Articles about raising children close to nature – spending time outdoors, encouraging exploration, and allowing natural environments to support play, curiosity, and development.
I don’t remember when this started but at some point I started looking things up before we went. The name of the tree at the end of the path. The bird that visits the same spot most mornings. What that fungus is called, the one on the log they always walk past. I was ready….
One of mine by my social surrounding tends to be considered “a lot”. I say this with complete love and at times I used to say it with almost complete exhaustion. During those times, in moments, I considered him “a lot” too. And he is more, in every direction. More feeling, more noticing, more reacting,…
When people talk about the research on children and outdoor play, they tend to mean vitamin D. Fresh air. Exercise. The general benefit of not being inside. These things are real. The sunlight matters. The movement matters. But they are not the most significant findings in the research. The most significant findings are different –…
Nature-based parenting sounds like a particular kind of afternoon. Unhurried and present. Children moving freely through a landscape while a calm adult observes from a thoughtful distance. Somebody probably has mud on their face. Somebody is building something. The light is doing something beautiful. This version exists. We have had it. We have also had…
At some point I packed a bag before we left. Nature bingo. A magnifying glass. A little printed sheet with pictures of things we might spot. It was laminated, which in hindsight tells you everything about how that went. The children ignored all of it immediately and spent forty minutes moving gravel from one side…
There are days when everything is harder. Nobody can agree on anything. Somebody is making a sound with their mouth that has no purpose except to see what happens. The four-year-old has decided that the way the cup was placed on the table is a personal affront. It takes a while to notice the pattern….
At some point, going outside started needing a reason.It wasn’t just “let’s go for a walk” anymore. It turned into something that sounds like it might fix you. Forest bathing. Nature therapy. Reconnecting with something. Something people write books about. Guides, even. The whole language of it suggests a level of calm that is not…
If you spend a lot of time outside with your child, you’ve probably noticed this without quite being able to name it. Something is different out there. They last longer. They try harder. They sort things out in a way that doesn’t always happen indoors, and you’re not entirely sure why. Here’s what’s happening. What…
You notice it on the way back in. They’re not necessarily quiet. Often they’ll be loud – full of something, wanting to tell you about it. But there’s a quality to them that wasn’t there before they left. Less brittle. Less waiting for something to go wrong. Something has shifted. I used to think this…
At some point in the morning, there is a window. It’s not labelled. Nobody announces it. But it exists – a gap between the end of breakfast and the point at which everyone has settled into something that will make them furious to leave. The window is small. If you don’t take it, the afternoon…