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Welcome to the new LESA web site.
Our goal is to provide information and links to opportunities for children and families to find meaningful experiences with nature in Loudoun County.
Over time we will improve this site to make it easy for parents and teachers to find programs, events, and sites that promote nature protection, education and hands-on outdoor activities for your children.
Please come back to visit LESA soon.
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No Child (or Family)
Left Inside
A back-to-nature movement to reconnect children with the outdoors is sweeping the nation. Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder has been a catalyst for organizations nationwide to seek new ways to connect children with outdoor experiences.
How will this benefit my child?
Research shows that getting kids out in nature increases their physical level, reduces loneliness, depression and attention problems and is essential to their cognitive, physical, social and emotional well-being. Conversely children suffer health problems, including obesity, from too much sedentary time indoors with TV and computers.
What can I do here and now?
The Loudoun Environmental Stewardship Alliance is a non-profit organization committed to helping families reconnect to Loudoun's outdoors. This site includes links to events, activities and organizations that can help your children realize the benefits of creative outdoor play.
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"If a child is to keep alive
his inborn sense of wonder,
he needs the companionship
of at least one adult who
can share it, rediscovering
with him the job, excitement
and mystery of the world
we live in."
Rachel Carson, naturalist and author |
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Why is this so important?
"Nature is directly connected to our health," says Richard Louv. "It helps us feel better physically and psychologically. It helps us pay attention."
"Time in the woods helps children develop bonds with nature and other people," says Gina McCartney, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
In the United States, Sweden, Australia and Canada, studies have shown that children who play on natural playgrounds (trees, fields, streams) are more likely to make up their own games and are more cooperative than those who play on man-made equipment.
Nature also is being looked at as a form of treatment, in conjunction with behavioral therapy and Ritalin. A University of Illinois study has shown that exposure to ordinary natural settings may effectively reduce attention-deficit symptoms in children.
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