Are we disconnecting children from nature?

Nature has so many beautiful elements. The trees, the mountains, the sky, the rivers and so on. Nature also has beautiful elements such as the soil, the mud, the birds (including pigeons), the insects (including lizards).

While we are comfortable connecting with the beauty of the first set of elements of nature, we might not be as comfortable with the idea of our child playing in the soil or getting mud all over them or examining a lizard from up close.

We may teach them to be empathetic and loving to the trees but at the same time we may teach them to feel fear or disgust towards certain other elements of nature. Here what we are essentially doing is to teach them to disconnect from certain elements of nature and to connect with nature selectively.

If we tell our child that going on the sand or soil barefoot will hurt their feet, we are also making sure that our child will not be as open to walk barefoot even when it is one of the most grounding activities towards human wellbeing.

Activity:

Ask yourself, which are the elements of nature that you feel disconnected to?

What can you do to make sure you don’t create barriers for your child to establish that connection?