Going to NH Children in Nature Conference "Building Nature Based Communities" October 1, 2009, 8:30-3:00 at Camp Yavneh in Northwood

Thursday I go to CHILDREN IN NATURE CONFERENCE in Northwood, NH. So nature deficit in children is a growing concern. Kids don't play outside after school unless it is organized and supervised. I ask kids, "So who has made a fort in the woods or built a treehouse or even climbed trees?" Three hands go up. Okay we'll do it as field trips in school around forest ecology. ways to get around things so kids can experience what will help them grow and become aware of more than a screen picture of the forest. We go to the Urban forestry Center for our September summer field trip and kids LOVE it. Is is organized? yes Is it supervised? Yes. But maybe they will go on their own on this walk near their homes one mile from the classroom. Most of the students have never been here. The woods. We looked and touched bark, We sketched, we studied biotic and abiotic factors, we used our sense to just hear, smell, feel the herbs at the nature center garden. We cupped our ears to see that bigger ears that can turn hear more - so big eared animals survived better than small eared ones - thus large eared rabbits and deer whose ears turn 360 degrees reproduced and evolved. We study the sky and learn how to determine a percentage of cloud cover. They go on a scavenger hunt to find items in nature. We make environmental art projects based on Andy Goldsworthy's work. Do this with your students. Go out on a limb.