7 Tips to Raise a Nature Loving Kid

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The Importance of Raising Nature Loving Kids

Since I’ve embraced minimalism and began our debt free journey, being in nature has become a top priority. It’s also become a priority to raise a nature loving kid.

Unfortunately, I’m surprised because there are hardly any children at our nearby parks. Instead I see many adults taking in nature by walking, biking, or running, and the occasional parks and rec workers. Where are all the children?

I hate to say it, but I think they’re inside.

Toddlers Need to be Outside

My daughter is “busy” as some caregivers politely tell me. I noticed right away that if my daughter doesn’t get outside, we’ll run into problems. Nature to me is a preventative parenting measure. It’s therapy, really for myself and my daughter.

In The Happiest Toddler on the Block, author Harvey Karp explains that toddlers actually do better outside because it is less stimulating. When the entire world is new to you, being outside can be more manageable. Noises are not as abrupt: the sound of a bird chirping, the soft breeze, or the rumble of a train. These are less alarming than a T.V. playing jingles all day, and noises bouncing off the walls, with fluorescent lights blinding each room.

In nature, you can run experiments in single tasks including: drawing in the sand, plugging or unplugging drain pipes, noticing a flower, rolling down a hill, balancing on a log, running through puddles, getting wet and cold, warming up, and repeating. Nature can be a child’s best teacher, because it provides endless possibilities for experimenting. If given the opportunity who wouldn’t want to be a nature loving kid?

Habits Start Young to Raise a Nature Loving Kid

By the time I had middle school students in my P.E. class they had already developed a mindset around being outside. By contrast, meet any toddler for a few seconds and you’ll see the joy they find in moving their body and exploring their outside environment. This is ingrained in humans, and there is great joy in just being outside and active.

However, we live in a world with great distractions, and easy habits that make us feel tired and sloth-like. What happened after toddler hood that makes children develop the desire to remain inactive and inside? What stopped them from being a nature loving kid?

How I Became a Nature Loving Kid

If I think to my childhood, I had many adults in my life who were active. I had teachers who biked to school, coached, ran and spoke about their active hobbies. I watched my parents engage in physical activities: fishing, hunting, running, coaching sports, fixing things outside, lifting weights, skiing, snowshoeing, skating, gardening, sledding, swimming, hiking, biking and probably more. I even witnessed my grandmother remain physically active well into the late years of her life by skiing through our woods, and swimming in any lake she happened to be by.

We also took family trips in nature. Camping, and state parks hold some of my best childhood memories. Memories spent outside with my aunts, uncles, and cousins fishing, playing games, counting stars, and asking questions. I had a full support system in place to raise a nature loving kid.

Furthermore, my husband’s childhood memories involve hearing his dad call elk on Mt. St. Helen’s, camping and fishing with his family, feeding chickens and animals at his grandpa’s farm in Eastern Oregon, and spending hours in the woods exploring after school with his dog Maverick. In many ways, we were both allowed to explore nature often, at a young age, and it’s no surprise we were both raised as nature loving kids.

His love of nature goes a bit deeper than mine as it includes talents like hunting, fishing and growing your own food. We have, as a society, forgotten about where our food comes from. Experiencing first hand the labor involved in harvesting an elk, or growing tomatoes makes one appreciate nature even more.

A Culture of Outside Play

In the book There is No Such Thing as Bad Weather author Linda Akeson McGurk writes about her experience as a native Swede residing in Indiana, and some major culture differences in the way children are allowed to play.

Get Outside Every Day

Consequently, one major observation is that children play outside at school every day in Sweden (162). There are very few exceptions. For example, in the U.S and other countries, if it’s raining, or too cold sometimes students are allowed to stay inside. However, in Sweden all children have weather appropriate gear like rain jackets and pants, as well as snow gear. Instead of bringing Kleenex and crayons as their school supplies, teachers make sure that all children have appropriate weather gear. There is no excuse to stay inside when every one has proper clothing.

Involve Children

Likewise, students are also involved in environmentally friendly practices like composting, and decreasing food waste in their elementary schools. Students participate in a school wide food waste competition against other elementary schools, and composting becomes an expected practice. As a result, their school wide food choices are environmentally friendly as well as nutritional, with less red meat, and lots of seasonal local plants (134).

Play Outside Solo

Parents in Sweden let their children play outside oftentimes unsupervised (Akeson McGurk 169). Where we live there is a busy road that separates us from the nearby park, so I can’t quite see myself letting my daughter play there unsupervised for quite some time. I also wish I didn’t have fears of children being taken, or strangers interacting with my child. Apparently this fear doesn’t exist in Sweden, and kids at a young age are allowed to ride their bikes to the local parks and play without their parents hovering. Obviously, Sweden is a very different country, and general comparisons like this are not necessary effective, but it is interesting to think of how a different culture can view outside play and make nature a high priority.

Forest Schools

There was a period of time where my husband and I were in need of childcare for our daughter a couple days a week. I toured a few day care centers and oftentimes just left disappointed. It’s not like they weren’t child centered, it’s just that they were doing too much “school” when I just wanted my daughter to play, preferably outside. I couldn’t help but feel sad when I noticed the outdoor play area fenced in with no trees, grass, or even rocks.

Living in the Pacific Northwest, a place in the U.S. that hosts the most beautiful beaches, mountains, plains, rivers, and lakes, I figured would have some type of nature school available for children. What I found was a chapter in Clark County of Free Forest School, a group led by parent volunteers to promote unstructured play in nature. Obviously, this isn’t a childcare opportunity, but at least a way to involve nature and community into our weekly routine. Also, if forest schools are not available in your community, you have the ability to start your own Free Forest School chapter.

7 Easy Tips to Raise a Nature Loving Kid

1. Start with Food

I mentioned before that there is a disconnect between the food we eat and where it comes from in nature. Mostly because many “foods” come from a factory. Explore new ways to eat foods that come directly from nature.

If you’re really feeling confident, you can start your own vegetable garden. Growing your own vegetables is a science lesson for young children. I’m still in awe that if you put a small seed in some dirt a beautiful and delicious vegetable will grow. I guarantee a child will be a bit more interested in eating vegetables if they see it grow.

Another idea is to start composting and reduce food waste. Eat leftovers, use up vegetables and fruit before they go bad, and start a compost to show respect for what nature provided. I took this idea from the book There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather. I had been meaning to start a compost, but had put it off, but now that my daughter is old enough to learn about how a compost helps the soil, we have started one at our home. Not only does composting cut down on our weekly garbage, it teaches about the cycle of plant life.

2. Limit Screen Time

Another way to cultivate a nature loving kid is to limit screen time. It’s just a way to cut out distractions. If children are mostly inside instead of playing, then there is probably some type of distraction keeping them contained. Speaking from experience, inhabiting a space with a toddler inside all day would require some type of T.V. show to get me through the day. Instead we just go outside a lot.

3. Make a Routine of Going Outside Every Day

I work from home, so my schedule can be pretty flexible. As a result, we usually go to a park twice a day. Once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. Sometimes we’re not even fully immersed in nature, we’re riding a bike through a parking lot, or playing catch with a ball, but we’re still outside with lots of space to run around.

4. Invest in Quality Weather Appropriate Clothing

Also, we go outside rain or shine in the Pacific Northwest. It just dawned on me that in Minnesota, I would have bought my daughter winter weather gear including snow pants.

By contrast, I have not bought my daughter rain pants. It’s the same idea, but I don’t see young children with rain pants here. Is it because if it’s raining children just don’t go outside? What a travesty since my daughter loves playing outside while it’s raining. I think it’s time to buy her some rain pants.

5. Be the Example to Raise the Nature Loving Kid

Furthermore, kids won’t want to go outside if they see parents never going outside. For example, get outside when it’s cold, when it’s raining, when it’s hot, and when it’s humid (of course, take the necessary precautions). Show your excitement for being in nature, and seek out opportunities to take your family or even engage in outdoor hobbies by yourself. You have little eyes watching you and copying your exact example.

6. Follow Your Child’s Interests

Not only do you want to be the example, but also pay attention to what your child is interested in. For example, you notice that your child loves looking at the moon and stars. Get books on astronomy, and get access to a telescope. Provide opportunities for your child to interact with animals, and different environments like streams, rivers, lakes, prairies, and even the ocean, if you have close access.

7. Allow Your Child to Be Bored

“It takes time to try out different things…to get bored, [and] to overcome boredom….

It takes time…to really delve into your passion.” 

Peter Gray – Educational Theorist

Being bored is part of the creation process. For instance, if you’re not bored, you’ll never seek ways to think of new games, challenges, or activities. Allowing a child moments of boredom is actually just one step in a creative process.

Honorable Mention

Push your kid outside and lock the door. Just kidding…

Final Words

In short, my daughter doesn’t always go outside when I want to. Sometimes I get her dressed, only to have her pull her boots and socks off and run up the stairs. It can be quite the process, and especially if you live in a cold weather climate. However, I know that once we do get outside, most of the time we play, create, run experiments, and laugh. Hopefully the time we spend in nature now will help her develop independence and a love of nature for her whole life.

P.S. I always ask readers to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. I consciously try to document my everyday simple life. Since we happen to be on a debt free journey it can be motivating because most of my activities are intentionally inexpensive. However, if you’re trying to cut out social media, you’ll need to subscribe directly to this blog.

Join The Discussion

How do you add nature into your weekly routine? What childhood memories in nature will you pass onto your children?

Sources

Karp, Harvey, and Paula Spencer. The Happiest Toddler on the Block: the New Way to Stop the Daily Battle of Wills and Raise a Secure and Well-Behaved One- to Four-Year-Old. Bantam Books, 2005.

McGurk, Linda Akeson. Theres No Such Thing as Bad Weather: a Scandinavian Moms Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge). Touchstone, 2017.

Author

-Maria Halcumb
B.A. in Secondary Education, English, and Physical Education
M.A. Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction and Reading Specialist