Allies News
Media & Culture | Leadership
BassPro Video Game Trade-in; 15% off to Get Kids Out
By BassPro
BassPro announces one of the most innovative strategies we've seen to date for getting kids outdoors. This week, all around the country, kids and adults will be turning in their video games for a 15% discount off fishing gear, water sports items, tents, sleeping bags and footwear.
"One of the most exciting and invigorating places to go this summer is just beyond your front door," said Larry Whiteley, Bass Pro Shops Manager of Communications. "Bass Pro Shops is committed to helping adults and children across the nation put away their laptops, video games, PDAs and cell phones this summer and head outdoors.
Built Environment
Church Executive – March 01, 2008
Churches Encouraged to Connect Children with Nature
By Rachel Beach
The people who run the nation’s churches are being asked to “restore the connection between today’s children and nature” in the latest issue of Church Executive magazine. In addition to creating play environments on church grounds that incorporate more natural elements like trees and even wildlife, churches should consider restoring green play spaces within their communities as part of their ministries.
[+]
Resource
Drive – January 01, 2008
Subaru Promotes Children and Nature Movement
By Richard Louv
Car manufacturer Subaru has devoted the cover of its quarterly magazine Drive to promoting the children and nature movement. Inside the magazine there is an excerpt from Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods that provides a succinct introduction to the ideas behind the movement. The magazine also features information on the National Wildlife Federation’s Green Hour program and the efforts of the No Child Left Inside Coalition.
[+]
– November 29, 2007
Developers Emphasize Nature’s Benefits for Children
Seeking to appeal to families and differentiate themselves from competitors, a housing development in California and a vacation resort in Mexico are boasting the opportunities they offer for connecting children with nature. The Wilder development in Orinda, California, emphasizes the benefits of unstructured outdoor play in its marketing materials. Likewise, Playa Viva, on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, offers young guests the opportunity to release turtles and plant trees, among other outdoor pursuits. [+]
Health | Leadership
Grist – December 18, 2007
REI Chief Bemoans Overscheduled Kids
By Sarah Van Schagen
Sally Jewell, the head of outdoor-equipment retailer REI, says in a recent interview that children spend far too much of their time in front of computer or television screens. She credits Richard Louv with putting into words her concerns about young people today. The challenge, she says, is getting technology and nature to work together for their benefit.
[+]
Campaign/Initiative
Danville Register & Bee – December 11, 2007
NASCAR Driver Laments Nature-Deficit Disorder
By Denice Thibodeau
The children and nature movement has found an unlikely ally in NASCAR driver Ward Burton. At the Governor’s Forum on Land Conservation in Southern Virginia, Burton told the nearly 200 attendees that children today are suffering from nature-deficit disorder because they are not connected to the outdoors. The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation supports conservation efforts and youth education programs to help counter this trend.
[+]
Education
(Cedar Rapids) Gazette – April 12, 2008
One Farmer’s Efforts to Connect Kids with Nature
By Orlan Love
Dick Jensen, an Iowa farmer with a love for nature, has made it his mission to teach young people about the joys and the value of spending time outdoors. In 1990 he started welcoming youth groups to his farm; in 2000 he began building a two-mile nature trail on his property; and in 2006 he founded Take a Kid Outdoors, a nonprofit educational organization that has since benefited hundreds of youngsters already.
[+]
Health | Resource
Miracle-Gro – April 09, 2008
Corporate Survey Looks at Benefits of Outdoor Time
The Miracle-Gro company is touting the results of a survey it conducted showing that while 84 percent of parents feel it’s important for young people to spend time outdoors, most admit that their children spend less time outdoors than they did as children. “By spending less time outdoors,” the company says, “people are endangering their connection with nature and depriving themselves of the health benefits of being outside and being active.” [+]
Media & Culture
(Detroit) Metro Times – April 09, 2008
Children and Nature Documentary Airs
By Jim McFarlen
A one-hour documentary examining the impact that sprawl, congestion, and suburban development are having on children’s mental and physical health is scheduled for broadcast on Michigan Public Television the week of April 14. Seven years in the making and partially funded by the University of Michigan, Where Do the Children Play? will air on stations throughout the state and is also being shown at special viewings across the country.
[+]
The New York Times – February 17, 2008
Taking Play Seriously
By ROBIN MARANTZ HENIG
On a drizzly Tuesday night in late January, 200 people came out to hear a psychiatrist talk rhapsodically about play — not just the intense, joyous play of children, but play for all people, at all ages, at all times. (All species too; the lecture featured touching photos of a polar bear and a husky engaging playfully at a snowy outpost in northern Canada.) Stuart Brown, president of the National Institute for Play, was speaking at the New York Public Library’s main branch on 42nd Street. He created the institute in 1996, after more than 20 years of psychiatric practice and research persuaded him of the dangerous long-term consequences of play deprivation. In a sold-out talk at the library, he and Krista Tippett, host of the public-radio program ‘‘Speaking of Faith,’’ discussed the biological and spiritual underpinnings of play. Brown called play part of the ‘‘developmental sequencing of becoming a human primate. If you look at what produces learning and memory and well-being, play is as fundamental as any other aspect of life, including sleep and dreams.’’
[+]
Event
National Recreation and Park Association
National Summit to Consider Environmental Stewardship
The first National Summit on Environmental Stewardship for People, Parks and Public Lands, scheduled to take place the first weekend in May, will bring together advocates from across the country to address the challenges of building environmental stewardship. One of the areas of focus at the summit will be how to foster this stewardship in future generations. Gina McCarthy,
Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection; Larry Selzer, President and CEO, The Conservation Fund; and Richard Louv, Author of Last Child in the Woods, will be among the featured speakers.
[+]
USA Today – March 31, 2008
USA Today: More Girls Hunting Now
By Marty Roney
A recent survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reveals a surprising trend in the popularity of hunting: While the overall number of hunters nationwide has decreased since 1991, the popularity of hunting among females, especially young girls, has increased over the same period. Some observers attribute this increase to the Becoming an Outdoors Woman program, which introduces women to hunting, fishing, and hiking and is active now in 41 states and five Canadian provinces.
[+]
C&NN has designated April "Children & Nature Awareness Month." As part of this effort, we invited network members (like you) to list their April programs and share their strategies for building public awareness. Find out what's happening in your community on the C&NN Movement Map.
As part of our ongoing efforts to build the movement, the Children & Nature Network has published two new resources for leaders, organizers, and participants at the local, national, and international levels:
An annotated bibliography of 20 premier studies focusing on the children and nature connection.
