![\"Ben](\"\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/images\/by-ben.JPG\")
Spending time outdoors in natural places is universally recognised as being good for both our physical health and our mental well-being. Getting children outdoors and exploring the natural world is in their best interest, but it is also in society\u2019s best interest for a healthy, well-informed, environmentally-aware population.<\/p>\n
The onus is on parents and educators to try to \u2018interpret\u2019 the natural world for our kids, so that they can understand their place within it and recognise how vital its protection is. That can be as cheap and easy as making daisy chains, collecting conkers or blowing on dandelion clocks. Encourage young children to look at the small things around them and the rest will follow as their curiosity grows.<\/p>\n
![\"Antlers,](\"\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/1.jpg\")
<\/a>Antlers, hedgehog hibernation box and some old stuffed animals – props for a recent school visit with the Ranger Service. Getting ready to teach 30 six year olds about the animal kingdom.<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019ve never been what is described as an \u2018early adopter\u2019, one of those people eager for the next technological advance, excited at the way it could change my life, queuing up at midnight to buy the next iPhone. As a case in point, my phone is a brick from 2006. It texts, phones and\u2026..well, that\u2019s about it really. If someone sends me a photo from their smartphone I have to spend 20 minutes deleting texts to make space.<\/p>\n
Frequently termed a \u2018luddite\u2019 by my friends, I always generally believed that the unprecedented leaps forward in pervasive technology we\u2019re witnessing heralded the end of civilisation as we know it, because they are creating a generation in thrall to the digital, living virtual lives indoors, with no interest in the natural outdoors. But then I got a job as a countryside ranger.<\/p>\n
Since doing so a few years ago I\u2019ve worked with a lot of kids of primary school age, both in our Country Parks and on-site in local schools. We run all kinds of educational activities for them, and despite doing those same activities again and again, it still amazes me now, as much as it did the first time, just how much fun kids derive from the simplest of \u2018offline\u2019 things.<\/p>\n
Only last month I was leading a group of eager pond dippers of mixed ages. We were catching the usual tadpoles, water boatmen, some midge larvae, and then all of a sudden I heard a cry\u2026.\u201dI CATCHED A DRAGON, I CATCHED A DRAGON!!!\u201d. One boy had netted a newt, and it was an event of such enormous magnitude that every single kid there excitedly downed tools to come and see. I felt bad explaining that it wasn\u2019t a dragon, but it made the find no less exciting for them.<\/p>\n
Another occasion springs to mind from my first year, when I was taking a group of 6 year olds to collect signs of autumn. I picked up a sycamore seed and prompted the semi-circle of kids to tell me what was special about it. None of them knew. They didn\u2019t even recognise it. I picked up a handful of the seeds, threw them in the air, and watched the kids\u2019 mouths drop open in amazement as the objects spun like helicopter blades, slowly falling to the ground. They were soooo excited! They all busily collected some to take home; their new, free, and practically inexhaustible toys, found lying on the ground in a West Lothian woodland. They were delighted and so was I.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been similarly encouraged to see how slightly older kids will happily play in a woodland for hours, playing Catch the Flag or building dens. I\u2019m glad to say I\u2019ve found my preconceptions about nature and technology being challenged.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\u201cI CATCHED A DRAGON!\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n
At primary age kids don\u2019t generally discriminate between what\u2019s modern and what\u2019s not, what\u2019s cool and what\u2019s not. They just react positively or negatively, without prejudice or preconception. That doesn\u2019t last, however. Things change as they get older.<\/p>\n
If ever you needed a sign that times are indeed changing you need only have attended the Conference for Nature in Edinburgh earlier this year, where conservation organisations, businesses and interested parties from across the country came together to take stock of the state of nature in Scotland.<\/p>\n
As you might expect there was good news and bad news, but one of the most thought-provoking speakers for me, as a ranger, was Dr Alastair Lavery of the Field Studies Council, who spoke on the subject of the \u2018disconnectedness\u2019 from nature and the outdoors.<\/p>\n
He told how the 2007 Oxford Dictionary for 7-9 yr olds had completely removed the words \u2018acorn\u2019 and \u2018bluebell\u2019 (among other nature nouns), and in their place were words like \u2018analogue\u2019 and \u2018broadband\u2019. 28 prominent authors apparently complained to the Oxford University Press (OUP), but the OUP\u2019s response was that \u2018acorn\u2019 and \u2018bluebell\u2019 just aren\u2019t used by kids any more. They said that kids\u2019 language was changing.<\/p>\n
That struck me as sad, but entirely reasonable given the OUP has limited space in its dictionary and those new words are undeniably important. But whether you agree or disagree with the omissions, it does indeed reveal how childhood experience is changing. Kids are increasingly tech-savvy and there\u2019s no escaping the fact that tablets and other mobile devices already feature in their lives at a young age.<\/p>\n
But arguably childhood experience always has been changing, and people have surely been making that nature vs technology argument for centuries. Growing up, the concern for my parents and others of their generation was that we kids of the computer age were spending too much time indoors. We should be out on our bikes, not sitting waiting for a Spectrum 48k game to load from a cassette recorder. Those were the days! And I turned out alright\u2026..I think!<\/p>\n
<\/a>Something I never thought I\u2019d find myself doing. Dressing up as the Gruffalo to teach kids about woodland creatures!<\/p><\/div>\n
Now though, technology may indeed have become more pervasive and hard-wired into our daily lives, but it is mobile. It has been liberated from the four walls of our homes.<\/p>\n
Smartphone apps have revolutionised the field of \u2018citizen science\u2019, whereby children can record and instantly submit their sightings to national surveys or migration maps. Whether it\u2019s ladybirds, butterflies or garden birds. Apps also exist to help them identify wildlife in the field, and there are even ones to help them identify birdsong.<\/p>\n
Others take the form of games that mimic natural ecosystems, where children can design their own landscapes and see what wildlife they attract or lose when they tinker with the design. And my personal favourites are the ones that allow you to scan the night sky and learn the names of the constellations.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a brave new world indeed. As for me, well I\u2019m moving forwards too, but I\u2019d say I\u2019m still more William Morris than Bill Gates, wearily watching the advance of the digital world and worrying about where it\u2019s all headed.<\/p>\n
Sure, you can be consumed by it if you allow yourself to be, but it needn\u2019t be a case of \u201ceither\/or\u201d. The natural and the digital can combine together in innovative and educational ways, and mobile technology opens up enormous potential for the way in which children experience the natural world.<\/p>\n
That we lose some of that childlike wonder as we get older and our understanding becomes more sophisticated is perhaps inevitable. But it\u2019s not a gradual process into old age, rather there\u2019s a seriously big drop-off in engagement as children move into adolescence.<\/p>\n
A graph shown at the Conference for Nature, one measuring the age of people against the percentage who think Scotland\u2019s natural environment is important, starkly illustrated the point: at the young end of the scale engagement was very high, with a sudden drop off around the teenage years. Thereafter the graph line slowly recovered as people moved into their later years, but it never again matched the levels of enthusiasm shown by the younger kids.<\/p>\n
With the best will in the world you\u2019ll find it difficult to retain the same broad level of interest in adolescents. And I can\u2019t say I blame them because that was pretty much my experience as one!<\/p>\n
<\/a>Checking the time on Overnight Survival Skills last year, as a dozen kids doze in their self-made shelter. Outdoor activities still appeal to kids of an older age.<\/p><\/div>\n
I had a grounding in nature from an early age but it still got elbowed out of the way by other things: music, gigs, university and\u2026.erm\u2026.other things. Quite frankly, nothing on god\u2019s green earth could have persuaded me to pick up a pair of binoculars and stare at birds on a bird table when I was a hungover 20 year old.<\/p>\n
Years later, though, the interest in nature came back, albeit unexpectedly. I started hillwalking and, in so doing, came back into contact with the natural world. I found that nature hadn\u2019t gone away. It was still there. And having had a grounding in it from an early age, when I did return to it, it was familiar and fairly easy to pick up where I\u2019d left off.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m not sure my experience is typical, to be honest. I don\u2019t know how many people ever come back to it so soon and, as a countryside ranger, I admit I find that fact disheartening sometimes. The fact is that no matter what we do in our roles as educators and interpreters, we\u2019ll probably \u2018lose\u2019 most of those kids within a few years because of events beyond our, or even their, control.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t quite believe that the enthusiasm they have for the natural world can ever be diminished. But this phenomenon certainly isn\u2019t confined to nature. How many of us started learning musical instruments when we were young only to give them up as we got older?<\/p>\n
Of course, it\u2019s only a general rule. Some will never lose that interest, even through adolescence. There are many budding young Chris Packhams out there, and that\u2019s a huge cause for optimism. Take Jake McGowan-Lowe, the 13 year old \u2018adolescent\u2019 from Perthshire bucking the trend with a blog and book about wildlife and the bones he\u2019s found. Young Jake is quite the celebrity, regularly appearing on TV and is surely one to watch in the future.<\/p>\n
In all honesty though, I think the drop in engagement at adolescence is something we just have to live with. But if environmental education is sounding futile at this point, it really isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
I do believe that a strong background in nature and the environment in early age gives you a secure grounding for later in life. Perhaps happy memories to draw upon when you get older, or when you have kids yourself. And through our ranger work there\u2019s always the chance that we spark a longstanding interest of the natural world in some of the next generation. It\u2019s always worth the effort!<\/p>\n
Whether you\u2019re a parent or a teacher be really careful not to crush a child\u2019s enthusiasm for the natural world. I\u2019m reminded of my friend, who was running an autumn collection event. Kids went out and collected seeds, nuts, leaves etc. A little girl\u2019s grandparents came to pick her up at the end of the day, at which point she excitedly presented them with her bag of pine cones and leaves. They were impressed, but said something along the lines of \u201cthat\u2019s lovely, but mind you get rid of them before we get home. You know your mum won\u2019t want them in the house\u201d.<\/p>\n
– Search the internet for \u2018nature apps for kids\u2019. Here\u2019s a good place to start: http:\/\/www.brightpips.com\/natures-child-apps-sites-help-kids-explore-natural-world\/<\/a> Natural art in a natural frame. A great activity for kids any time of the year.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spending time outdoors in natural places is universally recognised as being good for both our physical health and our mental well-being. Getting children outdoors and exploring the natural world is in their best interest, but it is also in society\u2019s best interest for a healthy, well-informed, environmentally-aware population. The onus is on parents and educators to try to \u2018interpret\u2019 the natural world for our kids, so that they can understand their place within it and recognise how vital its protection is. That can be as cheap and easy as making daisy chains, collecting conkers or blowing on dandelion clocks. Encourage…<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-magazine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13344"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19769,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13344\/revisions\/19769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– Some smartphones have remarkably good macro (close-up) options on their cameras. Encourage your kids to take close-ups of bugs, insects and leaves to reveal a whole new world! Stinging nettles are a good one as you can actually see the sting!
\n– Most Scottish ranger services have nature events for kids throughout the year. Find your nearest service at: http:\/\/www.scra-online.co.uk\/the-ranger-profession\/where-to-find-rangers<\/a>
\n– Go back to basics and use natural items you find lying on the ground to make pictures (see photo below).<\/p>\n<\/a>Read more ›<\/div>\n