Children and Nature and Play, and the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar…

Children and Nature and Play, and the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar…

Note: As a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, read this if you would like an update on the changes that are happening in cultivating a child’s relationship with Nature.

Background:
A decade ago, the World Forum Foundation was formed with the goal of the improvement of education for young children and getting people together from all over the world.

At the World Forum in 2005 a new initiative began that targets the reconnection of children and nature.  The title of the presentation that stimulated this was:  Helping Children Learn to Love the Earth Before We Ask Them to Save It.  Although this is a world problem, I will focus on comments with which we all can relate.  It was noted that due to many factors, children are not having the outdoor or play experiences that the older among us had.  Although many of us grew up with a fenced-in asphalt school playground, at least we could go home to a backyard and neighborhood or farm with “wild” areas, and we were allowed the freedom to explore and play outdoors.

The factors that today influence children and their contact with the outdoors include:
* urbanization (apartment living, 85% of us will live in cities in the future, creating a need to bring nature to the cities)
* smaller yards in the suburbs with extensive landscaping (no place to discover, hide, dig…)
* fewer parents involved in gardening or even in caring for their yards, emphasis on playground equipment (and much of it plastic with rubber underneath)
* emphasis on safety and fear of litigation
* emphasis on safety and fear of strangers (thus requiring supervision outdoors while parents have become busier and busier with less time to do so)
* fear of nature’s evils (mosquitoes, ticks, poison ivy, bee stings; sun, cold, heat; falls, splinters, etc.)
* over-scheduling and formalization of programs for children that involve them in lessons and training and team sports at a young age
* the NCLB Act (No Child Left Behind) that makes homework more likely at a younger age, the shortening of recess, and loss of environmental education (as teachers “teach to the test”)
* the attraction of TV and computers and video games, and all the things cell phones can do these days
* the idea that Nature is something you go to during your summer vacation (if you don’t go to Disneyland) or you can find it in a Nature Center (something to go to)
* the commercialization of toys and movies and fast food and their intrusion into the child’s imagination
* parents that are too busy – many trying to make ends meet
* parents who were also raised with TVs, computers, and video games and did not form a good bond with Nature themselves.

Awareness of a Problem:
Some books and other programs paved the way for this awareness about children.  In 2001, David Elkind wrote The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon, and in 2007 he wrote The Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier, Healthier Children, in which he advocated the value of unstructured play – play in general.  The Alliance for Childhood in March 2009 announced the results of three studies on play.  ExchangeEveryDay summarized the results:  Child development experts have been raising alarms about the increasingly didactic, test-driven, and joyless course of early childhood education. “These practices, which are not well grounded in research, violate long-established principles of child development and good teaching,” states the Alliance’s report. “It is increasingly clear that they are compromising both children’s health and their long-term prospects for success in school.”  Note that this is just addressing play at school.  For more information, visit: http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/

Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder (2005) has become a rallying cry for getting children back outdoors.  He put together the words play and nature or outdoor play.  He attributes the rise in childhood obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder, and depression to the loss of nature in the lives of our children.  He has spoken to large crowds in Iowa and Nebraska and throughout the country.  He has also founded the Children and Nature Network, http://www.childrenandnature.org/natureclubs, encouraging families to join together to hike and do other activities in nearby natural areas, forming family nature clubs.  The website provides examples.  Grandparents are mentioned as assets because they have knowledge about nature and usually have more time than parents do.

Impressed by the message in Richard Louv’s book, Iowa’s Larry A. Stone, an author and photographer, has spoken many places about encouraging children to develop “an amazement” for the outdoors which goes hand-in-hand with allowing them to play in the dirt.

Action:
The World Forum Foundation, with many sponsors, organized a Working Forum on Young Children and Nature in October of 2006.  Many great ideas came from the excellent examples of projects going on all over the world.  Extensive time was spent in working groups discussing the obstacles and the possibilities.  The more than 250 participants were educators, environmentalists, community planners, and landscape architects from over twenty-five different nations.  Conclusions from the 2006 Forum are at www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wf2006_nature/NACC_2006.php.  A video created from photos submitted at the 2006 Forum can be found at  http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/nacc/video.php. 

Many of these same people came together again in the summer of 2008, again in Nebraska City, Nebraska.  Once again people from over twenty-five nations heard about wonderful projects that this time were stimulated by the 2006 Forum.  Many new programs are available or initiatives are “in the works” and I will try to highlight a few. 

The Nature Action Collaborative for Children has been formed.  NACC’s mission is to “re-connect children with the natural world by making developmentally appropriate nature education a sustaining and enriching part of the daily lives of the world's children.”  Their vision acknowledges “the rapidly changing global condition of children and childhood requires new collaborations with new approaches to all that we do with and for children.” One area of change is the disconnection of children from the natural world.  Visit http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/nacc/index.php.

The North American Association for Environmental Education is creating new standards for early childhood environmental education.  The “No Child Left Inside” movement started with the endorsement of four or five organizations and by 2008 had over five hundred.  This amendment to the NCLB Act that will call for environmental literacy programs for states to get federal dollars.  They have developed national standards for children in grades 4, 8, and 12.  For more information, visit www.naaee.org/.  Their national conference was held in Wichita, Kansas, October 15 to 18, 2008, and was titled: EE on the Prairie - Pioneering New Strategies.  (As of May 2009 the NCLI passed the House and is being considered by the Senate.)

The National Environmental Education Foundation web site explains the Children and Nature Initiative and relates it to health at http://www.neefusa.org/health/children_nature.htm.   

The Dimensions Educational Research Foundation helps “families and educators inspire children to connect with the world around them.”  Visit http://www.arborday.org/explore/index.cfm for more information.  Dimensions collaborates with the Arbor Day Foundation to create Nature Explore Workshops and materials about outdoor classrooms.

PBS has aired a documentary about Where Do the Children Play?  Although children's play has a rich history that dates back to antiquity, the NCLB Act, parents’ fears of their children being outdoors unsupervised, and time spent with tech toys, dramatically changed “play” in recent years, and all of these factors "collectively unraveled centuries of openness to challenging play and play environments, both natural and built, and now threaten the health and welfare of American children and growing numbers in other countries."  Children are no longer afforded the time and opportunity for unstructured, spontaneous play, especially outdoors in nature.  This documentary is available for public screenings from the Alliance for Childhood, www.allianceforchildhood.org.  Email: pam@allianceforchildhood.org.
The Alliance for Childhood has created a policy brief, "Play in the Early Years: Key to School Success." It explains how child-initiated play is essential to children's healthy intellectual, social, and emotional development.
Several books have been published about appropriate outdoor play environments and are available at www.ChildCareExchange.com.  One such book is Creating Outdoor Play Environments for the Soul by Rusty Keeler.    You can do it. You can create extraordinary outdoor places for young children without highly complex play contraptions surrounded by a sea of wood chips or gravel... Places for children that tickle the imagination and surprise the senses…Places for young ones of all abilities to discover themselves and the world around them.  This book is about a new movement in children's outdoor play areas, natural playscapes - Where the entire space and is filled with art, hills, pathways, trees, herbs, open areas, sand, water, music, and more... Where children find places to run, climb, dig, pretend, and hide, with opportunities to bellow or be silent.
Nebraskans have drafted a Nature Education Supplement for their Early Learning Guidelines.  They also have Nature Explore Workshops that bring together educators and landscape designers to create new outdoor playspaces at public schools, day care centers, etc.

Playspaces that encourage an appreciation for nature might have some of these elements to complement some climbing and other playground equipment:
* Garden areas that allow child involvement in planting seasonal vegetables or flowers.
* A garden area that has perennial edible plants such as asparagus.
* Garden areas that promote child sensual experience – smell, color, texture.
* A garden area that attracts butterflies and opportunities for experiences with caterpillars and metamorphosis.
* Areas that introduce native species that a child or parent might encounter in a natural area.  Perhaps a shady and a sunny area. 
* Areas that invite the observation of the contrast in different types of plants.
* Native plants can also be used for the trees, shrubs, sense  and butterfly gardens.
* Areas of dirt and sand for children to play in and get dirty in and to dig in.
* Water areas that allow children to play with the water.  If the water flows, they might be able to create dams.
* A grassy berm that encourages children to roll down the slope in summer as well in winter.
* Greenspace to do whatever…
* Rocks to climb and jump from and between.
* Logs to climb on and possibly through!
* Trees for shady areas.
* Shrubs to hide in.
* Areas to build snowmen and snow forts…
* A music and movement stage.
* Perhaps a cultural or historical addition such as a replica of a home or bridge for children to play in.
* Paths to run on.
And these selected comments from the World Forum in 2006:
* Create playscapes that include a balance of planned and wild, green spaces.
* Design should include growing things and loose parts.
* Create environments that are fun, interesting, exciting that can still be safe.
* Better to offer opportunities for learning, rather than push or require learning.
* By exposing children to nature, we’re giving them a gift of a faithful, life-long friend.
* It provides life-changing, shaping memories.
* Nature offers a sense of peace - is calming.
* The natural world supports the development of caring, pro-social behavior.
* It brings out the best in children.
* Children’s pretend play outdoors in natural settings tends to be more complex/therapeutic than indoors.
* Play and interaction with the natural environment and materials helps develop cognitive, social and emotional skills.
* Nature is crucial for total development of the whole child, regardless of stage, ability or problem.
* Nature education is crucial for preserving of culture, community, learning, healthy being and world habitat.
* The focus should be on children from 0 to 8 years.
* Consider after-school programs.
* Locate programs near green space.
* Keep the natural native space intact and bring in natural elements.
* Local culture must be reflected in the classroom.
* All the senses must be involved when creating nature education.

The Conservation Fund in 2007 launched The National Forum on Children and Nature.  This forum involves national leaders such as: governors, mayors, CEOs, environmental organizations, and leaders from health and education institutions, whose aim is to find and support twenty projects that address the issue of children’s isolation from nature - that will demonstrate reconnecting children and nature.  For more information, go to: http://www.conservationfund.org/children_nature

The National Wildlife Federation http://www.nwf.org/ has begun a weekly e-newsletter called the Green Hour® full of new activities and ideas for an adult and child to discover the wonders of nature together.  NWF’s Wildlife Watch
http://www.nwf.org/wildlifewatch/ provides locations for hiking, camping, etc., near any zipcode or town.  Help in creating habitats for wildlife (and native plants) at schools can be found at http://www.nwf.org/schoolyard/.  A full report about the NWF’s efforts to reverse nature deficit can be found at www.nwf.org/kidsoutside.

Naturalists and others in Iowa are working on a “Iowa Children’s Outdoor Bill of  Rights” with help from the IDNR.  Results obtained from a survey will be used to guide creation of a document that will list the activities that Iowans recognize as invaluable experiences for our young people to have while growing up, along with a mission statement and goals for its use. Websites and resources related to this include:
The press release - http://www.iowadnr.gov/news/08dec/billofrights.html
The results of the survey –
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/NR/rdonlyres/103C8445-616F-40EB-8CB8-1A...
Early Learning Guidelines- Connecting Children to Nature - http://ectc.nde.ne.gov/nature/nautre.htm
American Academy of Pediatrics Report: The importance of play -http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/119/1/182

Pheasants Forever http://www.pheasantsforever.org/ is supporting the No Child Left Inside Act and is working with chapters, members and conservation partners to provide opportunities for youth and their families to be involved in outdoor activities through youth habitat projects, outdoor events and community events/activities. Their website provides ideas for how to get kids outdoors and how to involve families.

Many other organizations (such as Izaak Walton League of America chapters) and many agencies strongly support the concept. 

We share our enjoyment of nature and native plants and birds, etc.  Most of us care deeply about the natural areas in our state.  We embrace Connie Mutel’s book, The Emerald Horizon: The History of Nature in Iowa, and her passionate hope for the care and protection of the nature we still have and the return of nature to some of what has been lost in Iowa.  We depend on our concern continuing into the future.  We cannot ignore the importance of our children and their need to be awed by nature. 

We need to create the next generation of life-long learners, who care about natural areas and native plants.  We need to prepare our young children to inherit Iowa and to accept the responsibility of taking care of it. 

We also cannot ignore the need to attract parents to nature-related activities, for they strongly influence the experiences of their children.  Family-friendly events are needed.

The Loess hills Prairie Seminar:
The Loess Hills Prairie Seminar is one such event.  The “all ages” and “all walks of life” element of the seminar was begun by its founder, Carolyn Benne, and the importance of this has just become fully acknowledged.  The Area Education Agency (first as Western Hills AEA 12 and now as Northwest AEA) has organized this since the beginning in the 1970’s.  Caroyln worked at the AEA.  The Iowa DNR and Monona County Conservation Board have been fully involved through the decades providing the personnel, physical support and involvement that no AEA could provide on its own.    

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has been a strong supporter of the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar.  The Nature Conservancy in Iowa has also become a supporter of the LHPS, as have the Iowa Native Plant Society, Iowa Prairie Network, Iowa Living Roadway Trust Fund, Izaak Walton League – West Central  Chapter, Loess Hills Audubon Society, and the Woodbury County Conservation Foundation.  All of these recognize the importance of the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar in reaching children and families as well as also creating excellent programs and sessions for adults.
The Loess Hills Prairie Seminar is organized to accommodate families.  While the variety of sessions and programs offered is amazing, just as amazing is the experience of being outdoors in this wonderful setting with people of so many different ages!  Children have their sessions and programs and also are provided the time to be outdoors and to play in Nature.   Visit the Northwest AEA LHPS website to view the program in detail: www.nwaea.k12.ia.us/en/upcoming_events/loess_hills_seminar/
Closing:
This is our challenge.  The future of conservation depends on this.  Look for opportunities to make a difference.  Look for opportunities to include young adults, families and children.  Organize simple events and invite others to accompany you on your excursions into nature.  Offer your expertise to those who would like to use native plants in their schoolyards or in landscaping at home.  Offer encouragement for the development of a new kind of playground including rocks, logs, shrubs, trees, butterfly gardens, native plants, water, sand, greenspace, and exploratory areas as well as quiet, intimate areas.  Such playgrounds do exist and do provide the experience of more fully being outdoors.

Children become close with nature and develop a caring relationship when they have positive hands-on experiences, especially in the outdoors, that cultivate wonder.  This sense of joy can continue throughout their lives.  

Wisdom begins in wonder.  Socrates