Children and Nature: A Perfect Match (Part Two)

See “Children and Nature: A Perfect Match (Part One)”

The first and most important area of action for safeguarding the planet is precisely everyday life! The small, big gestures of daily life turn out to be the ones with the greatest impact on nature.

The best lesson that parents and teachers can give children is, in fact, their own example: as the Indian yoga master Sadhguru says, “children do not listen to you. They watch you.”

Children tend to imitate and repeat gestures and behaviours, especially when it comes to people they see as role models: let's avoid littering the environment, leaving lights on, or leaving taps running without reason. Raising awareness in young children is a practice that needs to be followed every day with patience and consistency, so that the gesture becomes a virtuous habit. Going grocery shopping together with children can become an important opportunity to read labels together, to understand what organic and zero-kilometre products are, and to choose items without plastic packaging. When we go out, let's avoid, whenever possible, always using the car; this way children will realise that there are other ways of getting around, such as public transport, or even just a nice walk, healthy both for themselves and for nature!

Let's multiply the opportunities for children to spend time outdoors without technological devices, giving them back the time to be alone with themselves. Let's try to create opportunities that encourage an alliance, a friendship, between children and nature, helping them develop that empathetic outlook on reality.

Any kind of contact, even if not necessarily structured, whether it is a walk in the woods or in the Ticino park, a bike ride, a day trip out of town, or an evening outing in the garden to watch the stars, can turn into a meaningful, eco-friendly experience for children. These moments stimulate their curiosity, their sense of discovery, their thirst for knowledge, their spirit of observation. A lovely idea is to give them a notebook, which can become a faithful companion of adventure during their green experiences, in which they can draw what they see and note down their observations, discoveries and encounters. It is important to teach the right approach to coming into contact with animals and nature, with quiet respect and gentleness, treading lightly, feeling like guests rather than masters.

A wonderful initiative to make children feel like an active voice and part of environmental protection is to take part together in the environmental clean-up days organised by associations such as Greenpeace, Legambiente and Sea Shepherd, to name the ones closest to my heart. As Greta Thunberg teaches us, you are never too young to make a difference.

To finish, I would like to recommend two books and a film full of useful ideas and great inspiration for both grown-ups and little ones:

For children: “Fiabe per i custodi del pianeta” (Tales for the Guardians of the Planet) by Franco Berrino (Author), D. Costa (Illustrator)

For parents: “Lasciateli giocare con gli orsi. Come far conoscere ai nostri figli la natura. Una guida coraggiosa” (Let Them Play with Bears: A Bold Guide to Introducing Our Children to Nature) by Peter Brown Hoffmeister

Film: “Sulle ali dell'avventura” (Wings of Adventure) by Nicolas Vanier

Laura Pelizzola, Pedagogical Officer at the Ministry of Justice, laura.pelizzola@libero.it