"Last Child in the Woods"

[acp]

I recently finished this book (well worth reading, by Richard Louv). It basically crystallized and echoed a lot of things I'd been thinking about already, in terms of the type of experiences in the natural world I'd like to have for my daughter, and also a lot of the questions I have about how I'll make that happen. Just curious if any of you with babes or older children, and particularly those of you who don't live in a rural area, have thought about this and what types of answers you've found.
I grew up in a *very* nature-oriented family. My mom was the local "nature lady" in our school system and loves nothing more than helping to introduce children to the wonders of natural history and to simply let them explore. We lived on five acres in the woods, surrounded by hundreds of acres of forest preserve, and my happiest early memories are of climbing every tree around, exploring down in the woods and meadows with my best friend, and playing tons of "make believe" games as we did so.

I'd love for DD to have similar experiences, but - we live in the middle of a city. There are a lot of things I love about where we live - we almost never use a car, have great public transportation and can walk lots of places, have wonderful parks and playgrounds close by, have lots of diversity and lots of cultural options to explore with her as she gets older. But giving her independent, unstructured time in nature is going to be a challenge. The park near us, while fun, just isn't that "wild" and certainly isn't suitable for unsupervised play, and taking her to more wild areas outside the city generally means I'd have to be with her, when I think part of the important thing is giving kids time (as they're old enough) to explore on their own. Plus, I work, so it'll be hard during the week for her to get out of the city. We do have my grandma about an hour away - she lives on a small farm surrounded by forest preserve - and I'm sure I'll be going there a lot as DD gets older, especially. But it's not the same as living there.

I don't want to move to the suburbs (and don't think that would really solve the issue in any case, other than her having her own yard to play in). Have any other urban mamas found satisfying ways for your LOs to experience nature? Is this something you're thinking about?

Sorry for the long post! It's just been on my mind since becoming a parent, and then especially since reading "Last Child in the Woods"

[katybear mama]

Hi, just wanted to say you might want to post this in Books & Media...

I ordered Last Child in the Woods for my library's Parenting Collection. I hope the parents here get as much out of it as you did. You're lucky that your grandma has a farm, that will be a wonderful experience for your little one. I live in a basically suburban/rural area so I don't have any great ideas for you being in the city. The only thing I can think of besides making special trips like you described is to bring nature to your LO - have small pets, a fish tank, a window box garden. But that's not the same as having unstructured time in the wild. I did alot of exploring when I was little too & have lovely memories. Even though my dd will be able to experience this where we live, in this day & age I'm not so sure I'd be comfortable with her wandering the way I did.

Anyway, hopefully some other mams have some good ideas for you.

[annettemarie]

Moving to Books

[Amaranth]

There's a lot of nature even in the most urban areas. It's not pristine, but then again, neither is the nature back on the family farm. It's all a matter of degree, and learning to see what's there.

Have you seen this book? Nature in the Neighborhood, by Gordon Morrison

I know what you mean about the unstructured time, though. That is a problem, and not one I can think of an easy solution to. I guess I would let her decide on what kind of stuff to do in the city nature time that you do do together - make your time together outside less directed, although it is hard to stop yourself from "teaching" nature when you're in a park (or maybe that's just me ).

Also, community gardens rock. And birdwatching, insect collecting, tree identification (give her an age appropriate guide), learning about invasive species. Try googling for the environmental history of whatever city or region that you're in.

[Amaranth]

Doh, I see you're in Chicago.

check out William Cronon's "Nature's Metropolis" (for you, not your dd)

and since I grew up in a small town sw of Chicago, and am still interested in the area, here's some links on urban ecology:

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/inhsreports...r00/intro.html

http://www.chicagowilderness.org/exp...cent/index.cfm

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...ient=firefox-a

http://www.csu.edu/cerc/

[acp]

Thanks Amaranth! You're right - there's definitely lots we can do in the way of gardening, bird watching, tree and plant identification, etc, even in the city. And I'm definitely hoping to do that. I think the unsupervised time is what I worry about her not having, but it may just be my own issue I need to get over - realize that it's ok for DD not to have exactly the same childhood I did, and that she can still get good doses of nature and natural history even living in a city (and have lots of exposure to things I didn't have as a kid too - more other kids to play with, more diversity, more culture).

I'll check out the books you mentioned. Nature's Metropolis I've been meaning to read for a while. I've never seen Nature in the Neighborhood, but it looks great.
And those links are great as well!

[Pariah]

I don't have any advice for you (I'm sorry!), but I just wanted to say that I loved this book, too. I'm not that old (23), but even I have good memories of playing in the woods and in the creek behind the house we lived in for a long time when I was younger. There are lots of great things about living in the city, but the lack of nature would be a huge concern for me, too (we're in a suburb right now).

[TranscendentalMom]

I don't live in an urban area but I grew up in New Jersey and my parents took me camping and I have vivid, beautiful memories of that. I think the beach (whether lake or ocean) is one of the best unstructured environments for kids too. If I lived in a city, I'm sure I'd take advantage of the wonderful things a city offers but I'd make a point to take nature oriented vacations. I really think you can incorporate the ideas in this book. For one thing, just getting outside - even if its a city park - is great. Remember he gives the idea of the worlds that the kids discovered on the concrete lot? Cracks in the sidewalk, communities of bugs, etc were exciting worlds to the kids. I think the main point of the book is to change our philosophies - I live in a rural neighborhood with plenty of woods all around me and STILL I have to remind myself to get off the computer, turn off the DVD and GET OUTSIDE!

[Amaranth]

If you want to read an incredible memoir about the importance of nature in childhood, Robert Michael Pyle's "The Thunder Tree" is great.

[gilamama]

PPs have established that you can have "natural" experiences even in a city. The other issue you raised is having "unstructured exploring experiences". these can occur outside of nature. these experiences are important for building self confidence and self relince. But these can occur in a museum. Let your dd run free and draw. (ok maybe walk if there are security guards). this experience will serve her as well as your experiences served you hopefully.

[jempd]

Hi, I just wanted to chime in, having read the book and think that it is a very important one. It speaks to something that I and my parents and sisters have taken seriously for a long while. To give you some background, I was raised in a city until age 12 (almost 13) when my parents abruptly moved us all from one of the most densely populated cities in the US to a very rural area. As is in almost no paved roads in the town. And we got cows, chickens, pigs, etc. Anyway, two sisters now live in the same state and my parents still live there (though they moved to a larger town) so we go there a few times a year. Now I'm raising a child in a huge city and his experience of nature on a daily basis is curtailed, to say the least. I really want him to have what I had, which is a personal experience of nature that I was allowed to explore on my own, without any adult guidance and interference. I think what I can impart to him is what was handed down from my parents. Both my parents put a great deal of worth on the experience of nature and always did, even when we were living in the city. My father collected mushrooms and belonged to a club that did so and so when I was very young we often went on day trips to woods to look for mushrooms. So I have a strong attachment for woods. My mother is an amazing gardener (one of those people who just has a touch) and was raised herself by people who took gardening, the outdoors, plants and animals seriously. So when we were young she pointed out plants and named them for us, pinched the leaves of herbs and had us smell them. She volunteered until recently at the local public school taking children on nature walks. I personally think it's all about who you are and what you notice and share with your kid. For example he's always been fascinated by the moon and always notices it and talks about what stage it's at. When we walk in our urban neighborhood he notices the holly, any fruit trees, any of our favorite plants. For that matter he also likes lots of things about the city such as tug boats, fire trucks and stations. And when we are in the country visiting my sisters or parents, he can play safely in the stream and explore around their houses. Also there are several working farms in the area, one owned by friends of ours, and so going to visit them is much different from going to a petting zoo or what they call a "farm" around the city we live in. Even though ds lives in a much more urban area than do his cousins on dh's side, I have noticed that when he's with them, you can see he is much more in touch with the natural world than they are. (They have a sort of ew yuck attitude about a lot of natural things, if you knwim.)

What a great book and what a great subject.

[emmalyne]

The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places
By Gary Paul Nabhan, Stephen Trimble

This is another good book on the subject and has ideas for all sorts of living enviroments.

[Gunter]

i am reading this book!