Leave No Trace has been working to connect children and nature since 2001 through our PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids) Program, and in April, as part of the Children and Nature Network’s "Children & Nature Awareness Month," the Center joins a growing network of individuals, organizations and agencies to help spread the word about the importance of providing opportunities for all children to experience frequent, regular play and exploration in natural outdoor settings.
Children today are far less likely than past generations to spend time playing outside, and a growing body of research says children are paying a high price for that lack. Childhood obesity, inattentiveness, diminished creativity and depression are just a few of the problems linked to what author Richard Louv has dubbed "nature deficit disorder" in his best-selling book Last Child in the Woods. “Getting kids outdoors more, riding bikes, running, swimming—and, especially, experiencing nature directly—could serve as an antidote to much of what ails the young.” says Louv. This month, a new edition of Last Child in the Woods is being released, now with an added Field Guide offering 100 Actions that families and communities can take.
A comprehensive list of events is available here.
The children and nature movement is much more than a month of special events. As C&NN President Cheryl Charles says, "We’ve an opportunity and a responsibility to right the balance in children’s everyday lives. Children who play outdoors in natural areas on a regular basis are happier, healthier, smarter, more cooperative and more self-confident. This issue is touching a chord of common sense and a movement to reconnect children and nature is burgeoning worldwide." In fact, a shift already has begun. Since C&NN was established early in 2006, children and nature initiatives have emerged from coast to coast and continent to continent. “There is much more to be done to achieve this healthy change in children’s daily lives," says Charles, "and Children & Nature Awareness Month is an important way to build momentum for this movement that is so critical to the health and well-being of our children and their future."
As you venture outdoors remember to incorporate Leave No Trace into your child's experience in nature, empowering them to become the environmental stewards of today and tomorrow.
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I'd like to share a story about one family's efforts to reconnect with nature. When I moved to Costa Rica I met the Jacobus family (mom, dad and three awesome boys) and started taking care of the boys from time to time. They moved here from Wisconsin in hopes of raising their children with a primary focus on interaction with nature and have created an amazing website called Super Natural Adventures (www.supernaturaladventures.com) as a result of these incredible learning experiences.
The website features educational environmental videos, for kids by kids, and aims to inspire other children around the world to get outside, experience nature first hand, discover what's unique about their own environment and then share that information with the global community. In doing this, the boys have grown up with an incredible understanding of and appreciation for the natural world.
As everyone heads outside for Children & Nature Awareness Month, keep this story in mind and ask yourselves (and your children) what part of our own backyard would be fun to share with the rest of the world? Awareness is the first step in creating the environmentally conscious individuals that our planet so desperately craves, so let's work together to share all the special corners of the world with one another.
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