People in Nature

For the past couple of days, my younger son and I have been trying to cure our nature-deficit disorder. Right now, I'm sitting in bed in a Bishop, California motel that, well, isn't the Ritz. Matthew, who is 23, is still asleep, and deeply. A few hours ago we staggered across the clumped grass and mud along the Owens River, struggled to keep our balance as 40 mph gusts tangled our fly lines. Read More

Some parents will be comfortable encouraging their kids to roam freely, but the truth is most won't. So here are seven suggestions for ways to manage our fear, reduce risk, and still get our kids outside. Read More

During these days of solitude, moving clouds and lifting wind would begin to bring voices - of a father and a mother, now gone, and of my wife and children. On the fourth day, Kathy and the boys, Jason and Matthew, arrived for a visit. In solitude, even for a few days, a person changes subtly; the familiar phrases and patterns seem odd, somehow. So our first minutes together felt a little awkward. But this is why taking a retreat, as a husband or wife or parent, is a good thing. Familiar patterns can shield us from true familiarity. Read More

"We gain life by looking at life.” Those are the words of Dr. Mardie Townsend, a researcher and associate professor in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University in Victoria, Australia, and an important thinker about the importance of the natural world to human development. She added, in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, “If we see living things we don’t feel as if we’re living in a vacuum.” That sense of aloneness, without kinship in the natural world, is central to the argument that many of us are making these days; that is, if we deny children direct experience with nature, we deny them access to a fundamental part of their humanity. Read More

Remember the special place in nature that you had as a child — that wooded lot at the end of the cul de sac, that ravine behind your housing tract, that place of wonder and health? What if adults had cared just as much about that special place as you did, when you were a child? The central organizing principle of nearby-nature trusts will be: do it yourself, do it now. By going through the process of creating "button parks," people will learn about the growing importance of the land trust movement. They will dramatically increase the amount of protected nearby nature, and improve the health and the well-being of their families now -- and families in the future. Read More

In August, CBS’ “The Early Show” recognized the danger of what we’re now informally calling “nature-deficit disorder.” The show featured the 25 best cities in America for raising kids so they live healthy young lives that are connected to – not cut off – from the natural world. As coiner of the “nature deficit disorder” phrase, I couldn’t have been more pleased. But what about the rest of us, who aren’t able or willing to relocate? Read More

Got dirt? “In South Carolina, a truckload of dirt is the same price as a video game!” reports Norman McGee, a father in that state who bought a small pickup-load of dirt for his daughter and friends. McGee is turning consciousness into action. So is Liz Baird, who keeps a “wonder bowl” available for her children. Other families are taking Nature Staycations. Read More

Reducing our society’s nature-deficit disorder can’t pay the mortgage or immediately replace a lost job, but doing so could help reduce stress, and improve our health and our sanity. Read More

A nature-balanced life reduces many barriers to education, including psychological and physical health, stress, attention deficit and cognitive functioning. Researchers at the University of Illinois have shown that the greener a child’s everyday environment, the more manageable their symptoms of attention-deficit disorder. When it comes to reading skills, “the Holy Grail of education reform,” says researcher and educator David Sobel, place-based or environment-based education should be considered “one of the knights in shining armor.” Students in these programs typically outperform their peers in traditional classrooms. Read More

The U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to approve the No Child Left Inside Act of 2008. This was an extraordinary moment, symbolizing just how far the children and nature movement has come in just a few short years -- and how far it still needs to go. Read More