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Backyard
Campout offers way to enjoy great
outdoors even with high gas prices
Newswise — Sponsored by the National
Wildlife Federation to encourage parents and
kids alike to turn in their tv remotes,
ipods, Playstations, computers, MP3 players,
cell phones and all things high tech, and
experience a night with Mother Nature
including listening for nocturnal wildlife
(maybe even see a few), star-gazing, cooking
over an open fire, telling stories about
Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, and
exploring a whole other world right in their
own backyard.
Last year over 60,000 families from around
the country participated in the Backyard
Campout. You don’t need to go to Yosemite to
experience the great outdoors and the
wonders it has to offer. Just open up your
backdoor.
This initiative is part of a National
Wildlife Federation campaign to rescue our
nation’s kids from what famed author Richard
Louv calls “nature deficit disorder.”
Research now shows that kids spend an
average of 44 hours per week staring at
electronic screens, tv, video games and
computers -- for the first time in our
country’s history, we have an entire
generation that is growing up disconnected
from nature.
This can lead to a weaker immune system,
greater dependency on ADHD drugs, lost
creativity, less self-sufficiency, lack of
interest in maintaining the wildlife legacy
they have inherited. To say nothing of the
good old-fashioned fun they are missing.
How to Get Started
The National Wildlife Federation is
providing everything you need to head out
into the great outdoors called your
backyard.
The web site has packing lists, recipes,
nocturnal wildlife guides, exploration
activities, nature guides. Check it out at
www.backyardcampout.org. People can
even sign up on the site to share their
campout plans and experiences.
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