Nature Literacy: Why Children Need to Spend More Time in Nature

February 2, 2015 / Oleksandra Budna / 2 Comments

Last week was a Family Literacy Week in Canada. Lots of resources and tips were shared about reading and language development. Both are essential skills for every kid, without a doubt, but all those posts made me think about the kind of literacy that doesn’t often get much air – nature literacy.

Recently, I read about Oxford Junior Dictionary taking out 50 nature-related words and replacing them with tech vocabulary. Someone decided that words like acorn and cauliflower weren’t as important for seven-year-olds as say broadband and cut-and-paste. Considering that kids already spend too much time in front of the screen (over 7.5 hours a day for children in Canada according to Participaction), it seems like a dangerous trend. Children nowadays can probably name more computer game characters and social media platforms than types of trees or flowers, let alone identify those trees and flowers when they see them. Apparently, 80% of kids in America will never see the Milky Way in their lifetime (I couldn’t find the figure for Canada but I can’t imagine it would be much different) but I am sure they will have no shortage of space movies and video games. A lot of kids have no idea where their food comes from and consume nature in prepackaged bits at a zoo or aquarium. There is even a term for it now ‘nature deficit disorder,’ coined by Richard Louv, author of The Last Child in the Woods.

We could argue that our technology oriented world demands that kids become tech-savvy at an increasingly earlier age and that being able to identify a tree or a bird isn’t an essential skill unless you are, say, a biologist. Plus, you can always look it up online, right? Well, we often forget that spending time in nature offers a wide range of benefits, including extensive opportunities for learning and creativity, increased physical fitness levels and improved mental health. And it is proven that children that get early exposure to nature grow up to be better stewards of our planet, something we definitely need these days of climate change and resource shortage.

We as a family love all nature-related activities. Our kids have been going camping, canoeing, hiking, biking, skiing and snowshoeing with us since a very early age. We grow herbs and vegetables in our tiny balcony garden and love visiting pick-your-own farms in the summer. So we know firsthand how beneficial nature can be for both children and adults. Here are a few reasons to get outside with your family.

Camping at Pukaskwa National Park

Biking at Prince Edward Island

First paddle at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park

Kayaking at Bay of Fundy

Skiing at Killarney Provincial Park

Backpacking at Bon Echo

Endless opportunities for learning

When we think of learning, we immediately imagine a structured school environment with printed and online resources. We often forget that nature is, in fact, one big classroom with limitless opportunities for exploration and learning. Unlike school, this outdoor classroom is inspired by the surroundings and guided by children’s interests. When we hiked at Badlands, we learned about sedimentary rock, buffalo and the tragic history of the Lacota people. We attended a ranger talk about fossils and imagine our excitement when we found one ourselves. Yellowstone and Craters of the Moon were perfect locations for learning more about volcanoes. Our trip to Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick was all about tidal activity. When we headed for the Maritimes, we started reading Anne of Green Gables and the whole book came to life once we arrived to Prince Edward Island. While visiting Algonquin Park, we learn as much about boreal forests and Canadian Shield as we do about the impact of logging and legacy of Tom Thompson. When we stay up at night to watch the stars either at Glacier National Park in Montana or Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, we talk about constellations, celestial bodies, possibilities of space travel and our vulnerability as humans in this vast Universe.

As you can see, learning topics extend way beyond local flora and fauna (and we do carry plant and bird guides with us to help us identify different species). In addition, because all those learning experiences are so multidimensional and multisensory, kids actually remember them long after the trip is over. A couple of years ago, I volunteered to help with the Scientist in the School session at my son’s school. The topic was “Types of Rocks.” As the kids were doing activities about sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks, my son quickly pointed out that Badlands was a good example of sedimentary rock and igneous rock could be found at the Craters of the Moon. He was referring to the road trip we’d taken the summer before. To him, all those types of rocks were more than just a description or a picture in a book, it was something he saw, touched and climbed.

Imagination and creativity

I’ve often heard parents brag about their kids being able to open programs on a computer or enter a password into an iPad or iPhone. I can see how it may seem fascinating that our children can operate such an impressive piece of technology, something we couldn’t even imagine when we were their age. In reality, it’s about remembering a sequence of operations, something kids are naturally very good at. The sad truth about the plastic abundance of toys and electronic vortex of entertainment is that it takes away kids’ ability to develop their imagination and creativity.

Outdoors, on the other hand, is a magical land where anything can be a tool and material for creation. We’ve seen our kids spend hours building forts out of driftwood and dams out of rocks. The beach is a perfect construction site for castles, cities and, once, a very imaginative cricket course. And a stick is never just a stick!

Ability to get mesmerized

We live in the world of 24/7 entertainment and special effects. We now expect to be constantly kept amused and we want the entertainment to be increasingly brighter, more exciting and stimulating. The downside is that we gradually lose our ability to be awed. After all the Disney World rides, a simple hike in the woods may seem less than exciting to children nowadays. And animals in the wild don’t always show up on cue or perform the way they do at Marineland or even at the zoo.

Yet, spending a lot of time in nature can help keep this feeling of childlike wonder not only alive but flourishing. During our travels, we get excited when we see a bison crossing the road or a hummingbird fluttering by. Our kids can spend hours watching mountain goats scaling a hillside or snakes weaving their way through the rocks. Sunset colours are more mesmerizing than any electronically produced special effects and a rainbow dancing in a geyser is the best light show ever, according to our son.

Healing through nature

Recently, more and more studies talk about green therapy. People who live near green spaces have fewer physical and mental health problems and spending time in nature helps manage ADHD symptoms in children. To us, all these findings are common sense, practically axiomatic. Of course, you get fitter as you hike, bike and paddle all day. And kids who have problems concentrating will certainly do better after they get an opportunity to run around. As for nature’s effect of mental health, isn’t it constantly exploited by the sellers of ‘soothing sounds of nature’ CDs and natural scents? But why settle for artificial if you can have a real thing for free?

In our family, nature is a go-to happy place. We all believe in the power of a walk in the woods and the miraculous effects of a nature detox.

Acquiring new skills and confidence

Our kids know how to pitch a tent, make a fire and paddle a canoe. They’ve done portaging and backpacking in the backcountry. At fourteen, our older son was able to cook a complete meal in the woods, from chopping wood to clean-up. I know chopping wood is not on the top of must-have skills these days. However, a kid who can do that has no problem making something for dinner in everyday life. Plus learning all these skills gives them a sense of accomplishment, instills confidence and makes them feel more independent and grown-up. Our older son now has his own tent (a present for his 18th birthday) and he loves it, even if it means more work for him with setting it up and then putting it down at the end of the trip.

When we are camping, everyone has to pitch in and kids don’t complain about having to do chores. In fact, most of the time they are happy to bring water, collect firewood, clean the dishes, and carry their things across portages and on backpacking trips. And they always want to come back!

Time to spend together

The biggest gift of nature is the time we spend together. Away from distractions and schedules, we have time to explore and learn together, play games, sing songs and talk around the campfire. There is also plenty of time to be on your own if you wish to enjoy the view or read a book. The fact that our 18-year-old still wants to go camping with us and gets upset if he misses a trip is my biggest validation if I ever needed one.

Connection to nature

According to Robert Macfarlane, “We do not care for what we do not know.” So for me as a parent, the main goal of all our camping trips and adventures is for my kids to get to know nature on a very personal and intimate level, not just something they see in books and on TV or learn about in their science class. I want them to feel part of it and be more mindful of the negative impact we as humans can have. Because they know that stuff doesn’t magically appear in the store but is made of resources that are extracted from the earth, they don’t ask for the latest gadgets or toys. When things break down, their first question is whether we can fix it and not if we can buy a new one. When choosing a university program, our older son picked civil engineering determined to help create more sustainable cities. And our younger son plans nature-themed birthday parties and uses them to fundraise for organizations like World Wildlife Fund.

Yesterday, after our walk in the neighbourhood park, my 10-year-old son asked, “Do you think there will ever be time with no outdoors, just buildings everywhere, when even parks will be inside in a simulated environment?” I thought for a second and then we both said at the same time, “I hope not.” “We just need more kids like you,” I added.

The Best of 2014

December 17, 2014August 5, 2015 / Oleksandra Budna / Leave a comment

With 2014 almost done, I went through my photos and put together my top 10 camping moments of the year. It was a bit hard to rank them since it was such a great year for camping but I am pretty confident about my number 1 picks (yes, there are two of them).

10. Thanksgiving Weekend at Grundy Lake Provincial Park

Lots to be thankful for: Gorgeous fall colours, picturesque trails, great friends, roaring campfires in the evening and a hearty thanksgiving meal. What else can you wish for on a beautiful fall day?

9. Early flowers and happy moose at Algonquin

Victoria Day weekend was a bit chilly this year (temperatures were around freezing most nights). It didn’t stop us from enjoying dainty spring flowers and a great bike ride from Mew Lake to Rock Lake. We even came across a very happy-looking moose on our way back.

8. Easter at MacGregor Point Provincial Park

Since Easter is all about nature awakening and rejuvenation, we decided to head for the woods to celebrate it. It was the first time we did it and it is bound to become one of our favourite family traditions. Kids got to do an Easter egg hunt in the actual forest and we did lots of hiking even though there were still heaps of snow around.

7. Sunsets at Pinery

Sunsets at Pinery Provincial Park are always gorgeous whether you watch them on the beach or over the Old Ausable Channel.

6. Family Day weekend at Arrowhead Provincial Park

Arrowhead is often called the best kept secret in Ontario. Well, I think the secret is out as this February we had to spend over an hour in a car lineup to get to the park entrance. It’s easy to see why the park is so popular in the winter: with hiking, snowshoeing, tubing, skiing and skating around the torch-lit loop, you never run out of things to do.

5. Backpacking at Bon Echo Provincial Park

It was our first backpacking trip and in spite of hordes of mosquitoes and a sprained ankle, we are planning more and longer hiking trips.

4. Canoeing at Kawartha Highlands

Canoeing is probably my favourite outdoor activity. Remoteness, beauty, loons at night, tranquility – all of these make any canoe trip irresistible, especially in a beautiful park like Kawartha Highlands.

3. Stars at Bruce Peninsula

Bruce Peninsula is beautiful any time of the day, but at night under the star strewn skies, it is spectacular.

2. Celebrating New Year at Allegany State Park

What can be a better way to ring in the New Year than in the woods, around a campfire with your family.

1. Foggy morning paddle with my younger son

During our canoe trip this year, my younger son woke me up early so we could go for a paddle. As we cut through the thick morning fog, it felt like we were the only people in the world.

1. University send-off party for our older son

Our son going to University and moving out was the biggest family event of the year. Since camping has always been such a big part of our lives, it seemed appropriate to celebrate this big achievement while camping.

Looking forward to new adventures in 2015!

Canoeing and the Question of Belonging

December 16, 2014December 16, 2014 / Oleksandra Budna / Leave a comment

One of the things our family loves most about Canada is the great outdoors and all the opportunities it offers to get outside and connect with nature (as evidenced by this blog). We took our first camping trip nine years ago and immediately fell in love with Canada’s landscapes, tranquility and the call of the loon. Ever since that first trip we haven’t stopped exploring. We have traversed Ontario many times. We did a Lake Superior Circle Tour. We took a road trip across the Maritimes. If asked to pick our favourite outdoor activity, we wouldn’t be able to do it. We love them all: camping all year round, backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, biking in warmer months, skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. We cherish every minute we spend in nature and look forward to the discoveries that lie ahead.

This post is not about our love for outdoors, though. It is about belonging.

portaging Last summer, we went canoeing at Kawartha Highlands. On our way back, we came across a bit of a portage jam. There was a big group of young guys getting ready to carry their stuff to the other side of the portage trail. There was also a couple that had just arrived. My husband deftly maneuvered through the crowd with a canoe on his shoulders and lowered it into the water. As we started loading our things and children, we were chatting in Russian with our friends who were already in their canoe, all packed and ready to go. The other couple was still around unloading their gear. The guy listened to our conversation for a while and finally interjected.

“Where are you from?” he asked. He didn’t sound unfriendly but wasn’t very welcoming either.

“Oh, we are coming from the Cox Lake,” we replied.

“No, no, I mean where are you from?” he repeated more slowly. “I can hear you are not Canadian.”

We paused thinking of a reply. We could have asked what it means to be a Canadian. Is it the official Canadian Citizen status? Well, we all have it. Or maybe it’s about meaningful contributions to the Canadian society? Something we do every day both through our jobs and volunteer activities. We could have pointed out that apart from the members of Aboriginal groups, all of us in Canada are from somewhere else. We could have explained that we are very proud of our heritage (Ukrainian in our case, Russian in the case of our friends) but for a number of reasons we chose to call Canada our home. We could even have laughed at the irony of being called non-Canadian while participating in one of the most quintessential Canadian activities.

We still had a long way to go, though. So we simply said:

“We are from Toronto.”

“Oh, I thought that was Toronto accent I heard,” replied the man, probably realizing his poor choice of words.

“Is that the way we pronounce ‘Tronno’?” we smiled back as our paddles touched water.

The Joy of Winter Camping

November 25, 2014December 21, 2016 / Oleksandra Budna / 2 Comments

Last week, Toronto got its first taste of winter. Even though the snow is gone now, all that white, even if a bit slushy, fluff on the ground made me excited about winter camping. I know the phrase winter camping sounds almost like an oxymoron. When I mention to people that we go camping in the winter, they usually raise their eyebrows in extreme disbelief, and even my reassurances that we stay in a yurt or a cabin do little to persuade them that winter camping is a good idea. Well, this post is an attempt to explain what compels us to leave our warm apartment behind and go freeze in the woods.

The joy of winter

Winter wonderland
I know it’s an overused expression but winter is truly magical. Forest is beautiful any time of the year but it reserves a special ethereal kind of beauty for those who dare to venture into the woods in the cold of winter. The monochromatic landscape makes all the lines, curves and forms more prominent and striking. Winter is a skilled artist sculpting the most whimsical creations from ice and snow. On a clear day, snow coated branches and ice covered streams sparkle in the sun, and the whole forest seems to reverberate and glow with freshness and vigor. And when it snows, the world is muted and soft as the white fluff delicately envelopes everything in sight. Or, sometimes, it’s a wind-swept winter desert, rough yet absolutely spectacular.

Sleeping under the blanket of snow

Lake Huron at MacGregor Point Provincial Park

Old Ausable Channel at Pinery Provincial Park

Stubbs Falls at Arrowhead Provincial Park

Red House Lake at Allegany State Park, NY

Lake Huron at Pinery Provincial Park

Winter activities
Remember when the sight of first snow made you excited about all the things you can do outside? Time to bring that joy back! When it comes to outdoor activities, winter is unlike any other season. It’s the only time when you can go skiing, skating, tobogganing, snowshoeing, when you can build snowforts and snowmen, engage in snowball fights and make snow angels. Winter has a magical ability to coax a kid from under all those layers of coats, scarves, snowpants, and adult worries. What’s more, these activities don’t require special training or skill, just a childlike enthusiasm and willingness to try.

Tubing hill at Arrowhead

Skiing at Killarney

Challenge
For us, testing our ability to be away from everyday conveniences is one of the things we love about camping. Winter adds another layer of challenge to the simplest tasks: walking to the bathroom, chopping wood, making fire, cooking. But with extra challenges come additional rewards. A simple cup of hot chocolate tastes heavenly after a day in the woods, a game of cards is so exciting in a warm yurt in the evening, and there is nothing I love more than sitting by the fire, wrapped up in a blanket, sipping red wine and watching the snow fall.

Celebrating New Year around a campfire

Stay tuned – tips on winter camping coming soon!

Falling for Fall Camping

September 25, 2014September 28, 2015 / Oleksandra Budna / 1 Comment

Summer is officially over but it doesn’t mean you have to put your camping gear away. Fall has so much to offer that it will make you fall in love with camping all over again. Here are some reasons why we love fall camping so much:

View from the Crack, Killarney Provincial Park

Fall Colours

Well, it is an obvious one. Albert Camus once said that “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” I could use hundreds of words to describe the second spring and wouldn’t come even close to capturing the beauty that is a forest in the fall. It’s as if nature, in the face of impending monochromatic winter, splashes all its paints across the canvas.

Looking up, Canisbay Lake Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park

Feast for Senses

Fall is a feast not only for your eyes but all the other senses as well. Cool crispness of the morning, earthy smell of mushrooms, crunchy leaves under your feet, campfire smoke dancing in the sunlight, multicoloured foliage twirling in the wind. Fall air is filled with beauty and tranquility.

Dancing Light Mushroom Log

Rediscover Your Favourite Parks

It is a great opportunity to rediscover your favourite parks and see them in a new light, both literally and figuratively. With the beach weather gone, fall is a good time to try new activities that parks have to offer, explore new trails and locations.

Canoeists on Mazinaw Lake, Bon Echo Provincial Park

Mild Weather

Speaking of the weather, cooler temperatures make most camping activities, like hiking and biking, more pleasant and less sweat-inducing. Yes, the evenings are usually chilly but they make campfires even more inviting and conversations more sizzling. Plus a hearty stew tastes so much better on a chilly fall night by the fire!

Getting Wood at Killarney Biking at Lake St. Peter Provincial Park

Absence of Bugs

No bugs! To all those people who can’t go camping because of pesky mosquitoes and flies – fall is the time to try it.

Sun Rays Red Giant

Smaller Crowds

Finally, one of my personal favourites – fewer people. Parks tend to get overcrowded in the summer. As the number of park visitors subsides in the fall, I can finally find much needed solitude and refuge from the city buzz. As the nature starts slowing down preparing for the winter, I am inspired to do the same: breathe in deeply, exhale slowly, calm down my racing mind and listen to myself.

Autumn Reflections

For a list of great Ontario Parks to visit in the fall, check out my article on Parks Blogger Ontario.

My Outdoor Classroom

September 10, 2014October 6, 2016 / Oleksandra Budna / 2 Comments

I went on my first hiking trip when I was ten. We just finished grade four, and our homeroom teacher, an avid outdoorsman, decided we were ready for a few days in the woods. To get to our camping destination, we took public transit and then walked for two hours or so. Most of us had never been camping before so our teacher taught us how to pack our backpacks, what to bring with us on a trip, how to set up a tent, collect wood and cook food over the campfire. We stayed there for three days, making short hiking trips into the forest and gathering medicinal herbs, which we later donated to the pharmacy. By the end of the trip I was hooked. Luckily, he remained our homeroom teacher till we graduated from school six years later, and those camping trips became an annual tradition. He would take us backpacking in the Carpathian mountains every summer and skiing in the winter. The trips would get longer, tougher and further away. And every year I would enjoy them more and more.

The tents we used were old army tents, extremely heavy when dry and weighing about a ton after getting wet. They were hard to set up, especially after we lost or broke all the poles and had to find suitable sticks on every trip. There were no zippers on those tents, just some loops and hooks, so they offered little in terms of protection from cold or mosquitoes. We didn’t have any pads, only sleeping bags, also heavy and big, and we used our backpacks as pillows. The backpacks themselves were nothing like sleek modern contraptions with padded straps and back supports. They were weirdly rounded, bulky and extremely uncomfortable. The straps were narrow, and after a day of lugging the backpack around felt razor-sharp.

Somehow none of those things mattered. When I think of those trips, my most vivid memories are of sitting around the campfire and listening to our teacher’s fascinating stories about his travels. Or one of my classmates playing the guitar and singing the same two songs (I think he only knew two) over and over again. I can still picture breathtaking views from mountain tops, which were even more special because they required so much work. I remember warm summer nights when we would decide to forego sleep altogether and stay up all night waiting for the sunrise. Morning haze over the mountains, the thrilling song of nightingales, and the hot red orb of the sun rolling out from behind the hills. Fresh smell of woods and multicoloured flowery carpets of high mountain meadows. Card games with my classmates on long winter nights. The excitement of flying down a toboggan hill on plastic sheets, and all the pain and aches afterwards because plastic offered little in terms of protection from bumps and gaps.

Most importantly, I remember the growing confidence and satisfaction that came from accomplishing something that hadn’t seemed possible before, the feeling of community and knowing that you can rely on your friends. While we learned a lot of practical camping and survival skills from our teacher, he taught us way more than that. We learned to watch out for each other and provide support when someone was tired or hurt. We learned to share by pulling all our food supplies together to make some weird but always delicious concoction and then distribute it between all of us making sure everyone got enough to eat. We learned that you had to keep walking even when the mountain top seemed too high up or the road way too long. We learned that even the longest routes seemed shorter with your friends around.

My teacher died a few years ago from a heart attack. I never got to tell him how much all those trips meant to me and that they inspired my lifelong passion for the outdoors. I can only hope he knew that while we enjoyed his Ukrainian language and literature classes, the most important lessons he taught us were outside the classroom.

The Nature of Freedom

August 28, 2014November 17, 2015 / Oleksandra Budna / 5 Comments

Nature has always been a big part of my life. Even though I grew up in the city, I used to spend most of my summers at my grandparents’. They lived in a small village encircled by deep woods. Their house backed onto a large garden plot cut off by the narrow ribbon of a crystal-clear, ice-cold stream. On the other side of it was an orchard with apple and pear trees. I loved to spend my Sunday afternoons lying in the tall grass, munching on apples and pears I’d just found on the ground, weaving flower wreaths and watching the clouds floating above.

The orchard gradually melted into the forest. That’s where we roamed with my friends (long before we turned ten), foraging for mushrooms, wild strawberries and hazel nuts. The forest was not scary and unknown. I was a magical place full of life, beauty and tasty surprises. I still remember the sound of twigs crunching under our feet, the joy of finding mushrooms under last year’s leaves, the sweet taste of wild strawberries and raspberries melting in my mouth, the smell of spearmint that I liked to pick along the stream and rub between my palms.

Some days we would scale cherry trees that grew in a communal orchard, saddle one of the highest branches and spend hours eating cherries and spitting out pits. Or we would find a mulberry tree, pick it clean and come back home all stained and full of juicy goodness.

In the afternoon, most of the kids in the village would take cows to pasture. We would take turns watching each other’s cattle, start fire and roast apples and corn. We would stay in the meadow late into the evening, sometimes coming back as it was already getting dark, met by our grandparents and parents’ reproachful “Do you know what time it is? We still need to milk the cows.”

That was the thing, though. We never knew the time. Those summer days weren’t measured in minutes and hours. They were fluid, slow, and unhurried. When I think of those summers I spent at my grandparents’, the things that usually come to mind are the warm smell of the earth, the cooling breeze in the woods, not having to wear shoes for weeks in a row, and the feeling of freedom.

Now as I watch my kids grow, I want them to experience the same connection to nature and feeling of freedom I was lucky to have when I was little. I want them to know that it’s not us versus nature and that we don’t need to protect ourselves from it. That nothing they will see on a screen comes close to the fascinating sights, smells and sounds of forests, lakes, mountains and oceans. That mosquito bites and getting soaked in the rain are a small price to pay for all the benefits we receive when we spend time outdoors (plus getting caught in the rain can be quite fun).

I can see it working when they don’t want to go home at the end of each camping trip. When my 17-year-old son keeps asking where we are going next. When our 10-year-old refuses to wear shoes. When they stop to study a flower or listen to a bird. When they pick up berries in the woods and say those taste like nothing we could ever get in a store. When my younger son wants to wake up early and go canoeing with me. When my older son brings pictures of a sunrise from his, now independent of us, travels.

I hope this feeling of fascination and freedom stays with them when they grow up.

P.S. I took the pictures during my trip back home a few years ago. Unfortunately, the beautiful forest of my childhood looked much thinner due to excessive logging. As in other parts of the world, economic development is taking priority over environmental protection.