USA : Bringing nature to the kids ….
Chehaw (Photo credit: The Suss-Man (Mike))
Boy Scouts bring a positive experience of ‘boy and beast’….. Albany Herald and Children & Nature report.
Okay, so I’m a Boy Scout Leader – therefore biased! NAEEUK also commends good connections…
A smile, a laugh, other kids and time outside enjoying activities and nature all can rate as awesome to children and their parents.
#That’s what Patti Sumner said as her son Jordan did his best to imitate the slithering tongue of a bald python at the Nature Camp for Children with Special Needs that was conducted Saturday at Chehaw.
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#“Awesome. It is just so good for children with special needs to get outside,” Sumner, of Worth County, said. “And it is good to have something to do that parents can see the children enjoying.”
#Sumner heard about the camp from friends who sent her pictures and information to her Facebook listing, she said.
#However they heard about it, Amy Bacon, scoutmaster of Troop 7 in Leesburg ,was glad parents and the children were enjoying the day.
#How could they not? Billed as a “Rootin’ Tootin’” good time, the event featured animal encounters with Slinky the python, a great horned owl named Tiger and a hedge hog that goes by Peter. The day also included horseshoe games, a cowboy campsite with chili, crafts, face painting other snacks, and a balloon artist.
#“This is the first year we’ve had it (the camp) here. We thought it would be good because it is centrally located,” Bacon said. “It is great because of the animal interaction for the kids. People don’t realize special needs children need things like this. I don’t care what the disability is, all children can enjoy the outdoors.”
#Bacon’s son, Joshua, has spina bifida and that got her interested in the Boy Scouts, she said. She feels that all kids should be able to join the troop.
#“My focus is on the disabled children,” Bacon said. “Everyone can join. I accept everyone.”
#One boy, Grey Yelverton, found particular pleasure in running his fingers through a box of beach-white sand. Uncovering the toy horses and other animals beneath the sand held a fascination for him. His face lit up with a 100-watt smile.
#His joy wasn’t lost on his father, Billy, or his sister, Tana, who were by his side as he played in the sand.
#“This is just something great for them (the children) to do,” Billy Yelverton said. “There just doesn’t seem to be much for them when they develop autism.”
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- Dozens Of Special Needs Kids Receive New Bikes (pittsburgh.cbslocal.com)
- Change org. Petition: Horseback Riding Therapy: Marilyn asking HSBC Bank to stop her eviction (inprisonedwomen.wordpress.com)
- Swimming at Sumner (realruth.wordpress.com)
CHILDREN AND NATURE : Natural Leaders Network – Legacy Camp
This video summarizes the Legacy Camp event for 2012 that was held in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Similar goals are being realised by NAEEUK
Links :
http://www.childrenandnature.org/movement/naturalleaders
http://www.facebook.com/naturalleadersnetwork
http://www.twitter.com/naturalleaders
Shot and Edited by:
http://www.calvaradoproductions.com
http://www.facebook.com/calvaradoproductions
http://www.twitter.com/calvaradopro
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Related articles
- Shepherdstown Calendar of Events (myshepherdstown.wordpress.com)
Children in China : Touch of green added to migrant schools
IMGP0854 – vege garden (Photo credit: RaeAllen)
English: Saturday basket class in a small school for migrant workers´kids in Beijing (Dongba district) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
More children from migrant worker families in Beijing will enjoy a small green world in their schools, China Daily reports.
Friends of Nature, a non-governmental organization, started a program in 2009 to help build gardens in schools where most students are children of migrant workers.
The construction of a 200-square-meter garden in Xingzhi School in the Daxing district was finished in May.
The organization plans to build gardens in two more schools, Hu Huizhe, a division head in chargeof education issues with Friends of Nature, said on Sunday during an event to promote the program.
“Every child longs for a place where nature can be touched and that is full of flowers and grass.But many schools in Beijing, especially in the outskirts, are surrounded by warehouses and factories. And in the schools, there are only gray playgrounds, single-story classrooms, and no green landscape,” Hu said.
The Xingzhi School in the Daxing district was privately founded in 2001, and all its 700 students arechildren of migrant workers. The school changed its location five because of funding shortages, butthrough social support, its facilities have been improving.
Huang Man, a 10-year-old student at Xingzhi School who comes from Central China‘s Henanprovince, likes the garden.
“We used to play in the playground, but that’s so boring. Now, my classmates and I can look atflowers in the garden during the breaks. It’s beautiful,” she said.
“I planted two trees in the garden, and I regularly water them. I feel I have a responsibility for their growth,” said Li Xiaoxiao, 12, a grade four student at the school.
“The garden has added vitality to our school, and it has helped stimulate the students’ awareness of loving nature,” said Shen Guixiang, Xingzhi School principal. “Students volunteer to water flowers and grass in the garden.”
Mu Danfeng, from Friends of Nature, who is in charge of the program, said making such gardens not only helps improve schools’ facilities, it brings the public in contact with the school and makes people aware of the difficulties of those schools and the real needs of students.
Mu said that in addition to the full participation of students and teachers in planting and caring forthe gardens, Friends of Nature has mobilized volunteers to interact with students in gardening activities and environmental protection education courses.
Gao Jian, a post-graduate landscape architecture student at Peking University, and designer of theXingzhi School garden, said the garden is more just flowers and grass, it improves the school.
“Maybe we’ll plant vegetables or trees there later,” he said. “The garden is the fruit of public support and a platform for teaching environmental protection, too.”
As the first environmental non-governmental organization recognized by the authorities, Friends of Nature was founded in Beijing in 1994 by Chinese historian Liang Congjie (1932-2010).
Source : http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-06/11/content_15492721.htm
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Children and Nature USA : Campaigns to Get Children Outdoors Make Progress
Cover via Amazon
Three times more children and youth getting outdoors in nature from 2009 to 2011—some good from Children & Nature Network (C&NN) survey!
The 2011 Children & Nature Network (C&NN) survey of grassroots leaders of regional, statewide and provincial campaigns shows a three-fold increase in the number of children and youth getting outdoors in nature from 2009 to 2011—from one million to three million annually
The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) reported in USA Today, “A back-to-nature movement to reconnect children with the outdoors is burgeoning nationwide.” The latest survey with data from 2011 provides additional support for that statement.
Reasons for the growth and urgency of this movement include the epidemic of childhood obesity, reports of diminished creativity, increases in behavior disorders, increased time using electronic media, and sedentary behavior among children and youth—all of which are associated with reduced time for learning and play outdoors in nature as a part of children’s everyday lives. Research indicates that children tend to be healthier, happier and smarter when direct experiences in nature are a frequent and regular part of their childhood.
Compared to baseline results established in 2009, the Children & Nature Network 2011 Grassroots Leadership Survey shows significant increases in the numbers of children and youth getting outdoors in nature as a result of the efforts of the Network and its members, including regional, statewide and provincial campaigns to connect children, families and communities to nature. Commissioned by C&NN with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the survey results are analyzed and reported by an independent evaluator, Dr. Lynette Fleming.
Leaders of these campaigns reported that the number of children and youth annually engaged in nature-based outdoor activities and experiences has tripled since 2009 to an estimated 3 million youth in 2011. In 2011, C&NN campaigns and partners reported engaging up to 1.2 million underserved youth in community garden projects (up from 176,600 in 2009); 856,000 in natural play areas (up from 316,1000 in 2009); and 1.6 million in school gardens/habitat projects (up from 401,500 in 2009). Among the many findings, survey participants report increased:
• awareness of the importance of nature for children’s healthy development,
• participation by pediatricians and health care providers,
• educational benefits,
• community support, and
• development of places to play and learn outdoors in nature.
Seventy-eight campaigns completed the 2011 survey. As of May 10, 2012, there are 103 campaigns registered on the C&NN web site.
“While we still have much work to do to reverse the trends of the last 30 years in which children are increasingly sedentary and disconnected from playing and learning in nature, this progress is exciting and an indication of momentum,” said Cheryl Charles, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Children & Nature Network.
“These findings are encouraging, including the increase in the number of under served youth who are having nature-based play and learning experiences. However, barriers remain, and some are growing,” said Richard Louv, C&NN co-founder and Chairman Emeritus. “As of 2008, more people in the world live in cities than in rural areas. So we need a broader, deeper movement – one that transforms cities into incubators of biodiversity and human health. This movement isn’t about going back to nature; it’s about going forward to nature. Every child needs nature, not only those whose parents love the outdoors.”
Louv and Charles praised the young people, parents, grandparents, physicians, teachers, community leaders, urban planners and others leading the international movement to reduce what, in his book “Last Child in the Woods,” Louv called “our society’s nature-deficit disorder.”
Since its founding in 2006, The Children & Nature Network has been advocating for children, their families and communities to enhance their health and well-being through direct experiences in nature. C&NN’s vision is a world in which all children play, learn and grow with nature in their everyday lives. The Children & Nature Network is leading a movement to connect all children, their families and communities to nature through innovative ideas, evidence-based resources and tools, broad-based collaboration and support of grassroots leadership. C&NN provides a wide range of research and user- friendly tools, including those to enhance positive family bonding and access to fun, friendly nature-based activities.
To see the full Survey Report DOWNLOAD a copy of the Report here or go to:
http://www.childrenandnature.org/downloads/C&NNGrassrootsSurvey2011.pdf
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‘Nature deficit disorder’ at Hay Festival 2012: Children are deprived of access to the countryside
Children in the United Kingdom are as deprived as Victorian urchins with their lack of access to green spaces – with computer games and television causing ‘Nature deficit disorder‘, coined by Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and ‘Children and Nature Network’ founder.
Fiona Reynolds, Director General of the National Trust, said modern children were as deprived as Victorian urchins with their lack of access to green spaces.
She said that while most children have enough to eat, they do not have access to the outdoors environment, blaming computer games and television for contributing to the problem.
“We have moved on materially but whether we have moved on in terms of those unquantifiable benefits from being outdoors is questionable,” she said.
“There is a different kind of deprivation today. It may not be as obvious as having nothing to eat.
“Children are deprived of the experience of being outside, which not only affects physical health but emotional and mental wellbeing.”
Dame Fiona is speaking this weekend at The Telegraph Hay Festivalalongside Simon Jenkins, Chairman of the Trust.
The Trust is celebrating the centenary of the death of Octavia Hill, who set up the National Trust to try and help poor people in 19th Century.
Dame Fiona said the countryside is under threat from development, following a controversial change in planning laws, just as it was after the industrial revolution.
Last year the Trust led a high-profile campaign against proposals to change the planning system, which they said would have left large areas of countryside vulnerable to development.
Dame Fiona said green spaces need to be protected from development while new buildings should factor in access to parks and gardens.
The Trust is trying to improve access to the countryside by encouraging people to take up activities like walking or adventure sports on their own properties and by providing allotments.
There are also programmes to get schools and young people visiting farms and to teach children about the outdoors, including simple things like just skimming a stone or climbing a tree.
Dame Fiona pointed out that a quarter of children have never been to the countryside.
She added: “In theory it is possible to get outdoors but the truth is the actual experience people have of nature is still pretty limited. There is still an urgency to improve access to the countryside.”
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- Are modern British children suffering from ‘nature deficit disorder’? | Colin Tudge and Aleks Krotoski (guardian.co.uk)
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- Hay Festival 2012: Children are deprived of access to the countryside, warns National Trust (telegraph.co.uk)
- Upcoming Event: Tackling “Nature Deficit Disorder” (manchesterclimatemonthly.net)
- ‘Nature deficit’ becomes latest curse to hit children because of obesity and health and safety (dailymail.co.uk)
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- The National Trust Recognises Unsung ‘Green Heroes’ (prnewswire.com)
- How to reconnect children with nature (guardian.co.uk)
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