ABSTRACT
When I was a child in Norway outdoor activities were encouraged from an early age. A childhood with no broken bones was said to be a ‘no-good childhood’. I was free to roam around my neighbourhood long before I even started school. The local children, my siblings and I built dens, climbed trees and played in the woods and by the sea. As long as we were back for our evening meal we could stay out as long as we liked. We created our own little fantasy worlds, sometimes scaring each other near to death. My sisters and I even took it upon ourselves to provide burial sites in our back garden for all the dead animals we came across in our neighbourhood – cats, birds, frogs or even snails. I hope we were aware enough to know it was best not to touch the dead animals with our bare hands, but I cannot be sure about it. There were many arguments and many tears were spilt. But the richness of the experience we gained from the freedom we were given above all involved a lot of fun and excitement.
