We need not concoct ideas or plan occurrences for children to connect with nature. No, we must simply let them see in it. To crouch low and hover above that ant trail not with facts and questions, but with presence. Letting the eyes film a world of colour, texture, pattern and light without judgement. A slideshow of life.
A magpie’s soulful call need not be labelled. Its song evokes tales of nest building and air across wings and though the tune has no lyrics, the message is clear to those who’ll listen. And though the exhalation of oxygen from tree canopies cannot be technically “heard” that cloaking sense of hush when you walk into a rainforest is undeniable. We must let them hear it.
We must let them feel it. To grasp raspy branches; to swing from them. To caress infant leaves so soft that touch is almost impervious to their quality. Blackberry thorns, sun-baked stone, and tenacious mud. Letting the body steep in the natural world’s way of being, all still and vital and alive. Joining their pumping veins with the pulse of nature’s life, grounding their movements with the throb of the earth.
To be in the natural world everyday. That is all we must do.
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