Last Child in the Woods

After reading the book The Last Child in the Woods I notice more often how many times our children are not outside doing things that children should be doing. Often you find kids in front of computers and playing video games when they should be outside exploring and using their imaginations. This trend in growing since our generation in which parents become concerned with the safety of their children and will not let them play outside by themselves.

Children need to be in nature more often than they are right now. Children are more concerned with what is going on their facebook than what is happening in the world. Children need to be taken out of their cyber-lives and be put in the natural world. We can learn many things from nature such as; animals and evolution, plants, and water. By encouraging children to go outside and play they will learn about all these different things through the actions and games that they play.

One way to improve safety is to set up a neighbor watch. Have the children in the neighborhood play outside together and have a parent be responsible to watch the kids from a distance. Allowing the children to play by themselves but have the supervision of an adult and also the safety that comes with having an adult present. Also to incorperate nature into your everyday life as a family adopt and tree. Plant the tree and water it and the family will be able to see over time that tree will grow. You can then save flowers or leaves from the tree and take pictures of it. Having that emotional bond to nature will help children to appreciate it more and to learn form nature.

This book really helped me to know how to improve the lives of children. I knew that children were not spending enough time outdoors but I didn't know how to actually have them do it. This book provided me with support and ideas on how to make nature a part of my community, school, family, and myself.

Click Here for a video that my group made about the importance of nature in children's lives and how to incorperate nature into their lives. It provides evidence as well as ideas on how to get children outside and not sitting in front of the computer or TV.