The Therapy of Throwing Stones

My husband and I have always felt that regular contact with our natural environment is essential to emotional health, and as our boys were growing up we made a concerted effort to take them camping in our tipi and exposing them to the outside world.   Now we are doing the same with our grandson, the Bean. 

Because the Bean lives in a city, he doesn't receive the powerful effect of nature on a regular basis, so whenever he stays with us - about two weekends each month - we make at least one play date with Mother Nature.

In his important book The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv explains the crucial role nature plays in the lives of children.    He says:  The outdoors is as essential to a child's health and well being as good nutrition and plenty of sleep.   Every parent has likely noticed the powerful effect of nature on children: an anxious child will relax and forget her worries as she rolls in the grass; sibling arguments -- fought so bitterly in the car -- quickly dissipate on a windy beach; and the darkest mood of a teenager can be washed away by a plunge in the lake.

This is true for adults as well which was affirmed recently when we introduced the Bean to the Susquehanna River which runs alongside our town.

 For the Bean, throwing rocks is as natural as breathing.  It must be a boy thing.
What do you think was the first thing he did at the river?

 

At first he was tentative.
  Throwing rocks at home usually results in being told to stop.

Then he got more confident

and thought it was hilarious when his stones hit the water

There was no stopping him after that.
He started tossing bigger stones

and watched with fascination at the concentric rings that formed

He began to use his whole body when throwing
and soon discovered he could make the stones go farther

 

I couldn't let him have all the fun, so I had to try

 

 Then my husband and I began a game.
One of us would throw a stone and the other would photograph it
the minute it hit the water.  It wasn't so easy.

In this picture I threw a hunk of wood.

Not bad.

Now here's my photographic attempt of my husband's rock throwing.

I wanted to throw the Bean in,  but hubby said no.

Being in nature is good for the soul,
but throwing stones in nature is even better.