As a family we love spending time outdoors and in nature. Me and my little brother see it as an adventure whenever we are out.
Being outdoors is part of our lives and we could not see it being any other way. My favourite thing to do as a family is to go on long walks and spot all the different species, plants and animals we can see. I love the way they all move about doing different things. As well as seeing my mums face when she sees a spider!!
I like connecting with nature as it makes me so happy. Seeing all the different species and living creatures that we share the planet with is simply amazing. Me and my brother like playing indoors, but the fun we have when we are out is so much better!
A lot of young people I know do not spend much time outdoors, as they are big fans of electronic devices. Which don't get me wrong, we enjoy sometimes. However, I feel nothing is better than running outdoors, playing and exploring in nature. Being outdoors makes me and my little brother feel so happy that is hard to put in words. We feel so much excitement when we go exploring for insects, species and even plants.
When I speak to my friends at school a lot of them are not experiencing nature directly. Most of them play indoors more often than out. I feel they are not connected to nature. When I talk about eco issues or about nature they don't understand a lot of it or its importance. This makes me very sad as they sometimes don't understand some of the things I try and explain.
Being outdoors makes me feel connected with the natural world and I feel a sense of calm and happiness. It also helps me when I am at home when I do my studies. As I have spent time outdoors in the fresh air connecting with nature; I feel like I have a boost of energy when it comes to my studies. I have mentioned this in one of my previous blogs before, that my mum loves that it helps us with our academic work. Everyone should have access to nature, the happiness and as well as the health benefits it brings. Did you know that learning and being in and about in nature can improve young people’s physical health, mental well-being, being connected to nature, as well as educational attainment.
I also feel It is so important to learn about the
environment. How can you expect young people to be interested and protect
the planet if they have not learnt why it is so important for survival of
our world.
The environment affects us all and we all should
be educated in how these changes affect us and what we can do to help change.
How can we take responsibility for our actions as children or when we turn into
adults if we have not been taught from a young age how fragile planet earth is
As a family we have read several articles and posts that highlight the positive links between direct experiences in nature and children’s mental, emotional and physical health also their well-being.
Having regular direct access to nature can:
- increase self esteem and resilience against stress and adversity
- improve concentration, learning, creativity, cognitive development, cooperation, flexibility and self-awareness
- prevent childhood obesity.
Through positive experiences in nature, children will develop their love of nature. It is these children, when they become adults that protect the natural world. The biggest example of this is my hero Sir David Attenborough, Who from a very young age was fascinated by creatures. This shows that childhood experience with nature plays a critical role in our life attitudes, knowledge or behaviours regarding the environment.
I have found the more time me and my family spend in nature the more our love of nature grows. The more we get involved, explore and discover new things, the more fascinated we become; the more we want to protect our planet. This then will make you think how in the future you can try and contribute to protect our planet.
My little brother is 6 years old; I can already see in him how he has already started to care and think about nature the more time we spend in it. I love nature but seeing my brother also start asking to be out so we can go on bug hunts, or go spot the birds makes me happy. He even has started making comments to me about some ideas that we can use to try and help the squirrels that visit our garden. He is so amazed like me with the magic of nature and how with the different seasons there always is new things to explore.
Therefore, I think is so important for all children to take part and spend time doing activities in nature. As I feel they will then start taking responsibility for nature and the planet.
Shaan Dulay age 9
