A simple fix to troubled and screen-addicted kids? Put them outside. Give them a grassy area and a tree. Give them sensory experiences — a sand box or building blocks. Give them gardens. Let them make mistakes, scrape their knees, and play with each other.
This was the case made by a panel of four principals from throughout Santa Barbara County during First 5 ’s Nature and Learning Research Forum on May 8.
Mari Ortega-Garcia, director of early education and support for the Guadalupe Union School District, started with a story of when she literally “took candy from a child.”