Siouxland Magazine - Volume 1 Issue 4

Siouxland Magazine | explore / 54
Building Resilience through the Outdoors.
By Olivia Parks
Every living thing is influenced by stress.
The stressors that come to mind as adults include work,
family, and money. Similar to their parents, children are
also influenced by daily hardships but unlike adults,
they do not have the knowledge of how to cope with
this feeling. There are also many environmental factors
that we encounter on an annual basis. Some factors
that Siouxland experiences are floods, extreme heat,
drought, and extreme cold. These environmental factors
are influenced by our climate which native plants have
grown to be resilient against. One of the most resilient
environments in our region is prairie. Children benefit
from observing these conditions in prairies and being
out in these environments to learn how to be resilient
against the harsh conditions in their own life.
Though there are only less than 0.1% remaining of
the original prairies, they are one of the most robust
ecosystems that exist. Prairies consist of mostly native
grasses, flowers, or forbs and when those native plants
are grown together in a community they become strong
against environmental hazards. In floods, these plants
will retain rainwater and also help stabilize the landscape
by preventing erosion because of their root system.
During droughts, plants will go dormant without water
until they are rehydrated then they will perk right back
up and not die. Many of the prairie plants are also heat
resistant and can handle the extreme heat, and in the
winter, their roots are so deep and dense underground,
averaging two-thirds of the plant being underground,
that they are able to survive in the freezing temperatures.
Finally, prairies are a low maintenance ecosystem and do
not require fertilization or pesticides. Prairies attract native
wildlife and pollinators that provide protection from
harmful invaders.
Being in nature benefits child development
too. Having children outside allows them to
burn off energy, improve their mood, and
helps improve focus which helps in school.
Schools use recess as a time for students to get outdoors
and try to gain the benefits from it, but recess is not nearly
enough time to fully gain the experience of being in
nature. One of the best ways to observe children gaining
tractability is by taking a long hike on a rough trail. In
this type of condition, children will experience some
discomfort that they would not normally get exposed to.
They would be asked to push their limits, either by waiting
until they reached the end of a stretch of trail to catch their
breath or waiting longer times between breaks for a snack
or water.