One of the most powerful tools children will have for their sense of well-being and security in the world will be a connection to nature. More than 80% of families now live in urban areas so we can no longer just assume that children will develop this bond to nature. As parents and caregivers we will need to make sure that kids have critical time outdoors.
The Center for Families, Communities, Schools and Children’s Learning gives these words of advice: “Children learn best through their everyday experiences with the people they love and trust, and when the learning is fun. And the best place for these experiences is outdoors, in the natural world.”
Several authors have released tremendously important books about kids and nature. One of these is Richard Louv who warns that children are at risk of a nature-deficit disorder. In his book, Last Child In The Woods, he says that “The future will belong to the nature-smart—those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of…the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.”
Another author, George Monbiot also sounds an alarm, “Of all the world’s creatures, perhaps those in greatest need of rewilding are our children. The collapse of children’s engagement with nature has been even faster than the collapse of the natural world.” Today’s kids are paying the price of spending less time being outside in nature although they know more about the environment than ever before. This is reflected in higher levels of anxiety, childhood obesity, and even depression.
Lifelong naturalist, Stephen Moss, who is also father to five, reminds us, “Nature is a tool to get children to experience not just the wider world, but themselves.” Isn’t that a tool we should include in our children’s toolbox as a way to understand our own inner nature? For a play-of-the-day that will last a lifetime, can you and your child have some fun and play in nature?