Children & Nature Network (C&NN)

Funding for this initiative has been provided by REI to encourage active outdoor participation by young people and their families. [+] find out more, visit the REI Web site

NOTE: The role of the Children & Nature Network (C&NN) is to help build the children and nature movement, and to help parents and others learn about ways they can connect children to nature. Nature clubs for families is an approach we wish to encourage. However, such groups act independently and C&NN is not responsible for the actions of specific groups or individual members of such groups. At any time, when children are outside on their own, or with families and friends, everyone should take safety precautions and be mindful of risks.

"If you go with long-term significance, my pick for the top story of not only 2009 but also of the 21st Century is the pandemic of Nature Deficit Disorder, a term so aptly coined by Richard Louv in his best-selling outdoor book, Last Child in the Woods...."
— Bill Schneider, NewWest.Net

“Concerns about long-term consequences—affecting emotional well-being, physical health, learning abilities, environmental consciousness—have spawned a national movement to ‘leave no child inside.’ In recent months, it has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grassroots projects, a U.S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a ‘green hour’ in each day.”
— Washington Post, June 2007

“The movement to reconnect children to the natural world has arisen quickly, spontaneously, and across the usual social, political, and economic dividing lines.”
— Orion magazine, March/April 2007

“I believe family nature clubs help break down barriers to getting out in nature and also get “nature” back on the family calendar – a real challenge in today’s over-scheduled world. If we can help families connect to nature and to each other, we’ve achieved our main goal. ” Janice Swaisgood, Family Adventures in Nature

Find Janice and other nature club leaders and participants on the Nature Clubs for Families forum.

DAILY DOSE

The Bee Tree
Patricia Polacco

Why buy honey from the store? Chasing a bee to its bee tree is much more fun!

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Children & Nature network

C&NNINITIATIVES