Image by Ken Lund via Flickr
Yesterday we went out for a run with Samuel strapped in the jogging stroller. We spotted a bald eagle flying above the cliff near our house. We ran through the fountain on our way past. We spotted a few ducks in the slough. I know running is good for me. I know I much prefer to run outdoors than to run on a treadmill. I wonder if riding in a jogging stroller is enough for a child to connect with nature.
What do you think? What does it take to connect children and nature? Is there a formula or a frame work?
Here are my thoughts, in no particular order:
- Give what you can. Not everybody lives in an outdoor adventuring mecca, but you should do the best you can with what you have. That may be as small as a flowerpot with a tomato growing on your balcony or even a coke-bottle terrarium in your kitchen windowsill. For connecting children and nature, that is better than nothing.
- Ideally, a child is presented with a lot of different ways to connect with and experience nature. Free play is important, but so is formal study. Some natural connections are best done with a “kid pod” (a.k.a. Jogging stroller, child carrier, etc).
- Artificial or man-made experiences can be a good jumping off point for further learning. For example, going to the zoo can be a good addition to studying the African savanna if you can’t visit there in person.
- Connecting children and nature takes time. Parents have to make space in the family schedule to find time for nature.
- As a parent, it’s hard to judge when to get in there and when to get out of the way.
- One of the biggest challenges to connecting children and nature is overcoming my own ignorance in the face of his insatiable curiosity.
What do you think? What does it look like to connect children and nature?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I think the best kind of kid/nature connection is made when it is kid-driven. Letting kids lead in how they want to interact with the outdoor world lets them develop their passion. Of course, having some “tricks” to get them motivated can help, but anytime they are outside is a good time, in my opinion
Kids will naturally ask questions. Be sure to answer them and show them how to find their own answers. Those questions can lead to all kinds of adventures.
I really agree with kid-driven connections. Children should be encouraged to explore. That doesn’t always mean that parents must stop everything to let heir kids explore. First-hand, real-life experience is a great teacher.
Raising animals or a garden is a great example. Children can learn where food comes from as well as a lot of other lessons. Who needs discovery channel when you have rabbits in the backyard!
I am really interested in learning more about the Charlotte Mason homeschooling methods. Her philosophy was that children should spend as much time as possible outdoors during the first 5 years of life, exploring nature, asking questions,and digging for answers. Much of the formal schooling was living books (not watered down shadows of those direct sources) and overall the student learning where to find the information on their own. That is probably the most important lesson a person can get out of an education.
Coming from a mom who strapped her child into his baby jogger every morning I think it counts as time in nature. Before running with him it was about the miles and minutes per mile. Oh how things changed….I left my watch at home and he dictated pace. We would stop to say good morning to the horses around mile 1, hello to the cows around mile 1.5, usually stop to say good morning to at least one dog being walked and the best part at mile 4 getting out of the jogger to throw rocks and spit off bridge (some how this became acceptable…the spitting part?) we would talk about our day and enjoy the morning. I now run before he gets up….I miss the baby jogger days!
This sounds so much like our runs! Life is about variety. Sometimes it’s letting your toddler hike, sometimes it’s playing the sherpa (putting him in a kid carrier), sometimes it’s putting him in the stroller.
Running is a lot about Mama’s sanity!
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