Customer Reviews

The Green Hour: A Daily Dose of Nature for Happier, Healthier, Smarter Kids

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Such a simple concept, yet SO lacking in our North American urban/suburban culture - the idea that getting outside to play EVERY DAY is crucial in so many ways....especially for our children. Great layout, well-written, and inspiring. Get this book today and share with your children/family - and get outside to be in the green!

This is a great book about the wonders of 'real life' and reminding us to take our kids outside to play. It provides reference to numerous studies and articles about the benefits of growing up with nature. It is very well written and organized. "The Green Hour" provides suggestions on activities and insights into things forgotten, like dirt, clouds, bugs, and trees. The book reminds us to consider our addiction to digital media and to take a small amount of time to participate in healthy activities.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has the pleasure of exploring the outdoors with kids !
I'm not a novice of the outdoors. I was blessed with life long adventures in nature. I wanted to be sure to pass this on to my nephews and nieces. Mr Christopher's book allowed me to do this because it is not only an informative read from cover to cover, but also an ongoing guide with projects, pictures, and graphs to use along the way .

Every parent, grandparent and teacher should have The Green Hour: A Daily Dose of Nature for Happier, Healthier, Smarter Kids by Todd Christopher in his/her library. We all know that it is important for our children to spend time outdoors but many adults justify staying indoors with a wide range of excuses that range from safety to lack of time. The most common excuse is "I don't know what to do outside." You (and I) have no more excuses. We can't say we don't know what to do outside by ourselves and/or with our children and grandchildren. The Green Hour explains the importance of our connection to the natural world and offers many activities to foster that connection.
While there have been several books published recently on this topic, I think that this one is destined to be a standard of parenting and education books. I highly recommend this book. I would like to suggest that it would be a wonderful gift for anyone who lives, works and plays with children.
Eileen Dowds Minarik, Head of School, Sunset Hills Montessori School,Reston, VA.

Great ideas in this book. Gives many ideas and games for children to play outdoors, using mostly just the natural world around them. In this day and age, where everything is about mechanical toys, technology-based games, computers and video games, it is so refreshing to find a book that highlights the natural beauty and well, FUN of the outdoors. Even if you live in a high-rise apartment or somewhere without access to a big sprawling yard, there are still many things you can do outside with your children. Even a little window-box garden can provide a source of fun, entertainment and learning for your children (and for you)!

I have found since using some of these ideas with my own boys (ages 3 and 5), they have learned to play together better, appreciate nature, and are less inclined to sit around inside all day. They enjoy going outdoors and playing for hours now and sleep so wonderfully and peacefully at night now. If that is all this book accomplished, it would have been worth it for the quiet evenings I'm enjoying!

I have not forced them to be outdoors, but rather encouraged them to discover nature on their own. Wonderful book! Every parent, teacher and caregiver should own this book!