A Child's View of Nature

07/28/2008

Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.
Brené Brown

In the newest, hot off the press Exchange book, Natural Playscapes: Creating Outdoor Play Environments for the Soul, Rusty Keeler makes this observation:

"Children form an up close and personal relationship with the world and they experience the outdoors in a different way than we adults do. While it is true that they are literally closer to the ground than we are, our vantage points differ in deeper and more important ways. Children are tuned in to the magic of life in ways that too many of us have tuned out. They are firmly living in the present moment and can focus on small, intimate places that we adults take for granted. Have you ever paid a visit to your old childhood stomping ground only to be surprised by the small scale of everything? 'These couple of trees were the Huge Forest? That pumpkin-sized rock was the Giant Boulder? This trickling run-off ditch was The River?' It's an interesting point to consider; especially when we are creating new outdoor environments for children. Features do not have to be on an adult scale. If you are three-feet tall, standing on top of a gentle three-foot hill changes your entire perspective. To a child, it really is a mountain. A small cluster of dwarf fruit trees is enough to give a child the experience of being in a 'forest', and a trickle of water through a carved log is a creek. It's the small things in a child's environment that create the biggest interest and excitement: a splashing puddle, a delicate butterfly, or a lawn dotted with golden dandelions..."

Check Out Natural Playscapes Today

Natural Playscapes: Creating Outdoor Play Environments for the Soul, now available on the Exchange web site, is an inspiring, yet practical resource on bringing outdoor playspaces to life. It describes how children relate to the natural world, gives many examples from around the world of how early childhood professionals and parents have planned and constructed natural playscapes. Included are blueprints, step by step instructions, and tip sheets such as "20 Ways to Create Natural Playscapes," and "15 Free or Low-Cost Things to Enrich Your Playscapes."

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