OUTDOOR Rx
a beginner's guide to nature-based healing in the city
Even in the middle of a major city like Chicago, the healing properties of time outdoors are within reach! This guide was developed with stakeholders on Chicago's South Side and is intended for any families, educators, and anyone interested in spending time outside to improve their health. The Field Museum would like to thank its partners, especially TCA Health, for their collaboration on this project.
How time outdoors helps your health and well-being
Breaks the indoor habit: Between work, school, and home - for many of us, life is primarily lived indoors. Going outdoors is an antidote to the high-stress, indoor lives of today.
Decreases stress and anxiety: Time in diverse natural settings can promote a sense of calm and lower blood pressure.
Promotes physical activity: Going outdoors offers a range of opportunities to increase your heart rate and build strength. Exercise in turn helps address health issues common in children and adults today, such as obesity, attention deficit disorder, and depression.
Boosts focus and cognition: Time in nature can help restore attention. In particular, children with attention-deficit disorder can benefit from more exposure to nature: the greener a child’s everyday environment, the more manageable the symptoms.
Improves academic achievement: Time outdoors can increase focus by reducing mental fatigue. It also gives creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking a boost.
Strengthens relationships: Time outdoors can improve mood and enhance communication.
(Adapted from Project Learning Tree)
What to do outdoors - alone or with others
Click on the top right corner of each box to enlarge and print the activity.
What to do outdoors - with a group
Team Building in the Classroom.pdfSound Maps.pdfSensory Sit.pdfLook Closer, Look Again.pdfBird Brains.pdfI Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me.pdfSplish Splash.pdfWhere to go
Organizations who want to get you outside!
The Field Museum fuels a journey of discovery across time to enable solutions for a brighter future rich in nature and culture. The Keller Science Action Center seeks to re-establish the connection between people and nature in urban areas (Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana’s Calumet Region) through our programs and multi-institution collaborations.
Forest Preserves of Cook County
People of all ages and interests can relax, get active, or just have fun in the Forest Preserves of Cook County. With thousands of acres to explore and hundreds of events year-round, there are so many ways to get out and experience nature. In addition to offering free or low-cost events and programs in the Forest Preserves, the prairies, woodlands, wetlands and savannas are home to native plants and wildlife, including more than a hundred threatened or endangered species.
Friends of the Forest Preserves
Friends of the Forest Preserves was founded in 1998 to protect, promote, and care for the forest preserves to ensure they thrive for current and for future generations. They engage in advocacy, ecological restoration, volunteer organizing and conservation.
Latino Outdoors is a unique Latinx-led organization working to create a national community of leaders in conservation and outdoor education. As part of this work, we are focused on expanding and amplifying the Latinx experience in the outdoors; providing greater leadership, mentorship, and professional opportunities while serving as a platform for sharing cultural connections and narratives that are often overlooked by the traditional outdoor movement. It is a space for the community to be present, share our voices, and showcase how conservation roots have been ingrained in la cultura Latina for generations.
Founded in 1963, Openlands works across the Chicago metropolitan region and Northeastern Illinois to protect the natural and open spaces of northeastern Illinois to ensure cleaner air and water, protect natural habitats and wildlife, and help balance and enrich our lives. Openlands also works to advance nature-based solutions to climate change, improve the health and well-being of communities, and create a more verdant region for all.
Outdoor Afro is a social community that reconnects African-Americans with natural spaces and one another through recreational activities such as camping, hiking, biking, birding, fishing, gardening, skiing—and more! Outdoor Afro disrupts the false perception that black people do not have a relationship with nature. We remember our history in nature, leverage social media, and support relevant local leadership to create interest communities, events, and partnerships that support diverse participation in the Great Outdoors.
TCA Health was established in 1970 as a privately owned clinic located in the Altgeld Gardens – Murray Homes public housing development and became a nonprofit in 1991. Our mission is to improve health outcomes by providing high-quality, barrier-free, personalized health care for you and your family. Our team of health experts includes highly trained professionals in family medicine; obstetrics and gynecology; pediatrics; oral health and dentistry; behavioral health; clinical social work services; case management; nutritional counseling; health education; and community outreach.
We Keep You Rollin' was founded to help create a more livable, sustainable and vibrant community. Their goal is to increase the wellness and quality of life in underserved communities, through recreational projects, eco-therapy & eco-tourism on bikes.