Nature Net News
Your source for nature tips & tricks for exploring nature with your kids
September 2009
Back to School,
Back to Nature!
"A sense of curiosity is nature's
original school of education. "
Dr. Smiley Blanton
Dear Reader, It's an amazing fact--the average 7-year old can recognize up to 200 corporate logos, but cannot identify the type of tree in his or her own yard! Youth has become increasingly disconnected with the natural world. Experts are concerned that this will have serious implications for the health and development of our children and society. The Children & Nature Network studies indicate that children who play and explore outdoors are less stressed and may further benefit by learning confidence and social skills. In nature, kids and families get a chance to move at life's natural pace, where time disappears, no one is bored, and exploration turns into fun adventure. Besides which, it's easy and free! Take a look at this month's Nature Net News for ideas and tips on how to explore the outdoors with your little ones. You'll come to discover that it's the natural thing to do! Enjoy! Kathe & Sarah |
That children today spend an average of 6 hours each day in front of the computer and TV but less than 4 minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play? The Children & Nature Network reports that "children are smarter, cooperative, happier and healthier when they have frequent and varied opportunities for free and unstructured play in the outdoors."
What to Do This Month:
As your kids head back to their indoor school classrooms, ward off Nature Deficit Disorder and make sure your children are still connected to nature.
Take weekly walks or "daycations" (one day vacations) to nature centers, hiking trails, bike trails or anything nature related on the weekends.
Want to learn 5 easy outdoor activities in under five minutes? Check this out!
Get outside and celebrate "National Public Lands Day"
Check out the Nature Net Website and Children & Nature Network for portals to many different sites and organizations devoted to keeping your kid outside.
Also, check out this informative clip, from the Today show on Nature Deficit Disorder.
Participate in National TV Turn Off Week and get outdoors September 20-26!
Tricks of the Trail for Parents:
Getting outdoors is as easy as saying your ABCs!
Take your child on an alphabet walk through a field, woods or even your backyard. As you walk, try to find an object or two that starts with a letter in the alphabet. (Ex. 'A' is for 'ant.' 'B' is for 'bunny.' 'C' is for 'chickadee.') After your walk is finished, have your kids draw a picture of all that they've seen.
Instant Expert:
Unplug Your Kids!
Nature Deficit Disorder is not a medical condition; it is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. This alienation damages children and shapes adults, families, and communities. There are solutions, though, and they're right in our own backyards! Children are spending far more time in front of computer and TV screens than outdoors. According to the 2006 California Summer Youth Survey, young people in California are "not getting outdoors."
67% of parents said their children spent less time outdoors than the summer before
91% of parents blamed TV, computers, and video games for their children's lack of interest in getting outdoors.
Lower income families (those earning less than $50,000/year) were most likely to have children spending less time outdoors.
There has been a significant decline in attendance at U.S. National Parks.
Studies show that children have less freedom to roam outside today than those of previous generations.
While 56% of parents today were allowed to walk or bike to school alone when they were 10 years old, only 36% of those parents would allow their own children to do the same.
Now finish reading Nature Net News for some good ideas, and then get outdoors!
Featured Nature Net Site
Nature Craft
MacKenzie Environmental Center
The MacKenzie Environmental Education Center
(MEEC) is one of the most diverse environmental education centers in
Wisconsin. Encompassing 250 acres, the center has a variety of habitat
types including prairie and forestland. MEEC is an excellent place to
visit and learn more about the natural world through hands-on outdoor
experiences, family outings, hiking and picnics. Located just 25 miles
north of Madison, MEEC is readily accessible to people of all ages in
south-central Wisconsin.
This wonderful activity for any age has an added
benefit: using all those stray socks that don't have matches!
What you need: stray socks, zip baggie, tape.
1. Gather up your stray socks and, once outside, put a sock on OVER your shoe and go for a nature hike. You can hike around your yard or around a park--the point is to get the sock dirty and pick up any seeds that may attach themselves.
2. After the hike is over, put the sock in a plastic zip bag with a squirt of water.
3. Tape the bag to a window that gets lots of sun and check daily to see your sock slowly sprout to life!
4. After the sock sprouts, investigate what types of plants might be growing on the sock. You will never view socks in the same way again!
Suggested Reading:
"I love dirt!" by Jennifer Ward (all ages)
"Gardening Wizardry for Kids" by L. Patricia Kite and Yvette Santiago Banek (4-8)
"Nature in a Nutshell" by Jean Potter (4-12)
"How Nature Works" by Editors of Reader's Digest (8-14)
" The Kids' Nature Book" by Susan Milord (9-12)
"The Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv (adult)
