Grow Wild: The Whole-Child, Whole-Family, Nature-Rich Guide to Moving More
From biomechanist and bestselling author Katy Bowman comes her eagerly anticipated guide to getting kids―from babies to preteens―and their families moving more, together, outside.
2021 INDIE Awards Gold Winner (Family & Relationships category)
Katy Bowman is my go-to expert on the importance of movement for the body. Grow Wild is no exception to that. Filled with delightful, rich nuggets of information on everything from the best shoes to put on your child's feet (if necessary!) to the importance of climbing trees, this book is a real gem for any family wanting to make the most of their movement opportunities on a daily basis.--Angela Hanscom, author of Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children
Our kids are moving less than any other generation in human history; indoor time and screen time have skyrocketed. As adults and kids turn more to convenient, tech-based solutions, tasks that once required head-to-toe use of our muscles and bones can be done with a click and a swipe. Without realizing it, we've traded convenience for the movement-rich environment that our physical, mental, and environmental health depends on.
Parents don't know what to do!
But there's good news: While the problem feels massive, the solution is simple...and fun!
Grow Wild not only breaks down the big ideas behind movement as a nutrient, it serves as a field guide―how to spot all the movement opportunities we're currently missing.
Learn to stack your life for richer experiences that don't take more time:
- Set up your home to promote more movement, naturally
- Dress for (movement) success
- Add snacktivities to your meals
- Plan dynamic celebrations
- Create a dynamic homework space
- Bring nature into your home and play
Bowman, a leader in the Movement movement, has written Grow Wild to show where movement used to fit into the activities of daily life and more importantly, how it can again.
The perfect companion to Bowman's bestseller Move Your DNA, Grow Wild provides practical, everyday, nature-rich ideas on how to let kids move their DNA while doing things they'll love. The book features:
- 100+ full-color photographs of kids and families moving
- Success stories from parents, grandparents, teachers
- Study sessions that make movement research more accessible to laypersons
- Written to all that work with children―parents, teachers, relatives, health professionals, and more
- A book to be referenced again and again as kids grow up!
Grow Wild is essential reading for a wide range of readers―anyone who spends time with children. Humans live in many places and there are countless movement opportunities wherever you live, you just need to know how to spot them.
Children and their families can thrive by learning to move more inside, adventure more outside, and grow wild in any environment.
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Bestselling author, speaker, and a leader of the Movement movement, biomechanist Katy Bowman, M.S. is changing the way we move and think about our need for movement. Her 10 books, including the groundbreaking Move Your DNA, have been translated into more than 16 languages worldwide.
Bowman teaches movement globally and speaks about sedentarism and movement ecology to academic and scientific audiences such as the Ancestral Health Summit and the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Her work has been featured in diverse media such as the Today Show, CBC Radio One, the Seattle Times, NPR, the Joe Rogan Experience, and Good Housekeeping.
One of Maria Shriver's Architects of Change and an America Walks Woman of the Walking Movement, Bowman consults on educational and living space design to encourage movement-rich habitats. She has worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike, and Google as well as a wide range of non-profits and other communities to create greater access to her move more, move more body parts, move more for what you need message.
Her movement education company, Nutritious Movement, is based in Washington State, where she lives with her family.
"Grow Wild is a must-read for any parents and educators who want to inject more movement into kids' lives but aren't sure where to start. With plenty of photo inspiration and some great ideas to try, Bowman combines the 'how' and the 'why' of movement to give a field guide to turning sedentary kids into a generation of wild movers."-―Caroline Williams, author of Move! and My Plastic Brain
"Pandemic parenting. Zoom meetings. Virtual school. If you've coped with looking at devices all year, Katy Bowman's Grow Wild will strike you as a gentle, cautionary guide about kids' "super-sedentary" environments, and how it's counter-cultural, yet urgent, to start changing these.
"A biomechanist, Bowman encourages reconnecting with movement and nature, not only for their health benefits or evolutionary ties, but for longer-term family and community vitality. Rather than outlining specific exercises, her holistic approach spans everything from choosing footwear and flexible clothing, to setting up movement-friendly indoor spaces, to adding motion in natural stages. Its methods dovetail with activities we'd be doing anyway, such as making food.
"Color photographs of real families and alloparents supplement the book's personal stories about engaging wild and urban spaces. These inspire ways to rethink how we use our settings. Logical, persuasive, and compassionate arguments make this a timely resource: we're all culpable of sitting around too much, but we're all capable of redefining our modern mold, too."-―Karen Rigby, Foreword Reviews
"Brilliantly organized and accessible, Grow Wild is full of actionable items that families can do immediately... An important book you'll want to keep handy as a daily reference."-―Dr. Rose Hayden-Smith, author of Sowing the Seeds of Victory: American Gardening Programs of WWI
"Grow Wild provides essential movement nutrition for you and your family...An inspiring, original and even a joyful book, Grow Wild is an instant classic."-―Professor Vybarr Cregan-Reid, author of Primate Change: How the World We Made is Remaking Us
"It is [the adults'] job to give [kids] permission to try [growing wild], and an environment that gives them the ability to succeed. Grow Wild is not a book of exercises. Rather it is a helpful reference for creating active spaces for children to move in throughout their ordinary day."-―Sheryl Campbell, Mother Earth News
"Through touching images, convincing science, and warm-hearted wisdom, Katy Bowman offers you practical strategies to get moving even in the face of environmental and psychological barriers."-―Diana Hill, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist and author of ACT Daily Journal: Get Unstuck and Live More Fully With Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
"Grow Wild is a wondrous invitation to belonging and connection in a world that has forgotten how much movement matters. In this essential guide, Katy Bowman offers a magical blend of inspiration and practical action. Every page glows with ideas for cultivating the innate bodily intelligence that connects kids (and all of us) to health, creativity, radiance, and the wisdom of the earth."-―Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of Mozart's Starling
"This is more than a book to get you and your family moving more. Each of us has a role to play towards regeneration, and this book outlines ways to shift everyday essential activities from the mundane to the meaningful.-―Doniga Markegard, regenerative rancher, author of Dawn Again and Wolf Girl
"Katy Bowman lays out the case for centering your family life around movement so plainly that it may not dawn on you right away how profound her suggestions are. Make no mistake--the ideas in this book are a paradigm shift. Making space for wildness doesn't just help the young humans in your life (and you, too); it can also save the human race and the planet, all while making your family life more fun and fulfilling. No big deal!"--Kate Hanley, author of How to Be a Better Person
