Simple Nature Study for Children
Ideas To Encourage A Natural Sense of Wonder
Children are born with an innate sense of trust in the world. How do we foster this in a modern environment?
It is a child’s ‘job’, duty and joy to experience the world through his or her senses. They want to touch, taste, hear, see and smell everything and anything within and not within their reach. It is our duty as parents and caregivers to make sure children can learn about nature through experience while keeping them safe and teaching them respect and self responsibility.
Always Show Respect
Young children learn by imitation, it is crucial that adults and older children model respect and wonder for the natural world. Doting over a kitten then turning round and killing a fly sends mixed messages. Think about your own relationship to the natural world - your actions teach just as much as your words.
Appreciate from a Distance
Take a moment to look out of the window with your child. What can you see? Draw attention to each natural event or object: a bird flying by; a cat stretching on a windowsill; a neighborhood dog; a plant growing nearby; even an ant or a fly buzzing at the glass. Teach the child how to notice nature: paying attention to their world helps develop a sense of responsibility, when we see how long it takes a plant to grow we are less likely to break off a branch passing by.
Touch With Your Eyes
It is often when an infant reaches for a plant or animal that they experience their first negative reaction around the natural world – when an adult reacts to a situation they perceive may be dangerous or simply bothersome. Teaching children to touch natural objects with their eyes can offer a solution – provided there are lots of opportunities given for controlled gentle and respectful touching of plants and animals. The ideal method is to ensure the child has pets and plants in the house which are part of the family and treated with the same respect as other family members. Just as we don’t grab or hurt family members we don’t grab or hurt other living things.
Everything has its Place
Each creature and plant has its place, tell the child the name and what the plant or creature is doing,
“The cat is stretching, cats like to lie in the sun and stretch to waken their bodies.”
“Flies have a job to do, they take care of our trash.”
Give each creature or event its due, it is only doing what is in its nature to do. Even young infants will show great interest and enthusiasm for learning what everything does. Talk about the sun, moon, stars, clouds, lightning and rain the same way so that the child understands that everything in the world has a purpose and is not to be taken for granted.
Nature Supports Us
Eating provides a good opportunity for learning about nature. Encourage the child to touch and handle the raw ingredients – how heavy is a melon, how smooth a tomato, how fuzzy a peach. When the child is very young it is enough to talk about how the sun and the rain helped to grow the food and how the farmer worked hard for many months to raise the food – all so it can be good food to help the child grow strong.
Creating the Bigger Picture
Stories can be told about the creatures who might have seen the apple tree grow, or who lived with the cow who gave her milk. Children will feel a great love and support from hearing these stories – the world came together to provide them with nourishment, how wonderful and giving the world must be! When the child is a little older stories about where their food came from can be told – the rice which came from a field where ducks kept the weeds down, or the corn which grew where the land is very flat and hot in summer, or the carrots which never saw the sun until they were pulled from the ground. All this information will be fascinating for the child and will encourage them to pay attention to their foods and their surroundings.
