Children & Nature Network - August 28, 2008
The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working to reconnect children with nature. C&NN provides access to the latest news and research in the field and a peer-to-peer network of researchers and individuals, educators and organizations dedicated to children's health and well-being.
Built Environment | Education
North Carolina Zoo to Build Outdoor Classroom
The North Carolina Zoo will soon begin raising $2.8 million to help create a four-acre classroom for kids, complete with caves, gardens, and a stream. And in another example of North Carolinian efforts to reconnect kids with nature, every family with a child attending Greensboro Montessori School is being given a copy of Last Child in the Woods. [+]
Campaign/Initiative
New NWF Program Encourages Families to Make Tracks
The National Wildlife Federation has created a program that encourages families to discover and reconnect with nature with the first annual Make Tracks Family Trail Weekend. Scheduled for the three-day weekend that starts October 11, the program is part of the federation’s Green Hour campaign, which urges parents to give their kids a daily dose of nature. [+]
Campaign/Initiative | Media & Culture
Persil Promotes Free Play in UK Campaign
Persil, a well-known maker of laundry detergents in the UK, is touting the benefits of unstructured outdoor play in a new national campaign aimed at parents. The company surveyed mothers, a majority of whom agreed that society had lost sight of the importance of play in a child’s learning process. The “every child has the right” campaign includes a television commercial in which a robot becomes a boy when it ventures outdoors and a website with tips to help families make free play a priority once again. [+]
Media & Culture
Richard Louv, Nature Clubs on Today Show
NBC’s top-rated Today Show featured a report July 16 on nature-deficit disorder and one Virginia parent’s efforts to help other families connect with nature. Host Ann Curry then conducted an in-studio interview with Richard Louv, who summarized the benefits that nature can have on children and the Children & Nature Network’s ongoing work to help people form local nature clubs. [+]
Media & Culture
QUEST series focuses on Nature Deficit Disorder
On May 12, San Francisco's KQED Public Television series QUEST aired this special report on why we need nature, and efforts to encourage children to play outdoors.
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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:
