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Originally appears in the Summer 2019 issue.
MANY OF TODAY’S children are disconnected from the natural world. This increasingly alarming trend can have a dramatic impact on a child’s well-being and development, but even worse, it can result in apathy and inaction regarding our modern environmental crises, notably climate change, which is a direct threat to human civilization. Under this atmosphere of concern, educators feel an added responsibility to help make a difference by educating today’s youths, but video games, texting, and social media platforms, along with busy schedules and a protective parental presence, are all factors that can hinder children’s ability to go outside and explore their natural environment.
To make important headway, schools and educators need to focus on fostering a deeper relationship between children and the Earth by encouraging them to reconnect with its beauty and wonderment. The natural world is filled with potential discoveries that can enhances a child’s learning. It can also be integrated into a broad range of classroom subjects. From mathematics to languages, geography, and the arts, children of all ages can benefit from the lessons provided by their natural environment. Below are six tips for enhancing outdoor nature learning for primary and intermediate students.
Tip 1: Follow the sense of wonder
Most children express a sense of joy and excitement when presented with the opportunity to explore nature, so teachers need to tap into these innate feelings by integrating regular time outdoors into lessons. This can be done on school property or in areas of the local community. Dedicating class time to investigating the tall-grass boundary along the school fence line or studying the leaf debris during a nature hike in the local park is a great way to nurture a child’s curiosity.
Children often relish the chance to seek out and observe local animal and plant life. During these sessions, teachers should model a sense of respect for all living things, and encourage children to use all of their senses as they absorb their surroundings. For younger children, exposing them to highly interactive experiences will help make the Earth’s features and systems (and the challenges they face) tangible rather than abstract. A scavenger hunt, for instance, which requires children to look for specific insect and/or bird species or objects like rocks and leaves, can be particularly fun and effective.
A child’s vocabulary skills can even be developed during a nature walk in which the child is encouraged to search for natural items of different shapes and colors and articulate what he or she has found. Likewise, a texture-focused outing can allow children to refine their sense of touch by searching for items with smooth, rough, prickly, hot, or cold attributes.
Small children are especially fond of investigating “nature’s orchestra,” which invites stimulating activities such as listening to a particular sound, identifying its source, and imitating it.
Drawing maps is another method that can help children learn about their natural surroundings. Asking them to draw key features will allow them to better observe their environment, and adding a compass to the activity will add an extra element of fun that children typically appreciate.
When it comes to older students, incorporating new experiences could leave a lasting impression. Consider setting up an astronomy session on a crisp, fall evening, or organizing a hike or snowshoeing adventure under the brilliant night sky. Such activities can lead to unforgettable experiences filled with beauty and joy, helping young people strengthen their ties with nature.
Tip 2: Open your hands
Whatever the activity — a discovery session in the classroom or an outdoor field trip — children should be given the opportunity to hold and examine all of the natural objects that are presented to them. In the classroom, teachers can start their own collections of natural objects that students can touch, compare, and categorize. Showing extra care and precaution when handling these items will teach children to do the same, instilling a sense of reverence for what the Earth has to offer.
Fun-filled, exploratory activities include counting the rings on a tree cookie and imagining its life story, or cutting open the gall on a goldenrod plant to learn about its symbiotic relationship with larvae and winter birds. If holding a live specimen, educators should lean over a table or floor and present the creature in the opened palms of their hands in a gentle and secure manner. Worms, bugs, and snails are guaranteed to generate great interest. Asking questions such as how does it feel on your hand? or how do you think the creature senses its surroundings? is a surefire way to get the conversation rolling.
When it comes to outdoor activities, the choices are many. Hand-feeding birds with a small group of children is one such example. There are few better ways to teach children patience and discipline than by having them stand perfectly still as they wait for a bird to land on their outstretched palm. Gardening is another activity that can foster a child’s appreciation for the Earth. Planting a variety of flowers and plants will not only allow children to learn about natural life cycles, but it also beautifies the school landscape.
Tip 3: Develop awareness and understanding
In the mid-1990s, Professor Howard Gardener acknowledged the importance of naturalistic intelligence and identified it as one of eight key areas of cognitive ability as part of the theory of Multiple Intelligences. With this theory, Gardener argued that individuals with heightened sensory perception, pattern recognition, and the ability to identify natural connections could develop a better understanding of the natural environment and thus form a deeper relationship to it. Dedicating a greater amount of class time and attention to surrounding natural features helps foster this relationship.
Encourage children to look at both the big picture and the micro-scale of the environment. In Montessori classrooms, for instance, a focus on geological and prehistoric timelines helps children understand the incredible vastness of the Earth’s history. These timelines are designed to provide a framework to better understanding the universe and humankind’s place within it, teaching children that humans have only been on the planet for a tiny percentage of Earth’s history, and, as such, owe significant gratitude to the natural processes that have gradually led to the bountiful resources of today. This teaching also connects to the need for people in contemporary society to develop more sustainable practices and lifestyles.
While exploring their local environment and schoolyard, children are able to form a smaller-scale perspective of the living world and grasp a concrete, sensorial understanding of its inner workings. To broaden awareness and complement science and geography studies, teachers can also assist children in developing an inventory of native plants and animal life that will help them understand each species’ specific needs and characteristics.
Tip 4: Focus on relationships
Relationships play a crucial role in children’s lives. Family, teachers, friends, and community members all come together to provide basic needs and offer inspiration and feedback. Similarly, we must recognize and understand the connections that exist in our natural environment. Children can perceive these numerous and intricate relationships among the elements of nature when they are shown concrete examples during natural exploration exercises. Examining species’ physical and behavioral transformations in response to a change in season is an activity that effectively highlights a particular species’ relationships to its environment. Once students perceive the relationships that exist in the natural world, they may be more inclined to foster their own relationships with the planet.
Tip 5: Take time for reflection
An integral strategy for strengthening a child’s relationship with nature is to include reflective activities outdoors. Our modern society, which has the tendency to expose young people to excessive stimulation, can create a disequilibrium that can offset the delicate, centering balance in a child’s daily routine, so the outdoor environment is the perfect place to give them a quiet, personal space for journaling. Teachers can have their students create their own personalized journals, in which they can record observations, thoughts, feelings, poetry, or art — all while enjoying the fresh outdoor air. Encourage children to make repeat visits to individual “magic spots” on the school grounds where they can journal and compare previous observations. This type of strategy could encourage children to develop a comfort level in the outdoors, allowing them to see themselves as just another part of the natural surroundings rather than an outsider or intruder.
Tip 6: Practice stewardship
Finally, teachers should incorporate stewardship activities and projects into their curriculum as a way to give children the opportunity to better comprehend environmental issues and develop strategies to solve them. Media has the tendency to focus on imminent disasters, which makes many people feel ineffectual or powerless, but much can be done about the current state of the world. Whether fundraising for a favorite environmental organization, volunteering to clean up the local park, planting trees, or naturalizing their own school grounds, children can make a difference, and once they understand that positive actions can result in positive change, they are more likely to willingly rise up to the challenge.
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Our students need to regain the intimate understanding and relationship that our ancestors had with the Earth. By appealing to children’s inborn curiosity and delight of the natural environment, and providing consistent, hands-on, and real-life exploration opportunities, we have a better chance to reconnect them with nature and consequently empower them to take initiative and be the difference our world needs.
Jamie Rossiter is the Middle School Director and Outdoor Activity Coordinator at Aurora Montessori School. The school offers a Montessori-formatted education to children from 18 months to Grade Eight. The school’s mission is to help children realize the great potential that rests within them by assisting them in developing a sense of self, and inspiring them to act on their ambitions.
Note: The editor would like to thank Susan Mackasey for her assistance in bringing this article to publication.