In medieval times, if someone displayed the symptoms we now identify as boredom, that person was thought to be committing something called acedia, a ‘dangerous form of spiritual alienation’ – a devaluing of the world and its creator.
Another British study discovered that average eight-year-olds were better able to identify characters from the Japanese card trading game Pokemon than native species in the community where they lived: Pikachu, Metapod, and Wigglytuff were names more familiar to them than otter, beetle, and oak tree.
Numerous studies document the benefits to students from school grounds that are ecologically diverse and include free play areas, habitats for wildlife, walking trails, and gardens.
Quite simply, when we deny our children nature, we deny them beauty.
A natural environment is far more complex than any playing field.
If a child never sees the stars, never has meaningful encounters with other species, never experiences the richness of nature, what happens to that child?
Nature is one of the best antidotes to fear.
Use all of your senses.
By letting our children lead us to their own special places we can rediscover the joy and wonder of nature.
Stress reduction, greater physical health, a deeper sense of spirit, more creativity, a sense of play, even a safer life-these are the rewards that await a family then it invites more nature into children’s lives.
Children who played outside every day, regrdless of weather, had better motor coordination and more ability to concentrate.
In our bones we need the natural curves of hills, the scent of chaparral, the whisper of pines, the possibility of wildness.
Most people are either awakened to or are strengthened in their spiritual journey by experiences in the natural world.
From 1997 to 2003, there was a decline of 50 percent in the proportion of children nine to twelve who spent time in such outside activities as hiking, walking, fishing, beach play, and gardening, according to a study by Sandra Hofferth at the University of Maryland.
Natural playgrounds may decrease bullying.
Research suggests that exposure to the natural world – including nearby nature in cities – helps improve human health, well-being, and intellectual capacity in ways that science is only recently beginning to understand.
Increasingly the evidence suggests that people benefit so much from contact with nature that land conservation can now be viewed as a public health strategy.
What if more and more parents, grandparents and kids around the country band together to create outdoor adventure clubs, family nature networks, family outdoor clubs, or green gyms? What if this approach becomes the norm in every community?
The future will belong to the nature-smart...
We can conserve energy and tread more lightly on the Earth while we expand our culture’s capacity for joy.
The times I spent with my children in nature are among my most meaningful memories-and I hope theirs.