Kids and Nature

NATURE AND NURTURE

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”

Benjamin Franklin

There is something very special about the relationship between children and nature. If given the freedom to connect, they do so in a very gentle and unspoken way which is very natural to them. It triggers a wonderment of how every life form exists on its own, and how it also lives as an integral part of the forest. This, in turn, begins to form a desire to investigate and solve the questions of why and how it all works to create this magical place to be. When they are involved in experiences with nature, you can see children of all ages fully immerse themselves in their surrounding environments and live in the moment, an art that gets lost in the busyness of daily routines and responsibilities. They want to be there, and they honestly are amazed at the grasshoppers jumping and flying along the warm path in front of them, and at the sparkle of the creek when the sun meets the rippling water. The exposure to nature can be in the playground, going for a walk, or hiking the Bruce Trail in the woods of the beautiful and ancient land of the Niagara Escarpment. 

It is in these places that we experience the diversities found in nature – from colorful and strange fungi to layers of rock formed hundreds of millions of years ago that hold the fossils of life-forms of that time. All of it teaches children to love and appreciate this beautiful world around them and to understand their own relationship with it. By encouraging and allowing children to connect with their surroundings, we’re supporting their love and appreciation for all living things. We don’t often see many animals while hiking so we are more exposed to plants, insects, birds, and smaller mammals like the squirrel and beaver. We can learn so much by paying attention to how children seek them out. A toddler can learn the name of the trout lily and call out to the plant and ask where they are hiding. When found, it is an opportunity for us to show them how to be gentle towards the beautiful nodding yellow flowers with the brown speckled leaves. Year after year, they will ask the name of it until one day in May, they show us where the colony of Trout Lilies are living, and make caution not to step on it. They are listening, they are learning, and they are connecting. I have watched an eight year old boy carefully let a spider travel on his arm while hiking the trail. I could see the pride he felt with his sense of caring for the arachnid and I could also see that he felt responsible for the spider’s trust in him. He was so careful not to drop it or hurt it in any way. When the spider was ready to return to the ground, the boy released it with good spirits. It is incredible to witness such a friendship between a boy and a spider being expressed through the language of the forest. It is up to us to take them there and give them the space to build relationships with the land. They will ask us questions and in their quiet they will ponder more deeply than what we can know. 

Nature also provides so many opportunities to learn about how we can behave in our own lives. When hearing the call of a turkey vulture, we will teach the children the importance of the bird’s ecology role as savagers, soaring high and picking up carnegie, thus preventing the spread of disease. But we can also learn that we can see things from a different perspective than others. Such as the turkey vulture’s view-point high in the sky, to the snake burrowing below the ground getting ready for the cold winter to start, and that’s it’s all important and deserving of respect. Nature shows us that by allowing each other to do so, we are all a critical part in the circle of life. 

The bees, rain, frogs, spider webs, pine cones, and salamanders, are just a few inhabitants that provide an endless supply of wonder for play and creativity for children, so let them spend time with forest life. Afterall, the forest doesn’t come with instructions. We all will learn through our curiosity and when we understand, we begin to love what we didn’t know before – nature and nurture are two words that belong together.

We protect what we love. Let’s kindle a child’s love for nature as early as we can.           

Written by:

Annette Sandberg

Hike Director – Blue Mountain Bruce Trail Club