After “Last Child in the Woods” was published in 2005, a handful of like-minded individuals came together to form the Children & Nature Network. Our mission: to help build a movement to reconnect children, their families and their communities to nature—for human health and well-being, cognitive development, stronger community — and for the good of the planet. For [...]
After Richard Louv gave an inspiring talk in Bend, OR, in May 2010, a group of children and nature advocates from around our region formed an informal network to keep the conversation alive. Members included representatives from the healthcare community, parks and recreation, Deschutes National Forest, geographic organizations, conservation education nonprofits and the schools – [...]
“A movement moves.” — Rev. Gerald L. Durley All of us involved with the Children & Nature Network recognize the challenges ahead, the miles to go, the promises and deadlines to keep. But for the children and nature movement, 2011 has been a banner year. Here are a few of the achievements accomplished during the [...]
“Nature is not a place to visit, it is home.” —Gary Snyder. A few months ago, at the Minnesota Arboretum, several hundred people from a variety of sectors – tourism, housing development, health care, education, and others – came together for a conference focused in part on the Nature Principle. I was especially intrigued by [...]
Why is the future so often portrayed as a post-apocalyptic dystopia, filled with human brutality and stripped of nature? For decades, our culture has struggled with two addictions: to oil and to despair. But what if our lives were as immersed in nature as they are in technology every day? What if we not only conserved nature, but created [...]
Want Your Kids to Get Into Harvard? Tell ‘em To Go Outside. I once met an instructor who trains young people to become the pilots of cruise ships. He described the two kinds of students he encounters. One kind grew up mainly indoors, spending hours playing video games and working on computers. These students are [...]
In a recent feature on Orion magazine’s Web site, the editors asked me this question: “Does technology merely distract us from the natural world—or can it help us gaze more intently at its varied forms?” My article, answering that question, is here. In it, I described how I spend more time carrying a camera than a [...]
“Connected and honored, natural teachers could inspire other teachers; they could become a galvanizing force within their schools. In the process, they would contribute to their own psychological, physical, and spiritual health.” — The Nature Principle Not long ago, I was speaking with a middle school principal in Austin who was sympathetic to the cause, but [...]
Martin Luther King Jr. taught us, by word and example, that any movement — any culture —will fail if it cannot paint a picture of a world that people will want to go to. As others have said, his speech was not called “I Have a Nightmare.” For decades, our culture has struggled with two [...]
Got dirt? “In South Carolina, a truckload of dirt is the same price as a video game!” reports Norman McGee, a father in that state who bought a small pickup-load of dirt for his daughter and friends. As McGee’s photo shows, the dirt was a great success. I told his story a couple years ago in [...]
Several years ago, Sally Jewell, president and CEO of REI, asked me to come to Seattle to speak at the annual gathering of the nationwide REI community. Sally and I sat on stage and talked for an hour about the importance of connecting children to nature. I already admired Sally, but as she wrapped up the [...]
For the past couple of days, my younger son and I have been trying to cure our nature-deficit disorder. Right now, I’m sitting in bed in a Bishop, California motel that, well, isn’t the Ritz. Matthew, who is 23, is still asleep, and deeply. A few hours ago we staggered across the clumped grass and [...]
Can libraries connect children to nature? You bet. “Today, via a library’s outdoor learning space, librarians are participating in the growing movement to connect children with the environment,” write Tracy Delgado-LaStella and Sandra Feinberg in this month’s issue of American Libraries magazine. The excellent piece describes the efforts of Middle Country Public Library in Centereach, New York, which [...]
Many of us still remember a time when playing in nature was considered normal and expected. Here’s a question: Will we leave this earth and take that memory with us? Or will we do what it takes to connect all children, in every kind of neighborhood, to nature? The Children & Nature Network needs your [...]
“Vitamin N” and the American Academy of Pediatrics
A walk in the woods, climbing a tree or patiently watching a fish rise to a dry fly will not solve everything, but it could go a long way to bring things into a more positive, hopeful perspective. Richard Louv’s “Vitamin N” (the health benefits of time spent in nature) should find its place in [...]