We talk about this with Simona Rossi, a nursery school teacher and an active volunteer for environmental protection associations.
Simona, based on your experience as a teacher and as a volunteer, what do you think are the most important benefits children gain from spending time in contact with nature?
Contact with nature is one of the most powerful tools we have to improve the quality of our lives and add beauty and meaning to them. In an increasingly digital society that pushes us to become more and more disconnected from our own nature, it is important to recover this ancient bond with nature and with our roots, and it is even more important for children, who are going through a delicate stage of growth.
The benefits are countless and act on several levels: the first concerns their health and wellbeing. Nature has an extraordinary power to regenerate, heal and balance both body and mind. Many scientific studies confirm that just 30 minutes in nature is enough to lower levels of stress, tiredness and fatigue; changes can actually be observed in physiological parameters. It is also a real remedy for restless, stressed and nervous children.
In addition, time spent in green spaces contributes to the child's harmonious development, from a cognitive, motor, emotional and sensory point of view alike.
Bringing children closer to nature also means cultivating in them a sense of beauty and wonder: “everything you can imagine, nature has already created,” as Einstein wrote.
Nature gives everyone a great life lesson: it teaches us the interdependence of everything that exists. There is an invisible thread that connects all living beings, a cause-and-effect relationship that often escapes us. Just think of bees, tiny creatures on whose existence our own existence depends: scientific studies suggest that if they were to become extinct, humankind would have only a few years left to live!
All of this teaches us respect for differences and for what is different from ourselves: if we are all interconnected and equally necessary for the functioning of the system, it becomes almost natural to look at others with empathy.
Let us help children grow this kind of awareness, developing a kind and empathetic outlook, always remembering that the attitude, sensitivity and impact they will have on the environment in the future depend on this “imprinting”, and that it is never too early to begin.
Laura Pelizzola, Pedagogical Officer at the Ministry of Justice, laura.pelizzola@libero.it