Last Child in the Woods

A few times every winter, my partner and I volunteer to take kids cross country skiing at the Wye Marsh in Midland, Ontario.  Sometimes they are Scouts, Guides, Brownies or Cubs. The kids who are athletically inclined or have skied before zip along after the leader.  I like to go at the very back where the kids who are not having such an easy time with this activity are struggling along.  I was not an athletic child so I understand that this can be quite a challenge. 

I tell them that this isn’t so much about skiing but really about being in the woods in the snow to see what is there.  We look for and find lots of animal tracks such as rabbit, weasel, deer, fox, coyote, porcupine, squirrel, mouse and grouse. I tell them that the tracks tell a story and just like learning to read a story from a book, we can read the snow – it’s just a different kind of language.  The kids at the back of the pack tell me stories about their pets and encounters with other animals.  If chickadees appear, I hand out sunflower seeds and the tiny birds delight the children by landing on their hands to eat.

My daughter who studied outdoor recreation and education gave me a book by Richard Louv a few years ago.  It is called Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder (2005).  Louv coined the term Nature Deficit Disorder to describe the recent phenomenon of children being cut off from the natural world due to parents’ fears of harm, increasingly busy lives and the rise in the use of technology to entertain kids.  He feels that if this bond is not fostered in children, it will be very hard for them as adults to create a bond with nature.

Louv cites research that “links our mental, physical, and spiritual health directly to our association with nature – in positive ways.”  He feels that children need good food, adequate sleep and a connection with nature to be healthy.  Louv reports on a growing movement to help connect children with nature.

The David Suzuki Foundation here in Canada is working with parents to provide children with time in nature equal to the screen time that children spend with technology.  The Suzuki Foundation has free  resources on how to spend time with kids in nature. This is good for the whole family.  People only protect things they know and care about so connecting children with nature is good for the planet as well.

As a “grandparent at large” I feel it is my responsibility to pass on my love of nature to children.  I want their experience to be a happy one, filled with stories, surprises and wonder since that is how experience being in the woods. 

One time, I was with a young Scout who had never skied before.  He was from the city.  He mostly walked on the skis so the 2.5 km trail took us a long time.  All the other Scouts were long gone down the trail.  But we stopped to look at tracks, different kinds of trees and to feed chickadees.  He told me all about his pet dog and lizard.  His Scout troop was spending the weekend at the Marsh camping and doing all sorts of outdoor activities.  “I’m definitely telling my parents that I skied,” he told me.  “Definitely!”

 A little while later he asked me if we were going to finish the trail.  I answered that we definitely were going to finish it.  There really was no choice except in an emergency.  It was then that I realized that I was with the last child in the woods for the day.  I thought of Richard Louv and I felt honoured to be spending time with this boy as we experienced the woods and nature in a peaceful way. 

Recently, I was with another group of Scouts and was once again at the back of the pack with a very reluctant and fearful young man.  I already had a plan to do a very small loop if things didn’t get better for him.  It took over ten minutes of falling and complaining before we even got to the trail.  But as soon as we got into the woods and I pointed out a rabbit track, he straightened up and became totally engaged with the tracks.  “Do you think we’ll see fox tracks?” he asked.  I assured him that was possible.  Suddenly he skied with more ease, drawn forward by the magic of the forest.  He even managed a few small hills without falling down.

 When he became discouraged on a larger hill with one of the leaders and another boy who was struggling with this new skill, we took off our skis to walk the rest of the hill.  At that moment a small flock of chickadees appeared and I gave the boys sunflower seeds which they held in their outstretched hands.  The birds landed one at a time and took seeds from the boys.  Their faces said it all.  The impossibly light little birds who were brave and bold enough to take the seeds brought a magic to these children and a connection to the forest that they will not soon forget.  “Those kids who are good at skiing are missing all of this,” said the boy who had been so reluctant.  “We’re getting the real experience!” he boasted.  Once again I felt tremendously honoured to be providing this experience, this connection for these kids, the last children in the woods for that day.

I was reviewing some of Richard Louv’s work on his website when I came across a video made by Miranda Anderson of British Columbia. This young woman has been making films since she was very young.  She felt so inspired by Louv’s work that she made a short film called the Child in Nature which you can view on you tube.  It is very inspiring to hear a child’s own experience of the importance of a connection with nature for her and her peers.

Richard Louv and others founded the Children and Nature Networke.org/  “to fuel the worldwide grassroots movement to reconnect children with nature.” You can find more inspiring stories there.  It seems that people are connecting with each other on behalf of the children of the world and their connection to nature.  It may seem ironic that they are connecting on-line to communicate the importance of connecting with the opposite of technology but such are the new stories we are telling.  Perhaps some of these stories will inspire you to share your stories with the children in your life when you are in a forest or by a lake or in your backyard.