Children & Nature

This morning Steve perused some furniture photos we took while living in Santa Fe to use as a template for shelves he is building. While he had that folder opened, I noticed some of the thank you notes I received from the kidlets I taught while working at Audubon New Mexico and just had to share. (Note: the big person in the first drawing is me. Ha!)

The "wall" mentioned above is a dam on the Santa Fe river. I found it very interesting that this was the dominant remembrance of this child.

Here is some good news on the children & nature front:

Maryland Children in Nature Plan Draft Now Available for Public Comment

As you may know, in April Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley issued an Executive Order establishing the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature. Over the past few months, the Partnership has been working diligently on a plan to increase recreational and educational opportunities for children to connect with nature, which will be submitted to Governor O’Malley later this month. The Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature’s draft plan and appendices are now available online for review and comment and can be downloaded at the following web site:

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/education/children_nature/partners/ThePlan_011209.asp

Public comments can be submitted through the survey tool on the above web site and will be accepted through the end of this week. We welcome comment from those of you working on NCLI plans across the country.

Your input is critical to this effort’s success and we greatly appreciate your timely and thoughtful response as we prepare for the submission of this groundbreaking plan! As always, thank you so much for your input and dedication.


Julie Dieguez
Asst. Coordinator Maryland No Child Left Inside Coalition
www.mdncli.org

Sense of Wonder

It's raining here today, but a few days ago the sun shined brightly and my sister, her step-daughter and I went for a hike. My varying jobs over the past 8 years have two things in common - nature and kids. I never quite knew the answer to the question "what do I want to be when I grow up?", but I always did know I want to be outdoors and that I love sharing nature with children. I am not working directly in environmental education right now, but our hike reminded me of just how grand it is to be outdoors and see a youngster's eyes light up at an insect, or seeds or even a pile of scat... to experience fully in another individual a sense of wonder.

Here Lo and Mallory extract seeds from gray-headed coneflower...

a close look at the seeds; next time you find some - smell them, it's delightful!

Gathering more seeds - for spreading around of course.

Prairie grasses grow tall creating fun tunnels for kids...

Oh yes - a pile of scat. It seems a coyote loves to walk this path and leave his markings every so often. We discovered lots of hair and bones in the scat (using a stick) and saw some deer tracks close by.

A log is a perfect pretend train, is it not?!


Some of you may recognize the title of this blog as the title of Rachel Carson's book - The Sense of Wonder. It's a wonderful read with inspiring photographs. Here's a quote taken from that book:

"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder...he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in."

Kudos to all of you who share this with your children or children that pass through you life.