A collaboration between International School Grounds Allianceand the Children and Nature Network.
You need to enter your name and email address to access this very interesting and timely conversation amongst professionals about fostering greater physical and mental health in our children through more natural play spaces.
How can children be encouraged to make a lasting connection to nature? When Learning Comes Naturally profiles the efforts of four schools in New York, California and New Jersey to introduce children to the natural world and to involve them — through outdoor play, class activities, and their own creative work — in a process of outdoor discovery. Beyond the immediate benefits to child development that come with exploration and improvisational learning, the program documents how meaningful time spent outdoors can cultivate in children a permanent caring for the natural world — a crucial ethic of environmental responsibility.
As more Americans dwell in cities and suburbs, our society becomes increasingly distanced from the natural world. This absence of everyday connections to nature has many negative effects — especially for children. Pockets of remaining wetland in developed areas often provide the easiest access to nature. Yet these wetlands may be degraded and go unnoticed. Urban and suburban wetlands are valuable resources to be restored, protected, and enjoyed. These remnants of the natural world in the human landscape can play a key role in reconnecting people to nearby nature-thereby improving the health of our children and our communities.
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