Earlier this year, as orcas approached Point Robinson, my 4-year-old son and his friends ran to the waterline waving their arms and shouting, “We love you whales! Come closer! We love you!” And the whales did keep coming until they were 20 feet from shore. We could hear them breathe and see the water slide off black and white skin as they surfaced. The boys went wild.
Standing there, I remembered myself as a little girl watching whales from the same shores. Then I slowly realized: These were probably the same whales! The grandparent whales were in their 40s when I was 4. The mother gliding by was probably a calf when I was a girl. Now her calf swam along the shore as my son ran along the sand. A strong sense of connection rooted me to the ground. I couldn’t move for a moment. My son was similarly entranced. He had felt his first powerful connection to something larger than the small nucleus of humans that had been his world.
How lucky we are to experience orcas, bald eagles, centipedes — and the epiphanies they encourage. What a rarity in an age when more than half the world’s population lives in cities and when biodiversity is declining worldwide. Most of us live on the Island because nature is important to us and because instinct tells us that raising children near trees, orcas, songbirds and deer is a good thing.
But what exactly does the natural world do for a growing child? And are all nature experiences equal?
In “Last Child in the Woods,” Richard Louv writes that human environments and technologies have a dominant presence in children’s lives today. At the same time, depression, obesity and attention problems are increasing. Louv coined the term “nature deficit disorder” to sum up his belief that one reason for these trends is the loss of children’s ability to get outdoors.
Researchers are finding that time in nature is associated with increased self confidence, ability to focus, self control, creativity, compassion and sense of peace. Nature contact is helpful in treating attention deficit disorder, violence, depression and emotional trauma in children.
Research by University of Washington’s Peter Kahn even suggests nature as an integral catalyst in child development. Certain experiences that children have in nature are not replicable elsewhere and may be essential to the development of moral reasoning, creative thinking and social capabilities.
These studies have produced a flurry of prescriptions for getting children outside. Louv recommends unstructured outdoor play as an antidote to a scheduled life of school, community activities and after-school sports. The National Wildlife Federation recommends that parents allow kids a “green hour” of outdoor play every day. Locally, we are lucky to have Cedarsong’s various naturalist programs including an all-outdoor preschool. Vashon Wilderness Program, Homestead and other local educational programs also include a substantial nature focus.
In developing a lifelong beneficial relationship with nature, the most powerful and lasting benefits are realized when children begin to connect with nature as they would a friend. Reaching this depth of connection requires the help of adults who can cultivate an awareness and sensitivity to other life forms. Adults regularly guide children in developing sensitivity to their peers and other humans. However, few children today are encouraged to develop a lasting bond with the places where they live.
In pre-industrial societies, adults passed extensive knowledge and awareness of nature to future generations. Today, nature literacy is a fading human skill. Some anthropologists predict that naturalist knowledge contained in rural communities could be lost within the next generation.
This loss of knowledge represents a great loss of experience. Noticing cycles of insects, plants, birds, whales and salmon that change with the seasons provides children comfort and a sense of place. Finding a deer track or nuthatch nest can transport children outside of themselves and connect them to that animal’s world. There are 239 recorded bird species and 28 known butterfly species on Vashon — lots to fall in love with.
Island naturalist Rayna Holtz once told me, “My goal is to become indigenous.” After humorously imagining her in tribal attire, I realized what Rayna really meant. Rayna is dedicated to learning how to belong to a place, how to understand it and be as integral to it as native plants in the forest. That sense of belonging, that deep understanding of a community stretching far beyond the human realm, is the core from which we ultimately derive the benefits of nature researchers cite: peace, compassion, joy, and identity.
As we cultivate our own relationships to Island forests, waters and shores and share them with children, we expand the notion of home beyond the word “house.” We allow children to discover the strength of belonging to a community larger than humankind.
— Bianca Perla, PhD., is an ecologist, educator and mother of two.
‘Children in Nature’
Bianca Perla will be the lead instructor of Children in Nature, a course held on local nature preserves that combines information on nature’s benefits, naturalist knowledge of Izsland habitats and helpful nature mentoring techniques. It is open to adults — including parents, grandparents, caregivers and educators — and is offered through Vashon College starting May 16. For more information or to sign up for the class e-mail info@vashoncollege.org.
