The benfits of family bonding as well as spending time spent fully immersed in nature has shown to yield many positive affects on families.
- Stress reduction.
- Improvement of mood.
- Increased concentration.
- Boost overall wellbeing.
Mental or attentional fatigue is common, especially after a full day of concentrating at work or at school. When you think about our everyday environments, we are riddled with stimuli. On top of work, you may find your cell phone constantly buzzing, or you’re getting multiple notifications from emails. With everything going on at once our attention is being taxed much more than we may realize. But in nature, you can quiet your mind and restore your attention which is nessessary for concentration. It helps your working memory.
Research shows nature helps family bonding
Researchers performed a study which focussed on mothers’ and daughters’ cohesiveness. This study required its participants to perform attention-fatiguing activities (such as solving math problems or completing crosswords) while the sounds of loud construction noises were played in the background. These participants were given a pre-attention test and then sent out on a 20-minute walk; One day to a nature center, and on the other, to a local mall. When they returned, they took a post-attention test and then discussed which location they enjoyed most. To conclude the experiment, they then played a game that required the pairs’ teamwork.
The researchers made a couple observations: For the mothers, attention was restored exponentially after the nature walk; And for daughters, attention was restored after both walks. But when looking at their reports of the two settings, there was no question, moms and daughters both said “the nature setting was more fun, relaxing, and interesting.” Finally, the researchers also made impressive findings related to improved togetherness. Upon watching the pairs complete the final task (the game), the researchers found that only the nature location had a positive effect: The moms and daughters showed greater cohesion, sense of unity, and ability to get along.
What we’ve learned is that “Even just a 20-minute walk around the neighborhood before or after eating dinner or finding pockets of time to set aside to reconnect, not only can benefit families in the moment but after the activity as well.”
Our Adventure Packs were designed with all of this in mind and is a perfect way to spend some spontaneous family time in nature. Simply grab and go!
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