Category Archives: parenting

Monday thought of the week: no different

A thought: In the twentieth century, we underwent a fundamental change in our relationship with the planet. When I was a boy growing up in London, Ontario, my parents, my three sisters, and I lived in a house with about … Continue reading

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Monday thought of the week: hope

A thought: I fear I will always be a poor and bumbling naturalist, forever in the awkward early stages of a relationship with nature. But perhaps there’s hope for the next generation. – Nathanael Johnson, reflecting on exploring nature with … Continue reading

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Monday thought of the week: not just a thrill

A thought: Their need to be outside is not just a thrill, it’s a physical and emotional need. We’ve just forgotten it. – Linda Buzzell, ecotherapist, quoted in “A Daily Dose of Ecotherapy Eases Stress in Kids,” Outside Magazine online (November … Continue reading

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REVIEW: Nature Play – Take Childhood Back documentary

Do we need another film about connecting children to nature? There’s Play Again, Nature Kids, Project Wild Thing, The Land, and some others I am sure. Will yet another film lead us in the direction we hope for our kids? … Continue reading

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Monday thought of the week: when culture wants to tell them otherwise

A thought: Wildness runs through our veins, and we need to remember to feel it. I think children know that when they come into the world, but it’s up to us as caregivers to not let them forget when culture … Continue reading

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Monday thought of the week: touched

A thought: We have to let children touch nature, because that which is untouched is unloved. – Emma Marris (from her recent TED talk, see below)

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Monday thought of the week: a paradox

A thought: It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them. – Leo Buscaglia, motivational speaker and professor in special education

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Kids to Parks Day is May 21 (and a national parks book giveaway)

National Parks Week was just last month, and currently all 4th graders in the United States and their families can get free access to national parks and other national lands through the Every Kid in a Park program). We will visit Mount Rainier National Park … Continue reading

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Monday thought of the week: arranging a romance

A thought: I cannot expect my children to care about an earth they have never felt seep between their toes or to protect the life of a bird they have never heard sing. I am arranging a romance, hoping they … Continue reading

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BOOK REVIEW: Born To Be Wild: Hundreds of Free Nature Activities for Families

A new book from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the UK aims to get more families outside in nature (and thus later to have an interest in the protection of the environment). As David Sobel has … Continue reading

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