There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)

by Linda Åkeson McGurk

Outdoor experiences in a stimulating environment can also be a boon to the brain, which develops rapidly in the first three years of a child’s life, according to a study from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Listening to the sound of an airplane, grasping a leaf, smelling the ocean, observing colors and shapes in nature, crawling on a rough surface, and experiencing different types of weather all help form neural pathways in a baby’s brain, which essentially paves the way for learning later in life. “A baby’s brain absorbs a lot more then [sic] we realize as they try to make sense of the world through soaking up noises, sights and experiences around them,” the authors note. “Outdoor play gives an infant the opportunity to develop their senses” and “introduces the environment . . . they live in.”