Close your eyes and think about one of your favorite memories as a child. I recently attended a conference where the speaker asked the crowd to do this. We were all very surprised as people started to share their answers. Almost every single person who spoke up had a memory that was connected to nature. I know this is certainly true for me. I was very lucky to grow up with fields and forests to explore, the truth is children will find nature anywhere.
When my children were five and seven, we took them to Washington DC. They had never spent much time in a city, so we were excited to see their awe over all the traffic and big city stuff. They enjoyed it all, but their favorite part of our whole visit was a big tree on the open lawn by the Washington Monument. They ran around on the green grass and climbed and played all over the tree, while my husband and I took pictures of the monument. They complained when it was time to continue on with our sightseeing. This moment has stuck with me as a reminder of how much children need time with nature.
Another morning of our trip, we were on our way to one of the museums to see dinosaur bones and other exciting stuff. That morning they got distracted by a line of ants on the sidewalk. We stopped for a while, in the middle of the sidewalk, and let them study the activity for a few minutes. But as bored adults, we couldn’t help but remind them that we had ants back in Maine, so let’s go! I think most parents can probably think of a time when their child was more interested in the puddle or a particular stick on the ground, than the amazing thing you were trying to get to.
Children don’t care if nature is big or small, fancy or just a rock they found. In fact, they often prefer the ordinary rock that they found at the top of the mountain rather than the view that you climbed there to see. As adults, we need to provide more space and time for our children to experience nature.
Children need time to observe, time to dawdle and time to poke at things with a stick, without adults feeling the need to teach them something every step of the way. As adults, it is easy for us to pull them by the hand to the big exciting thing. The reality is they learn so much more if we just step back and allow them the time to explore the world through their eyes.
Jessica Lewis is the owner and lead teacher of a small private preschool in Wilton. She has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education. She and her husband have two boys of their own and she is inspired by children and enjoy learning and growing along with them.
