It has always been really important to me that my kids develop the same love of nature and the outdoors that I did. It makes me really sad when I see kids so disconnected with nature that they couldn’t entertain themselves outdoors if they wanted to. I saw this just recently as a friend of my son’s came over to visit and he was LOST without video games. My son would be outside playing all day and most of that time his friend wanted to be inside, on the couch playing with his Nintendo DS. Oh and the friend was completely grossed out when he found out that lettuce grew in the dirt. ;)
When I think back to my own childhood….horseback riding, camping, building forts in the woods, fishing, swinging on a bridge rope, tree climbing and all that other FUN stuff, I know I want my children to have the same type of childhood. I want them to love nature the way I do and for heaven’s sake not be afraid of getting good and dirty.
I really enjoyed reading a book that aims to help parents do this. It is called I Love Dirt and it has 52 activities to help you and your kids discover the wonders of nature. It is written by Jennifer Ward and the Foreward is written by Richard Louv, who wrote another awesome book called Last Child in the Woods. Everything about the book is fabulous from the rounded corners, the cream colored pages, the classic illustrations, to all the great information in it. It has 52 activities for 52 weeks of the year and they are organized by season.
Each activity is explained along with ideas of what you hope to teach your children by doing them. Digging in the dirt, looking for ladybugs, skipping rocks…all of these activities can encourage a love of nature and learning. My favorite activity hands down is called Time Out. It involves relaxing outside for a meal and story time. Selecting a nice wildlife story from the library and then reading it outside would make it all the more meaningful. Another activity my kids and I used to do all the time when we lived near a creek bed was water hole watching. We would go down to the creek and watch from a distance to see the animal community come out and drink. We were always hoping to see the mountain lion who lived in the area but usually we just got to see his/her tracks.
Todd Christopher of The National Wildlife Foundation endorsed this book by saying, “There may be no better way to ensure the well being of the natural world than to introduce children to its many small wonders today.” I wholeheartedly agree. If we expect future generations to protect our one home than we have to introduce them to it and help them come to love it.
