Yesterday I joined a small but enthusiastic group at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge for a workshop on sharing nature with children. This is a topic that has become very important to me. The program was led by Christopher Stix, a refuge volunteer and is based on work done by Joseph Cornell a man who has spent his career working in this field.
One thing that resonated with me right away is that the basic philosophy is similar to that of environmentalist Rachel Carson. Rachel, who didn't have children of her own, devoted a lot of time to the care of her nephew. That time was mostly spent just tromping around the fields, wetlands and coastline of her summer home in Maine. The focus was not about teaching this young boy the names of everything they encountered. Rather, it was all about the sheer joy of just exploring and discovering. Love of nature begins this way.
At this workshop we went outside and Chris led us through a few of the many activities developed by Joseph Cornell to engage children in a fun way with their natural surroundings. My favorite "game" was to be blindfolded and led by another, by a circuitous route, to a tree. My job was to explore the tree thoroughly with my hands to become so familiar with it that, once returned to my original position with blindfold removed, I could find that very tree. What an experience!
One thing that resonated with me right away is that the basic philosophy is similar to that of environmentalist Rachel Carson. Rachel, who didn't have children of her own, devoted a lot of time to the care of her nephew. That time was mostly spent just tromping around the fields, wetlands and coastline of her summer home in Maine. The focus was not about teaching this young boy the names of everything they encountered. Rather, it was all about the sheer joy of just exploring and discovering. Love of nature begins this way.
At this workshop we went outside and Chris led us through a few of the many activities developed by Joseph Cornell to engage children in a fun way with their natural surroundings. My favorite "game" was to be blindfolded and led by another, by a circuitous route, to a tree. My job was to explore the tree thoroughly with my hands to become so familiar with it that, once returned to my original position with blindfold removed, I could find that very tree. What an experience!
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