Children and nature have always been connected. However, recent research suggests that children are exposed less and less to the world of nature. “In our busy society, children are often on tight schedules of school, extracurricular activities and child care,” Donna Donald, Iowa State University Extension Family Life Specialist, says. “Television and video games keep children indoors. Even when they are outdoors, the time often is structured and they’re not free to explore on their own.”
Adults and parents can encourage children’s connection to nature by providing natural environments to experience and by supporting their interests. “Nature also can be brought indoors with plants and collections of nature items such as stones, pinecones and leaves.”
Mrs. Donald says children who interact with nature learn a wide range of valuable skills that will help them in school and life. “Observation is an important key to all science and math skills. Children can develop their senses of touch, smell, sight and hearing in nature. They can learn about traits of natural objects, for example size, color and texture. Encourage children to look for change, one of the most important conditions scientists watch for.”
Counting, measuring, weighing, estimating and comparing differences are other skills that children can learn when they are in nature. Offer younger children opportunities to judge ‘more’ or ‘less,’ ‘larger’ or ‘smaller,’ ‘shorter’ or ‘taller.’ Older children can begin to find out ‘how long’ or ‘how far,’ ‘how much more’ or ‘how much less.’
The ability to predict what might happen based on past experience is not only a critical science skill but an important life skill, as well. “It develops with practice so offer children lots of opportunities to make predictions,” Mrs. Donald says.
“Even 2-year-olds can make simple guesses about familiar activities: ‘What might happen if I touch the bubble?’ And at a more advanced level, a child might generalize that an object of wood won’t stick to a magnet because other wooden objects haven’t in the past.”
Children can learn to sort, match and classify objects in nature. This is important in understanding how things work in the world. Children learn to classify objects by first noticing differences and similarities. Very young children can match identical items. “Eventually, children learn to sort objects that are similar but not identical; for example, that different kinds of trees produce seeds that look different but all belong to the same group of items,” Mrs. Donald says.
Another science skill that can be learned from nature is experimenting. This is the skill most commonly associated with science. From planting seeds to see how plants grow to seeing what makes ice melt, children benefit when they are allowed and encouraged to interact with nature.
Some of the other reasons that children’s experiences with nature are important include developing a nurturing and caring attitude about plant and animal life, providing a sense of calm, enjoying visual images of beauty and encouraging physical activity.
Mrs. Donald says the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) recommends that parents give their kids a "Green Hour" every day, a time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world. This can take place anywhere that provides safe and accessible green spaces.
To give parents and caregivers information, tools, and inspiration to get their kids – and themselves – outside, the NWF has created www.greenhour.org, a Web site with family-friendly content. “It is a supportive virtual community where families can learn, explore, and share their outdoor experiences and backyard adventures.
“Although it may be challenging to make the time, both adults and children gain much when they spend time with nature,” Mrs. Donald concludes.
Adair County Extension
8/27/2007