Teaching our Children to Appreciate Nature
Teaching our Children to Appreciate Nature
As a parent, teaching our children to appreciate nature may not be a top priority, or even something that we’ve thought about. Many of us take nature for granted, ourselves. If you live in an urban area, you may have limited experience with nature and may not have a full grasp of its importance or admiration for its wonders.
Those of us who grew up in more rural areas may be under the impression that not much has changed and that there’s nothing really to be concerned about. And yet, ecologists have a different story to tell and we should all have a vested interest. Some of the top environmental concerns we should be aware of are as follows 1:
- Contamination of drinking water
- General water pollution (which affects fish and other marine life)
- Soil contamination
- Air pollution
- Wildlife endangerment / extinction
Whether we realize it or not, we are all affected by the health of this little blue planet we call home. It is incumbent on us, as parents, to educate the next generation (our children) to appreciate and treasure the environment and the natural resources we rely upon. Teaching our children about nature and teaching kids conservation is vital to our future.
To read more, please check out my complete post at
http://familystaples.com/teaching-conservation-to-kids and feel free to leave a comment ;)
Thank you & have a wonderful day!
~Patrick
Recent Comments
21
Nature is the most important for us. We are part of nature. When we'll destroy it we'll destroy ourselves. I'm really happy because I live in part of the world where I can really enjoy in the middle of the beautiful nature. Yet not too destroyed.
Joze,
Thank you for your feedback. Nice to hear that you live in a relatively pristine area. It would be great if we can focus on preserving and restoring more of nature for generations to come.
Have a great day,
Pat
Great post Patrick! Very important! I taught my children and now they are teaching my grandchildren. We must all take care of this gift.
Thanks Kevin. Great to hear that you've already passed this value on to your children and grandchildren!
Have a blessed day,
Pat
I'd settle for parents teaching their children NOT to litter or even adults for that matter. Sorry, you hit a pet peeve. Nature can not be taken for granted. Thanks for your post.
Debbi,
I agree with you, that even teaching some of the basics like not littering is very important and probably the best place to start. Certainly, helping them to understand and appreciate nature also gives them more motivation to put into practice more nature-friendly behaviors in their own lives (e.g., not littering, recycling, conserving, etc.)
Have a wonderful day,
Pat
Hi Patrick. Nature sustains me and I've spent years deliberately living in rural areas of temperate rainforest. As a rescuer, I'm aware that the attitudes that lead to animal cruelty and abandonment seem to include a disconnect with nature. There are actually nature kindergartens and schools in my area (British Columbia) and also around the world. I applaud your efforts to heal that disconnect!
Mori,
Thank you for your comments and for your work as a rescuer. I've recently moved back to a rural area after living in the outskirts of Chicago for the last 20+ years. I must say that I am really enjoying reconnecting with nature and the opportunity to get out and enjoy the outdoors, but having been away for so long, I see some clear examples of how the rural areas I grew up in have changed for the worse (e.g., depletion of wildlife, invasive species, poluted lakes, etc.) and it saddens me to think that my kids will not get to experience nature in the same way that I did as a child. We really do need to redouble our efforts to preserve and restore the environment.
Have a blessed day,
Pat
See more comments
A very useful post. I used to coordinate the UNDP/Global Environment Facility-Small Grants Programme that promotes environment conservation and adaptation to climate change in a few islands of the South Pacific. Still carry out some good practices to conserve environment in any way I can. Thanks Patrick.
Pio,
Thank you for your feedback and your contributions to promoting conservation -- very important!
Have a great day,
Pat
You're welcome, Pat. Have a good day too. Pio