HOME
Teaching Kids to Love the Outdoors
By Russell Graves
It’s a profound, yet simple statement. Kids belong outside.
Since my children were small, they’ve been enjoying the natural world on a daily basis – largely in part because my wife and I have made it a point to introduce our children to the things that make Texas wild. Our motivations have always been simple because we want our kids to love and appreciate the outdoors.
Even more than just a rote appreciation for nature, there’s something deeper that connects kids with outside playtime, and a litany of scientific and scholarly articles prove what many Texas parents know instinctively: there is long and lasting physical and cognitive value in turning off electronic entertainment and finding entertainment in the outdoors.
Growing up in the late 1970s and throughout the 80s, I spent most of my free time outside. Growing up in the country, time spent outside was a given since there wasn’t much to compete for my time. Therefore, depending on the season, I either hunted, fished, camped, hiked or explored in a continual, almost predictable rotation, year after year.
Things aren’t so romantically nostalgic for today’s young people.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation reports that children today spend an average of six hours a day consuming media from the televisions and computers. Sadly, less than four minutes a day is spent in unstructured outdoor play. Astonishingly, the Nielsen
Company (the organization who publishes television ratings of record) says that most preschoolers log in excess of 32 hours of TV per week and have seen more than 5000 hours of television by the time the reach kindergarten. That amount of time is equivalent to the time it takes to earn a college degree.
The lack of activity has many alarmed as there is a direct correlation between kids who consume the most television and the highest rates of obesity. Over the past two to three decades, the number of children who are overweight has doubled. As a result, diseases like type 2 diabetes that were once relegated to adults, are now showing up in alarming frequency in children. The rise in attention deficit disorders, according to some studies, is also due to the decreased, unstructured outdoor playtime.
To read more pick up a copy of the July 2018 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
One of my professors out at Texas Tech University always told us that we aren’t just raising cattle, we’re raising grass, because without grass there is no cattle business. The same applies to most livestock species and crops we seek to raise- without good land management, no good yield can grow.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Tony Dean
There are a handful of grasses on North Texas grazing lands ranchers need to know, not because they are highly desirable, but rather because they are not of much value. I call them “decom” plants, which is am acronym for “Don’t Ever Count On Me.” Silver bluestem is a “decom” grass.
Silver bluestem is a perennial which grows in all areas of Texas. It can survive in almost all soil types, and in full sun conditions or in semi shade. It grows up to three feet tall and is easily recognized with the presence of the white fuzzy seed head. Also, one of the identifying characteristics of Silver bluestem is a bend in the stems at each node, causing the plants to take on a rounded shape as they mature.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
-
Country Lifestyles2 years agoScott & Stacey Schumacher: A Growth Mindset
-
Country Lifestyles8 years agoStyle Your Profile – What your style cowboy hat says about you and new trends in 2017
-
HOME8 years agoGrazing North Texas – Wilman Lovegrass
-
Equine1 year agoThe Will to Win
-
Country Lifestyles5 years agoAmber Crawford, Breakaway Roper
-
Outdoor9 years agoButtercup or Primrose?
-
Country Lifestyles8 years agoJune 2016 Profile – The man behind the mic: Bob Tallman
-
Country Lifestyles8 years agoDecember 2016 Profile, Rusty Riddle – The Riddle Way