Research from the National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play has shown that children who play outdoors regularly are happier, healthier and stronger. I’ve read Richard Louv’s much-praised book, Last Child in the Woods. I get it. In fact, we set a section of Canoeroots aside to inspire families to get outside.
I believe, however, that there has been too much emphasis on play and not as much on development. You know what else kids are not doing as much of outside? Working. Chores like mowing the lawn, chopping wood, raking leaves and setting up their own tents. And as it turns out, it’s not just in the outdoors where kids today are slacking when compared to their parents.
According to a 2014 survey by Braun Research, 82 percent of grown-ups polled said they had regular chores when they were growing up, but only 28 percent of us reported asking our children to do any.
Marty Rossmann of the University of Mississippi used data collected over 25 years to discern whether asking children to help with household chores starting at three or four years old was instrumental in predicting the children’s success as young adults. Turns out, those who had done chores as young children were more likely to be well-adjusted, have better relationships with friends and family and be more successful in their careers.
Why?
Because they are less likely to run off and play when it comes time to set up tents, cook dinner or complete the important client presentation that’s due on Tuesday—don’t think we don’t know who you are.
It’s challenging for kids to understand all the work involved in running a household. Our lives are busy and we often find ourselves driving off in different directions. On the other hand, camping trips offer fewer distractions. We eat and we sleep. If we’re hiking or canoe tripping there is packing, unpacking and traveling to be done.
Compared to everyday life, camping offers a much simpler routine with a more immediate and obvious list of what needs to be done. Too often parents are doing the camp chores while kids, thanks in part to Louv, have been released to go play.
When it came time to send our kids to summer camp they’d been helping with camp chores since they were old enough to gather sticks for a fire—they may still have been in diapers. Even though holding the canoe didn’t really make it more stable for me to step out, I still asked them to do it. Even though the tent pegs were hardly more than an inch in the ground, I asked the kids to hammer them in with rocks. Even if my wife and I had to sometimes rewash an evening worth of dishes, we had the kids do them when it was their turn.
On my son Doug’s first overnight with his camp cabin group, he was allowed to build the fire after three failed attempts by his counselors. Guess what? While the other kids were off whipping each other with wet towels instead of gathering wood, his teepee fire sparked into flames. That night the group roasted hot dogs on sticks instead of eating raw wieners out of the package. Doug didn’t exactly thank me, but the research suggests that someday he will.
Scott MacGregor is the founder and publisher of Canoeroots.
This article originally appeared in Canoeroots Spring 2016 issue.
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