What is Nature connection ?
Kids Want to be outside
Kids already have an inherent love for the outdoors. Their love for nature is innate. Watch a preschool-aged girl stomp in a big fat rain puddle. Notice her joy, her sheer, unmistakable joy as the water sloshes over the tops of her boots, as the rain and mud fleck her clothes. Or watch a little boy collecting and throwing pinecones in a forest. Watch him running up and down the trail, yelling and laughing and throwing cones at a Maple Tree while on the move.
Kids want to be outside. They love the sun, moon, stars, animals, trees, leaves, watching the rain, watching the hail, and catching bugs in their hands. So you don't have to give them a love for the outdoors. They're born with that love. But indoor behaviours and habits can wean kids off of their natural love of the outdoors. We, as parents and teachers, can help them learn to dislike the natural world. We can help them fear weather and distrust animals. But that's an environmental reaction, not a biological one. Children begin their lives with love.
Kids want to be outside. They love the sun, moon, stars, animals, trees, leaves, watching the rain, watching the hail, and catching bugs in their hands. So you don't have to give them a love for the outdoors. They're born with that love. But indoor behaviours and habits can wean kids off of their natural love of the outdoors. We, as parents and teachers, can help them learn to dislike the natural world. We can help them fear weather and distrust animals. But that's an environmental reaction, not a biological one. Children begin their lives with love.
As Rachel Carson (author of Silent Spring and Sense of Wonder) explains, “A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full or wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantment of later year…the alienation from the sources of our strength.”
Nurturing Nature experiences
As children grow, it is our job as caring adults to make sure their love of nature continues to blossom. Take them outside often and show your enthusiasm for everything nature. “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in”. You don't need to know the names of all the plants and animals. Nor do you need to be able to answer all their questions.
Three words to remember as you bring children outside: Notice, Engage, Wonder. Listen to Dr. Scott Sampson as he explains in the video below.
Three words to remember as you bring children outside: Notice, Engage, Wonder. Listen to Dr. Scott Sampson as he explains in the video below.