Before he could even talk, Zuriel Cohen Gunalan was already toddling on jungle trails ... thanks to his gung ho parents who are outdoor lovers.
“It is who we are and what we love,” says Yasmin Paranjothy, 36, of Petaling Jaya, Selangor. “It was important for us to get our little man loving the outdoors, too.”
As soon as their firstborn turned one, he was tagging along on camping and hiking trips to jungles in Pahang’s Janda Baik, Cameron Highlands and Fraser’s Hill. He takes to the outdoors like a duck to water.
Most families are content with weekend camping trips or backpacking holidays, but adventurous parents Alison Sandra Murugesu and her late husband, Ghani Ishak, took it to the next level. They packed their then three-year-old son, Adrian, on a two-year, overland journey across 43 countries.
Their 4WD truck doubled up as a mobile home. At each destination, they camped in the bush, near a river or water source, and at times in designated campsites with shower facilities.
In Africa, they parked their “home” behind sand dunes in the desert or got permission from tribal villages to set up camp. Hot showers were a luxury and toilets were the bushes.
“Having a young child doesn’t mean the end of adventure holidays. We were determined not to be confined to paddle pool and play area holidays,” says Klang Valley-based Alison, 41. “It was our long-time dream and we had to do it whilst Ghani and I were still fit and able to cope.”
The family arrived back in Malaysia just in time to celebrate Adrian’s fifth birthday. Today, he is eight and still goes for regular outdoor hikes and road trips.
Folks like Yasmin and Alison are not alone. More and more parents are getting clued in on the perks of introducing their kids to the outdoors. In the last decade, studies have increasingly found the link between nature play and a child’s cognitive, physical and emotional development.
Spending time outdoors– especially unstructured time in natural settings – can reduce children’s stress, increase their curiosity and creativity, improve their physical coordination and reduce symptoms associated with attention deficit disorder, according to research papers published in the Children & Nature Network (childrenandnature.org).
The US-based organisation helps families, communities and grassroots organisations to reconnect children with nature.
Richard Louv, the C&NN cofounder and author of bestselling book, Last Child in the Woods famously coined the term “nature deficit disorder.” Louv maintains that indoor kids are more prone to childhood problems like obesity, depression and attention disorders. He argues that they miss out on the spiritual, emotional and psychological benefits of exposure to the wonders of nature, including creativity and cooperative play.
For parents like Jessy Phuah, camping and hiking are far healthier options than outings to the malls or playing computers games.
“Spending time outdoors with my family strengthens our bond and makes us appreciate nature a lot more,” says Phuah, who has six children aged three to 17. Her family has been going on regular hikes since 2010 and started camping last year. They did 13 camping trips in 2011 alone.
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