Nature and Nuture

There is considerable evidence that concern for the environment is based on an affection for nature that only develops with autonomous, unmediated contact with it.

Richard Louv has brought together cutting edge studies that point to the direct exposure to nature as essential for a child’s healthy, physical and emotional development. He links the lack of nature in children’s lives and rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression.

We should value the sensory moment where a child's attention is captured by the phenomena and materials of nature: the dappled sparkle of sunlight through leaves, the sight of butterflies or a colony of ants, the imaginative worlds of a square metre of sand or the infinite space seen in a flower.

These early experiences with the natural world have been positively linked with the development of imagination and the sense of wonder which are so important, a sense of wonder and curiosity that are are important motivators for life long learning.

http://richardlouv.com/books/nature-principle/