Time flies when you’re connecting kids to nature

In 2005, Richard Louv published his groundbreaking book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. He reported that in just a few decades, childhood had moved indoors and had become disconnected from the natural world. Nature-deficit disorder was not intended to be a medical diagnosis, but physicians, educators, parents and caregivers recognized its profound impact on children and the phrase helped mobilize a growing international children and nature movement. Over the next few years, Richard and a group of colleagues worked to create a new nonprofit called the Children & Nature Network.

In April 2022, we celebrated 15 years of progress and partnership with children and nature leaders around the world.

To celebrate this milestone, we launched the annual $15,000 Richard Louv Prize for Innovation in Nature Connection and announced our inaugural winner, BLISS Meadows founder Atiya Wells. Atiya was selected from more than 100 distinguished nominations for her exemplary work to advance equitable access to nature in her community.

We are also sharing highlights from children and nature leaders. Whether you’ve been part of the movement for 15 years or 15 days, we invite you to join the celebration. Click here to share your favorite memory or tell us how the Children & Nature Network has impacted you or your work. We’ll share stories in this article and in Finding Nature News. Check out some of our favorites below – and thank you for all you do to connect children and communities to the benefits of nature.

Memories From the Movement

It was one of those postcard autumn days in a hardwood forest in northern Michigan. Simply put, a backdrop of unbelievable brilliance. But I was too befuddled to take it all in. We had taken a fourth grade class to the local nature preserve and our station rotations were not rotating very well. The timing was botched. The proverbial wheels were falling off. I had to think fast. So I said: “Let’s lie down right here. And take 60 seconds of silence to soak up this place!” Truth be told, I needed a moment to figure out our Plan B.

There we were – lined up elbow to elbow and staring up at the sky. Then I heard it, not more than a whisper: “Whooooaaaaa.” What was this 9-year old boy seeing? My eyes searched the sky.

And there it was – a single, scarlet, leaf free-falling down to the ground. Graceful. Weightless. Swooping. Flowing. A singular moment in time, and an oft-overlooked act of nature, captured in one word. Turns out, the way in which this boy observed his place became my touchstone. And now a decade later, this moment has become the mission of my nonprofit: Building local literacy with wonder and whoa!

– Molly Ames Baker, Founder, TOPOnexus

I turn 80 next year. When I look back, which I often do now, I inevitably recall the moment I first met Richard Louv in Shepherdstown, West Virginia at the first Children & Nature Network conference. Inspired by Rich, Cheryl Charles, Gina McCarthy, and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, I became a believer and wanted to volunteer my skills in connecting the dots and reaching out to other like-minded organizations for collaboration.

At that conference, I happened to sit next to Jackie Ogden from Disney. Keeping in touch with Jackie over many months ultimately led to a meeting with senior Disney executives in Orlando. Rich was giving a keynote to the National Afterschool Association annual conference. He and I, and fellow believer Lori Kiesser, went to Disney’s Orlando headquarters. After a long courtship, and the connecting of many dots, Disney became a Children & Nature Network sponsor and partner. I recall many fond moments in those early years of the Children & Nature Network with the Grassroots Leadership Team, a small but dedicated band of believers. \Thank you for inviting me to be part of this important movement.

– John Thielbahr, Former Member, Grassroots Leadership Team,
Children & Nature Network

I’m new to the Children & Nature Network but have been an environmental educator for 12 years now. One of my favorite memories from teaching was at the end of a program, I brought out a live corn snake for some third graders to see up close and touch. The students formed a line and had their “two scientific touching fingers” ready. After almost all of them had touched, one of the last students smiled really big at me and said, “Wow! It feels SO realistic!” I’ve giggled about that one for years now.

– Charlee Glenn, Environmental Education Coordinator, Southern Conservation Trust
Sustaining Member of the Children & Nature Network

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