Many thanks to Mary Rivkin and Nancy Rosenow for sharing their expertise! We’d also like to thank everyone who participated in the discussion. For upcoming Q&A events, check out NAEYC's schedule at www.naeyc.org/onlineevents.

Well said! I couldn't agree more!

Really simple? Find a sunny space, close to water supply, with enough room so 8 or so children can work around the edges of it. Fasten four 4’x 1”x6” boards in a square, line with plastic if on asphalt, nothing if on grass or dirt, poke some drain holes in plastic. Fill with good soil—potting soil if you can afford it. Add some plants to make sure something grows, try some bean seeds too. Water but not too much. Sing ” Inch by Inch” to the garden, draw it, take pictures of it. Talk about how to take care of living plants. Share responsibilities. Try not to let things die, or dogs or cats run through. If rabbits or squirrels or other creatures eat plants, be philosophical. Plant some more. Maybe start some backup plants in the classroom for spares. Enjoy life’s great process.
Super super simple—plant potato pieces that have started to sprout in big pots or bag of potting soil. They grow viney and green and underneath with any luck after maybe 3 months some tiny potatoes will show on the roots. Pretty fun. My college students have been surprised.

It is challenging. But, the sky is nature and full of shifting clouds, sometimes the pale moon, and sunrises and sunsets. It is also has birds, pigeons and crows often which are quite easy to spot, and follow in flight. The air is cold or hot or windy—one can feel it on one’s face. And with a thermometer keep track of changes. Cities have lots of mini-environments—hot in the sun, cool in the shade, patches of ice in the winter. Rain falls in the city and where does the water go? Follow a gutter? How long till the sidewalks are dry again?
Look for ants—little sandhills in sidewalk cracks. Put out some crumbs—observe what happens. Any kind of insect is interesting to children. Worm composting doesn’t take much space and demonstrates recycling. Other life: why not start a garden, simply enough in a plastic bag of potting soil—cut some holes and insert some small plants. Or use a baby swimming pool—add dirt and plants. Or build some raised beds. The internet has loads of ideas for gardening with children—e.g.,Rodale Press, the American Horticultural Society, and the National Gardening Association all have webpages devoted to children’s gardening.
Walk to parks; ask if can visit interesting yards; search out “wildscapes”, bits of untended nature where maybe blackberries or mulberries have taken root. A little bit of wilderness can satisfy young children.
The whole world is urbanizing rapidly so your question is very much to the point.

One reason, I think, that gardening activities appeal so much to early childhood teachers is our historic background with hands-on approach, real objects, and authentic engaging experiences. The higher grades’ history is more about the 3-R’s and now there is so much testing of these basics that the early childhood approach gets dismissed—just as you said. You might give the upper grade teachers some fresh produce the children have grown! Write an item for the schools newsletter or web page?
Know that your early childhood colleagues appreciate you. As Winston Churchill once said: “Never, never, never give up.”

You are spreading the word—and wonderfully. However, I think that we are all competing for attention in a fast-paced society where families and teachers are rushed to get everything done and especially to show “results.” The same newspaper that will print your essay on the deep and personal connection between children and nature will also editorialize about the need for high test scores so these children can participate in the impersonal and unknowable global workforce 15 years hence. We are unbalanced as a group right now. Keep up our side!

I believe it’s very important not to set up an either/or feeling between nature and technology. The important consideration should be finding balance between the two. Young children should spend the majority of their time in direct hands-on experiences with the sights and sounds of the natural world, instead of with the virtual world. However, as children grow, technology is certainly an important tool for them to learn to use.
One of the ways to help children see the positive uses of technology is for parents or teachers to occasionally incorporate technological tools into time with nature. For example, if children have questions about an insect crawling along a leaf in their school garden, a teacher could use a mobile computing devise to check online for immediate information.

If we provide inviting and compelling experiences with the natural world for young children, it will be less likely they will grow to spend an unhealthy amount of time indoors focused only on screen time. We have the opportunity to help children learn to appreciate a healthy balance between the wonders of technology and the wonders of nature.

I am so glad to hear how much your children are enjoying their connections with nature. I love the idea of young children picking, washing and eating mustard greens they've grown themselves. Not only does it support their deep connection with the natural world, but it encourages healthy eating as well! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

It’s so true that more research is needed about infants and toddlers and nature. Heather Fox, an Infant/Toddler specialist who works with programs around the nation, wrote this recently: Connecting infants and toddlers with the natural world is vitally important. The outdoors provides such rich sensory experiences, including weather changes: wind, sun, rain, fog, clouds, snow, and temperature variations. Infants and toddlers are like little scientists, noticing everything in their paths. They wonder about all they encounter and use their senses to discover the answers.
Two of the research sites I work with through Dimensions Foundation are currently involved with research on that very topic, so hopefully we’ll have things to share in the near future.
In the meantime, here are a few resources available right now:
Below is a link to a short online DVD – Nature for Infants and Toddlers.
http://vimeo.com/27213535
And here’s a link to a workshop for educators, called We Dig Dirt, that’s about strategies for supporting infants and toddlers in outdoor classrooms.
http://www.arborday.org/explore/workshops/dirt.cfm
The last link is to an early childhood program’s online newsletters for families that shares the importance of nature-child connections for infants and toddlers:
http://www.dimensionsfoundation.org/education/information/documents/DERF...

I can't say enough about the success we have had in our outdoor classroom with "Loose Parts". Loose parts include logs, sticks, bricks, ropes, ramps, bamboo, straw bales or large piles of mulch. Our children demonstrate amazing imagination, problem solving and communication skills as they manipulate these open ended materials to meet their play needs. They build forts, see-saws, catapults...you name it and the whole time strengthening their socal emotional development as they learn to do all of these things cooperatively.

Sandra, I've worked at an environmental preschool for the last 20 years, I'm thrilled studies are showing how beneficial the outdoors is for children. We use tree stumps, they don't have to be very big, or can be thinly sliced and make great plates for dramatic play or stepping stones. A basket of pinecones, fallen pine bowes, and sticks, another great dramatic play along with some pots and pans from a thrift shop and hang small wooden shelves on the fence. Reasonable size stones to build with, like the book Roxiboxen. Enjoy the great outdoors!

Mary, I couldn’t agree more that nature’s “loose parts” (small sticks, pine cones, leaves) are terrific sources of inspiration for children in nature-filled outdoor spaces. Examples of teachers documenting ways children used these kinds of materials for learning can be found at:
http://www.dimensionsfoundation.org/research/findings.cfm
In addition to the wonderful materials nature provides, I’ve watched teachers in the Nature Explore Classrooms around the country I work with use a variety of items outdoors that work especially well. To encourage children’s close observation skills I suggest adding magnifying glasses and also clipboards, paper and colored pencils to inspire children to sketch details in plants or to draw a “map” of the whole outdoor space. Adding blocks to your outdoor space is wonderful, since there is often more room outside for children to really spread out and create. And, the natural world often provides inspiration for complex building projects.

Supporting ways for children to be caretakers in the outdoor space is also very important, so adding watering cans they can use to water flowers and trees is a great idea. Adding a small raised planter bed where children can plant and care for a variety of herbs, or small vegetables such as tomatoes, can provide so many possibilities for learning.

Whichever part of the country you live in, nature provides an abundance of play materials for children. Look around, eliminate toxic or injurious materials, and proclaim the rest as legitimate. Sticks are sometimes frowned upon but long bamboo sticks make great forts and bridges; short sticks stuck in the ground become fences, little sticks piled up are a “camping fire”—endless possibilities for this “first toy.” A pile of clean mulch can be dug in, piled high, climbed on and jumped off of—fun. All sorts of plants offer play items, from pine cones, acorns, and other nuts/seeds/pods, to leaves, bark, blossoms, and berries, good for collecting, observing, sorting, and incorporating into play.(See Robin Moore, Plants for Play.)
If Roxaboxen is a book you cherish, then rocks/stones/pebbles are on your list of great play items, as well.

Cognitive gains result from a variety of influences on children, including being outside in a complex, supportive environment. Many studies have shown that being in nature reduces stress, a factor associated with better health and ability to learn. Other studies have shown that increased physical activity promotes health which contributes to learning as well. A terrific review of research, updated yearly, is at the Children and Nature Network website: www.childrenandnature.org.
Take your administrators for a walk in the park!

We know it’s important to address environmental problems with children in a developmentally appropriate way. Until after about age eight abstract issues such as global warming can be too confusing for children to address directly, but this doesn’t mean children can’t grow up learning to be environmental stewards from an early age.

First and foremost, we need to help children develop a positive relationship with the natural world. The link below outlines the importance of helping develop deep personal connections to nature before discussing potentially frightening environmental issues with them.

Helping Children Learn to Love the Earth:
http://www.dimensionsfoundation.org/research/documents/HelpingChildrenLo...

One resource that can be very useful in helping early childhood educators find ways to address environmental stewardship with young children in appropriate ways is called The Environmental Action Kit: Connecting the World’s Children with Nature. It was developed by the international Nature Action Collaborative for Children, and contains many practical ideas and resources for both early childhood educators and families. It can be accessed at:

Environmental Action Kit:
http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/initiatives/nature-action-collabor...

It’s important for us to help children grow up with a sense of optimism that there are actions they can take, even in the early years, to be helpful to the natural world. With support and positive encouragement from families and educators, they will be well on their way toward becoming the next generation of passionate environmental advocates.