From a young age children love to explore, with many playing in the garden trying to find wildlife bit with the development of fast food chains and technology, children are growing up living unhealthy lifestyles. Studies show that “Children spend more time viewing television and playing video games on computers than they do being physically active outside”
“In the past decade, the benefits of connecting to nature have been well documented in numerous scientific research studies and publications. Collectively, this body of research shows that children’s social, psychological, academic and physical health is positively impacted when they have daily contact with nature. Postive impacts include the following:
Supports multiple development domains.
Nature is important to children’s development in every major way—intellectually, emotionally, socially, spiritually and physically (Kellert, 2005).
Supports creativity and problem solving.
Studies of children in schoolyards found that children engage in more creative forms of play in the green areas. They also played more cooperatively (Bell and Dyment, 2006). Play in nature is especially important for developing capacities for creativity, problem-solving, and intellectual development (Kellert, 2005).
Enhances cognitive abilities.
Proximity to, views of, and daily exposure to natural settings increases children’s ability to focus and enhances cognitive abilities (Wells, 2000).
Improves academic performance.
Studies in the US show that schools that use outdoor classrooms and other forms of nature-based experiential education support significant student gains in social studies, science, language arts, and math. Students in outdoor science programs improved their science testing scores by 27% (American Institutes for Research, 2005).
Reduces Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) symptoms.
Contact with the natural world can significantly reduce symptoms of attention deficit disorder in children as young as five years old (Kuo and Taylor, 2004).
Increases physical activity.
Children who experience school grounds with diverse natural settings are more physically active, more aware of nutrition, more civil to one another and more creative (Bell and Dyment, 2006).
Improves nutrition.
Children who grow their own food are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables (Bell & Dyment, 2008) and to show higher levels of knowledge about nutrition (Waliczek, & Zajicek, 2006). They are also more likely to continue healthy eating habits throughout their lives (Morris & Zidenberg-Cherr, 2002).
Improves eyesight.
More time spent outdoors is related to reduced rates of nearsightedness, also known as myopia, in children and adolescents (American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2011).
Improves social relations.
Children will be smarter, better able to get along with others, healthier and happier when they have regular opportunities for free and unstructured play in the out-of-doors (Burdette and Whitaker, 2005).
Improves self-discipline.
Access to green spaces, and even a view of green settings, enhances peace, selfcontrol and self-discipline within inner city youth, and particularly in girls (Taylor, Kuo and Sullivan, 2001).
Reduces stress.
Green plants and vistas reduce stress among highly stressed children. Locations with greater number of plants, greener views, and access to natural play areas show more significant results (Wells and Evans, 2003).”
The benifits are clearly impressive. It is important to maintain a connection with wildlife, and therefore I should choose a relatable creature that can be seen worldwide. Therefore the frog, is something that fits this criteria perfectly. With over 4,000 species seen in every continent apart from antartica, it is clearly relatable. They are bright and colourful, which will easily engage children. The childrens toys currently exploit this market in multiple ways by providing things like tadpole growing kits, toys, clothing etc.
Using the frog as the reasoning behnid the site is a perfect analogy for what the site does. With young children signing up to the site at 6 as ‘tadpoles’ they are uneducated and almost blind to what the world has to offer, with a willingness to learn. As they they mature they go through stages of exploration and development with the aim that they will be fully developed children by the time they have used the site to it’s full potential to learn other languages, make connections and explore other cultures by the age of 12.
References:
http://www.frog-life-cycle.com/types-of-frogs.html
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