Introducing children to Nature
Introducing Children to Nature
'Contact with nature...is critical to the personal development of our children.' Sir David Attenborough.
"We will be physically, mentally and spiritually impoverished if our children are deprived of contact with the natural world. Contact with nature should not be the preserve of the privileged. It is critical to the personal development of our children." Sir David Attenborough
- Over-development and planning around places
- Lack of unstructured play opportunities
- Lack of environmental learning in the curriculum
- Traffic and road safety
- Commercialisation of play
- Consumerism and advertising to children
- Risk averse culture
- Perceptions towards stranger danger
- Rise of screen-time
- Increasingly time-poor parents
- Vanishing green spaces
Eco-Schools - Keep Wales Tidy
Eco-Schools is an international award programme that guides schools on their sustainable journey, providing a framework to help embed these principles into the heart of school life. Becoming part of Eco-Schools is simple; registration is free for schools and can be completed online.
'Keep Wales Tidy firmly believes that its Eco-Schools programme inspires and empowers pupils to be leaders of change in their communities and widens learning beyond the classroom to develop responsible attitudes and commitment, both at home and in the wider community.' Keep Wales Tidy
Every Child Wild - The Wildlife Trusts
Evidence has been growing for a number of years pointing to the array of health and social benefits to be derived from contact with the natural world for all ages. Children are happier, healthier and more creative when they are connected to the natural world. This should be an option not just for a few, but for every child in the UK. The Wildlife Trusts reach around half a million children each year through their junior membership and work with schools.
Find the Wildlife Trust for your area here and check out their map of nature clubs for children and teenagers here.
A wide variety of resources are available to members, including information sheets on activities, games, recipes and how to create a variety of crafts in your sessions. There are also many useful documents developed by experienced Forest School leaders and during CPD training sessions - including Practical Woodland Management, Environmental Impact Assessments and a Policy and Procedure Handbook.
Learning Through Landscapes
LTL Cymru is the Welsh programme of LTL, the UK charity dedicated to enhancing outdoor learning and play for children. Where possible we encourage young people to have a say in the way their grounds are used and improved. As a result they learn to create and look after something valuable; their self-esteem grows and their behaviour improves, along with their potential to learn and achieve.
Plant2Plate Campaign - WWF
Plant2Plate focuses on what can be done to produce and consume food in a sustainable way that is not harmful to our shared planet. To support schools on the campaign, WWF developed some fantastic curriculum linked resources and activities for key stage 1 and 2 pupils, designed to help introduce pupils to the issues of food and sustainability.
Growing food at school is a great activity for pupils of all ages. Our Food for Thought and Growing Guide offers practical ideas, including a fantastic food growing calendar, covering the main aspects of food growing.
Tidy Towns - Keep Wales Tidy
Tidy Towns is Wales' own community initiative, designed to help volunteer groups take charge of their local environment. Communities throughout Wales are plagued by derelict lands and waterways - sites that have been laid to waste, or neglected over time. These sites weigh heavily on their communities, by spoiling the local environment and breeding anti-social behaviour. Tidy Towns marks a new beginning of community involvement and provides an opportunity to involve local schools and children in caring for their community.
The Wild Network
The Wild Network is on a mission to re-wild childhood. To help kids roam free, play wild and live nature-rich lives. The Wild Network started with an amazing film called Project Wild Thing (supported by Green Lions, National Trust, Britdoc Foundation, RSPB, Play England, Play Scotland, Play Wales, NHS Sustainable Development Unit, TFT, Woodland Trusts, AMV BBDO, Good for Nothing, Do Lectures, TYF Adventures, Eden Project and Al Kennedy).
Wild Elements
Wild Elements is a social enterprise dedicated to getting people outdoors and closer to nature the fun way. Wild Elements arrange for forest schools and playschemes within the communities of Gwynedd, Conwy and Anglesy. Allowing adults and children the chance to explore and enjoy the natural world around them.
website by WiSS