensory richness of the road. He came back with a simple truth: we weren’t meant to live this way.

The Case for Muddy Shoes and Skinned Knees

Steven Rinella, in Outdoor Kids in an Inside World, reminds us that the greatest gift we can give our children isn’t another structured playdate or joining a new sports team or even an afternoon at Flying Squirrel.  It’s time outside. The unstructured wonder of nature builds resilience, creativity, and a sense of belonging that can’t be replicated indoors.

Child psychologist Helen Dodd’s work suggests that adventurous play is “linked to having low levels of stress and anxiety.” Her theory is elegant—through repeated cycles of challenge → arousal (that pounding heart) → coping, kids “learn to manage anxiety and understand that physiological stress isn’t a disaster and doesn’t last forever.” 

Jena Pincott, author of Wits, Guts, Grit: All-Natural Biohacks for Raising Smart, Resilient Kids, goes a step further, pointing out that resilience isn’t something we can “teach” in a classroom. It’s something that grows when kids are allowed to fail, try again, and discover their own strength—in nature, in play, and in life’s ordinary messiness.

The Child Mind Institute says plainly: “Why Kids Need to Spend Time in Nature” isn’t just about physical activity. It’s about lowering stress, building attention spans, boosting confidence, and nurturing emotional well-being.

From planting their own field corn seeds, to picking, shucking, cooking, and eating sweet corn, agronomy was in full effect.

The rains would come, the stream would fill up the yard, their days, and minds, and over time they would dry up . . . a steady cycle of hydrology, meteorology, and hydrometeorology.  

The Parental Paradox

Yet, somewhere along the way, society convinced us that risk is unsafe. Not only is that untrue, but it a real safety threat is not allowing children opportunities to ever build their own confidence, resilience, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Without risk, children never learn how to manage the world around them. And they struggle to learn how they fit within it.

As parents internalize the untruths society tells us, we're convinced that constant surveillance is love. When in reality, denying our children a little risk and exploration serves only us. It makes us feel like good parents. It saves us from feeling scared or anxious or worried, while our children never have the opportunity to learn that they are capable and trusted.

The article, Why kids need to take more risks: Science reveals the benefits of wild, free play, by Julian Nowogrodzki gives us a quick reset: risk ≠ danger. Danger is what a child can’t detect or handle. Risk is the just-right stretch that changes with age and ability. 

Making the Mental-Health Heartbeat a Priority

So what does risky play actually look like? Think heights, speed, tools, elements, getting a little lost. Researcher Ellen Sandseter defined it “thrilling and exciting play that involves uncertainty and a risk — either real or perceived.” That sort of play “is associated with greater resilience, self-confidence, problem-solving and social skills.” 

Obviously, parents are a big piece, but this requires buy-in from all sectors. Things as basic as playground designs because those with uneven terrain—boulders, slopes, places to balance—invite more positive risk-taking than flat, over-engineered surfaces. 

From culture to policy, city-planners and industry leaders, training for educators, even exploring how different countries frame risk. 

A Gentle Invitation

I created Rooted Sonshine because reclaiming connection, nature, and community are foundational to our health and our collective future.

If you’re a parent, teacher, faith leader, business leader, or community builder longing to weave more outdoor play, intergenerational connection, and resilience into your spaces, let's connect.

🌻 Hire Rooted Sonshine to support your efforts. Whether it’s designing a program, leading a workshop, or crafting a community-wide initiative, I'm here to help.

Eastern SD was uncharacteristically wet this summer so the boys spent a lot of time creating aquariums, fishing, and examining the lifecycle of toads.

Holes were dug, filled in, turned into toad hotels or roads, water added for rivers and mud, rubbed on feet and into hair. Immune systems and brains benefited from hours and hours of edaphology and pedology.