Paradoxically, for the first time I appreciated what grass and nature give to children while browsing a catalog of … plastic stones that can be walked on. As ridiculous as it sounds, there are such products – artificial grass, plastic stones, which are sold to city dwellers as a replacement for the real ones. And if these imitations are sold, then we need them. We humans are higher animals, and although our way of life locks us in concrete cities lined with parquet houses and metal cars, we still have a longing for the natural. The grass represents the safe nature, the greenery and the freshness, which bring us pleasure.

Those who have not walked barefoot on the grass have missed a very important sensory sensation, which cannot be replaced by walking on artificial surfaces. The stalks gently tickle the feet and bring peace. Taking off your shoes and indulging in their cool caresses is like leaving yourself in the hands of Mother Earth to take care of you. And who among us – a child or an adult – does not long from time to time to receive relaxation and care? The children feel this and therefore willingly take off their tight shoes whenever possible to walk outside on stones, sand or grass. Walking barefoot on the ground “ground” us. Sometimes we have an excess of energy, which can manifest itself as restlessness, increased excitement, nervousness. Walking barefoot on the grass removes the excess. Such a simple pleasure that we rarely allow ourselves, stopped by our fears. And until a little over a hundred years ago, children spent their barefoot summers on their fast-growing feet, running through the dust of roads or grass in meadows, feeling every unevenness beneath them, developing their balance skills, their sensitivity – all things. which are now neglected but leave their mark. When today we notice the shortcomings of this necessary contact with nature, which prevent the child from developing his abilities, then we open those catalogs that I mentioned and start buying substitutes. We forget that there is an easier, more natural way. Have you watched what the grass crushed under your feet does? At first a stalk jumps up and stretches, then a second, a third. They are so energetic that I expect to hear a ring every time they move. Gradually our trail disappears and only the vital, green meadow remains. When we feel crushed or tired of our daily lives, walking on a green lawn gives us energy and endurance and gradually gets better. “Everything alive is grass,” Clifford Simak had said at the time. I would say: all living things need grass.

Author: Elena Eneva , child psychologist