Sometimes I say to my 13-year-old daughter, “Where’s that inner Evie — you know, the gutsy daredevil who’d scramble to the top of a tree, or leap across the widest streams, or dangle upside down on a rope swing? I know she’s still in there!” I get that she needs to fit in and do what every other teen is doing, which is retreating to their bedrooms with a device and slamming the door on uncool, unfun parents who keep banging on about the need for nature.
So this summer I’m rewilding my child — or rather, I’m outsourcing the task by packing her off to Camp Kernow in Cornwall for a six-day residential camp where the very cool and fun (unlike Mum) team leaders will be far more effective at encouraging her to get outdoors with all the other 8- to 15-year-olds there (£714; campkernow.org.uk). In fact there is no indoors — they’ll be camping off-grid, sometimes under their own DIY shelters, as well as doing archery, blacksmithing, climbing, foraging, woodworking, animal tracking, kayaking, campfire cooking, and, most importantly, socialising IRL. Phones are handed in at the start and parents are kept informed with photo updates; calls are actively discouraged.
I know how good this will be for her. According to a report published last month by the Raising the Nation Play Commission, children are growing up “sedentary, scrolling and alone” because of a dramatic decline in play. The panel of experts, who spent a year investigating play and childhood in England, called them “the least happy generation”.
To summer camp then, which, according to Jonathan Haidt, the American psychologist and author of the bestseller The Anxious Generation, and saviour to many parents of screen-obsessed kids, is “the best way for a child to detox from smartphones and social media”. There’s a much-shared video of Haidt quoting a dad whose 11-year-old daughter was given an iPhone. “She suddenly became surly. I no longer saw the sweet funny child that she was. I sent her to a summer camp, and lo and behold, my wonderful sweet 11-year old is back.” My daughter can be surly even though she doesn’t have a phone — we still have almighty tussles over the family devices; we still need a reset.
Of course, summer camps aren’t just a rite of passage for American children. There are plenty to choose from in the UK, from Outward Bound — which has been running adventure holidays and camps across the country since 1941 — to ones specialising in particular sports or interests.
The point, Haidt says, is that they’re so exciting and full of camaraderie that the digital detox doesn’t feel like a punishment. “It’s not just a denial of something, but a substitution with something healthier,” he says. “Young people attend fully to each other, forming friendships and engaging in slightly risky and exciting outdoor activities that bond them together.”
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So of course they’re going to fall off their DIY raft into the cold water; they’re going to graze their shins, stub their toes and get burnt toasting marshmallows — that experience of safe danger, or what Haidt calls “reasonable risk”, is designed into these camps. Of course the kids will feel nervous and awkward and a bit lost initially, especially without the comfort blanket of a phone. Getting over this is what builds resilience and confidence (unlike screen time), and they’ll return with a new sense of competence and independence. They tried something big, and guess what? They could do it. This, Haidt says, is how to raise “anti-fragile” kids.
“I saw a big change,” says Karen Browne, whose daughter Izzy, 12, spent a week at a UK camp last summer. “She was far more confident and understanding of her own character. She realised that she’s sporty and outdoorsy, and actually not that interested in social media. I saw a new pride in herself.” So what should I say to my daughter if she resists, I ask. “Twenty minutes in they’ll all be swapping treats and having singing competitions,” she says. “They just have the best time.”
It’s revealing that there has been a record uptake in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme this summer, which, according to the charity, is down to school leaders and parents wanting children to spend less time on their screens and more time outdoors. It doesn’t take much encouragement for kids to get into life off-screen too. Not that you need to pack them off for a week to remind them of the joys of the great outdoors — here are some other ways to rewild your child.
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Complete the National Trust’s 50 Things to Do Before You’re 11¾ list
This brilliant kids’ to-do list of joyous, accessible and mostly free ways to spend time in nature — including “roll down a really big hill”, “skim a stone” and “have a snail race” — is something I put in front of my kids from time to time. They both have a print-out to tick off the ideas; my 10-year-old son is redoing every item from the top, and my teen is motivated to finish the few remaining on hers. The snails couldn’t care less (nationaltrust.org.uk).
Where pre-teens can learn to forage and whittle
What makes a good natural fuel, and what doesn’t? How do you build a decent shelter for the night? All this and more (foraging, whittling, geology, tree identification, the night sky) is taught at Mud and Guts, a Wiltshire-based outdoor workshop for kids aged six-plus, which runs summer day camps and overnighters (they can also organise private camps across the country; from £50; mudandguts.co.uk).
Great adventures for 5 to 16-year-olds in Scotland
With “Captain Biscuit” in charge, canoes decorated with pirate flags, and actual biscuits regularly dished out, Wee Adventures knows exactly how to inspire kids to get active. Its activity days, held in the forests, lochs, rivers and crags of Perthshire, include canoeing, climbing, abseiling, tree-climbing, slacklining, ziplining, rope swings and bushcraft (from £22.50 for a half-day; weeadventures.com).
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Would you let your tween get a powerboat licence?
Would you trust a 12-year-old at the helm of a speedboat? Well, the Royal Yachting Association does, with its two-day training courses for kids aged 12 and up — they don’t even need boating experience. Courses are available at, among others, Powerboat Training UK in Poole, Dorset (£380; powerboat-training-uk.co.uk), Cardigan Bay Watersports (£325; cardiganbaywatersports.org.uk, £325) and the Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club (£179; yorkshiredales.sc).
Sign up to a nature subscription box
For an ongoing supply of ideas and tools to get kids immersed in nature, consider a monthly subscription box. Mud + Bloom sends kids five gardening and nature craft activities a month — for example, watercolour paints, candle-making kits — along with seeds, nature news and wildlife-based games (from £15.95 a month; mudandbloom.com). Willow & Wildbox’s packages include enough materials for two children to make two craft projects (for example, flower-pressing), plus seeds, stories, recipes and activities (from £12.25; willowandwildbox.co.uk). Ideal for parents too frazzled to come up with this stuff themselves.
Take them for a night-time nature walk
My invitations to go for a walk are usually met with eyerolls. Then I bought a pair of Darkbeam UV torches (£9.99; amazon.com). “Oh — can you tan with them?” asked a certain family member. Hopefully not, but, from dusk onwards, they reveal the natural biofluorescence of animals, plants and fungi; even slugs look exotic under UV. Plus, doing a UV walk means we’re out late, and that’s always cool.
Let your kids help build a castle
Many parents might rightly panic at the thought of handing over hammers, saws, nails and some splintery wood to their kids. But Woodland Tribe’s Big Builds engage kids from the age of four to teens in creating extraordinary, child-led (and charmingly wonky) giant structures, from castles and dens to pirate ships. They are running at various festivals and RHS gardens this summer, including Wisley, Bridgewater and Rosemoor (from £6; children must be accompanied; woodlandtribe.org).
Get them swinging in the trees
Holding your nerve as a parent is hard when watching your child scale a vast tree. The Great Big Tree-Climbing Co removes all those fears for kids aged 6 and over — once you’re harnessed in, there is nothing stopping you racing right to the treetops, swinging in the canopy, or just hanging among the branches. Find them this summer at festivals, stately homes and botanical gardens (from £20 for one hour; bigtreeclimbing.co.uk).
Take their screen obsessions into nature
With 17 locations across England, the Outdoors Project, an Ofsted-registered holiday club for 5 to 12-year-olds, gets kids running around outdoors with activities inspired by what they’re obsessed with on screen. For example, Nerf wars, Bushcraft v Minecraft team challenges, Sonic v Mario scavenger hunts and Harry Potter wand-whittling and Quidditch matches (from £37.50; theoutdoorsproject.co.uk).
Five great phone-free summer camps
Camp Crusoe
Seven-day tech-free camps in Norfolk, with climbing, ziplining, caving, archery, river swimming, campfires, songs and s’mores (from £625; ages 8-15; campcrusoe.com).
Mill on the Brue
A week of grass tobogganing, raft-building, rifle-shooting, tunnelling, egg races and discos and absolutely no phones, in Dorset (from £733; ages 8-15; millonthebrue.co.uk).
Camp Cooper
US-style summer camps in Edinburgh and Crieff, with sports, nature, talent shows, music festivals and more. Kids can phone home once a day, otherwise phones are locked away (from £1,345; ages 7-17; internationalsummercampuk.com).
Outward Bound
Has a daytime and overnight phone ban (though there is evening access). For the ultimate cold turkey, try the 19-day expedition (from £604; ages 10-22; outwardbound.org.uk).
Camp Wilderness
Three and five-day tech-free camps in seven locations, with plant identification, shelter-building, firecraft and campfire games (from £259; ages 8-16; campwilderness.co.uk).
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