Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, Louv, Richard [best free novels txt] 📗

Ornithology (www.birds.cornell.edu) offers, in English and Spanish, the Celebrate Urban Birds program for youngsters, focusing on sixteen species of birds often found in urban neighborhoods. Young people can post their bird sightings onto satellite maps and track bird populations in their own neighborhoods (www.birdpost.com). Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count (www.birdsource.org/gbbc/) or Project FeederWatch (www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/).

34. Get involved with scouting or similar programs, such as Camp Fire USA or 4-H. Also consider the many programs that are offered for teens and preteens by good public park systems, including junior ranger and junior naturalist programs. “Most ranger programs have ranger ride-alongs, and other formal and informal programs to engage the interest of teens,” says Rich Dolesh, director of public policy at the National Recreation and Park Association. Also investigate teen nature programs sponsored by faith-based organizations and environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club’s Building Bridges to the Outdoors (www.sierraclub.org/youth).

35. Encourage your kids to start a neighborhood nature club. A seven-year-old girl in Virginia rounded up her friends and enrolled them in her own Girls Gone Wild in Nature Club. Together they organize backyard campouts and bug hunts. In Mississippi, teenager Josh Morrison founded Geeks in the Woods for his friends and geeks everywhere. He defines “geek” as a “gaming environmentally educated kid,” and says he and his friends—“tired of being labeled” tech addicts—have their PlayStations and their outdoor time too: “We could be the generation that makes a U-turn back to . . . a balance between virtual reality and what sustains all life . . . nature.” (www.geeksinthewoods.org)

36. Read outside. People who care about nature often mention nature books as important childhood influences. Reading stimulates the ecology of the imagination, especially if it’s done outside, say, in a tree house. Look for nature adventure books, particularly ones with young protagonists.

37. Purchase natural history field guides for your children. The Peterson, Sibley, and Audubon guides work well for older kids and adults. For young children, remember those pocket-size, Golden Guides, popular in earlier decades? They’re back in print. At your local bookstore or library or online, you can pick up guidebooks to area hiking trails, rivers, lakes, parks, and other natural attractions. Many of these publications offer detailed descriptions, maps, levels of difficulty, and age ratings.

38. Explore prehistoric nature. In a state with the right geological structures, parents can take kids to roadway cut banks or other eroded terrain and explore long-ago life in sediments and in water-tumbled rocks. If there’s a natural history museum in your community, ask staff to recommend places to go and field guides to use.

39. Go fish. For kids five-years-old or younger, expect and encourage them to put the rod down and poke along the water’s edge. For older kids, start with the simplest techniques and gear. Bend down the barbs on the hooks for safety: this also makes it easier to release fish unharmed if you prefer not to keep the fish. A good resource: Junior Anglers and Hunters of America (www.jraha.org). For further inspiration, encourage your kids to subscribe to one of the fishing gear dream books available free from such companies as BassPro, Cabela’s, and Orvis. Join a fishing club and take your son or daughter with you.

40. Learn to track. Explore dirt roads, stream banks, or backyards in search of animal tracks. Tracking can be done by all ages and at multiple skill levels. Some camps and wilderness-training schools teach sophisticated tracking techniques to older kids and teenagers. Added bonus: scat identification. Takeachildoutside.org tells how to make a plaster cast of a track. A list of good tracking guidebooks includes: Track Pack by Ed Gray, appropriate for all ages; the Peterson Field Guide to Animal Tracks; the Tracking and the Art of Seeing by Paul Rezendes.

41. Collect stones. Even the youngest children love gathering rocks, shells, and fossils. To polish stones, use an inexpensive lapidary machine—a rock tumbler. See Rock and Fossil Hunter by Ben Morgan.

42. Get wetter and wilder. Canoeing, sailing, and swimming are great for kids of every age. As they reach their teens, young people are likely to be attracted to edgier, riskier outdoor adventures, such as snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving, and river rafting. Mind the basics: teach your children at an early age how to swim, or enroll them in swimming classes. Provide safety gear.

43. Use nature as a partner to strengthen family bonds. What better way to enhance parent-child attachment than to walk in the woods together, disengaging from distracting electronics, advertising, and peer pressure? When reminiscing about childhood, grown children often mention outdoors adventures as their best memories—even if they complained about such outings at the time! And if you’re a parent who missed out on nature as a child, now’s your chance.

44. Be prepared. While it’s important to learn to maximize the health benefits of nature experiences, it’s also important to minimize health risks. Learn how to prevent tick- and mosquito-borne illnesses and other outdoor dangers. Consult your doctor or online sources, including a good Web site offered by the Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov/features/outdoorsafety/). Pick up a first aid kit.

GOOD BOOKS FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES

Attracting Birds, Butterflies and Other Backyard Wildlife, David Mizejewski (Creative Homeowner, 2004)

Backyard Bird Watching for Kids: How to Attract, Feed, and Provide Homes for Birds, George H. Harrison (Willow Creek Press, 1997)

Best Hikes with Children series, guides by geographic region (The Mountaineers)

Camp Out!: The Ultimate Kids’ Guide, Lynn Brunelle (Workman, 2007)

Children’s Special Places, David Sobel (Wayne State University Press, 2001)

A Child’s Introduction to the Night Sky: The Story of the Stars, Planets, and Constellations—and How You Can Find Them in the Sky, Michael Driscoll (Black Dog & Leventhal, 2004)

The Cloudspotter’s Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds, Gavin Pretor-Pinney (Perigee, 2007)

Coyote’s Guide to Connecting Kids with Nature, Jon Young, Ellen Haas, Evan McGown (Wilderness Awareness School, 2008)

Creating a Family Garden: Magical Outdoor Spaces for All Ages, Bunny Guinness (Abbeville Press, 1996)

Fandex Family Field Guides series (Workman, 1999)

Father Nature: Fathers as Guides to the Natural World, ed. Paul