GRAND Magazine - September/October 2019 - 22

nature
All of this helps us age more gracefully, but nothing
rejuvenates many of us quite so much as connecting
the young to nature, through our families, volunteer
programs at parks, religious or service organizations,
and conservation groups. Not only do kids quicken
the pulse, but they offer immeasurable ingredients to health and
happiness: social contact, meaning,
the infusion of wonder, to kids and
adults, of every age.
Keep it simple, especially at first.

Barbara R. Duncan says she takes her
three-year-old grandson outside to "do
small things... that capture his attention,
like picking up rocks... and feeding the
ducks." Jeffrey Willius advised, "It's the
very simplicity that stymies some folks.
My own grandpa would plop me down
on the lawn, turn on the hose, and have

me watch for night crawlers to be flooded out of their
burrows. Then we'd go fishing." A twofer.
Create a grand garden.
"From an early age, I remember being in the
garden with my grandparents," writes Penny Ellis
Maurer, "weeding, watering, learning... Then the
fruits of our labor were brought into the kitchen
where I learned the finer points of canning,
preserving and preparation from my grandmothers. It's the joy of sharing it with someone that makes it special."
Pack a grand G.O. bag.

Marti Erickson stashes two or more
daypacks in her trunk, filled with binoculars, extra jackets, and nature
guides for sudden getaways with
her granddaughter. She also makes
a practice of keeping two collapsible chairs in her car trunk.
If she's having a particularly stressful day, she drives to
the closest patch of nature, sits on
one of those chairs, and is soothed.
"My oldest grandchild likes nature
breaks, too, and joins me when
we're out together."
Tell the grandkids about your own
childhood nature adventures.

That time you saw a mountain
lion, the fish that got away, your
own three-story tree house. Ni Ke, a

22 GRAND

SEPT-OCT 2019

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great ways grandparents and grandfriends can connect kids to nature.

mother who lives in Tonga, describes how her eightyfour-year-old mother "tells her grandchildren
the songs they sang" in hard
times, and the simple skills
they learned, including "how
to make garlands and how
to keep pressed flowers." Ni
Ke's father told his grandkids
"about riding from his village in
the mountains in Cyprus on a
donkey to help work the fields,"
and he taught his grandkids how
to cook out side. In addition to
relating stories orally, grandparents can make a video or audio
recording or write and share stories
about their experiences.

Click here to continue reading
Richard Louv is a journalist and author of nine books,
including Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children
From Nature-Deficit Disorder, The Nature Principle:
Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age, and Vitamin N:
The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life: 500 Ways
to Enrich Your Family's Health & Happiness. His books
have been translated and published in 24 countries, and
helped launch an international movement to connect
children, families and communities to nature. He is cofounder and Chairman Emeritus of the Children & Nature
Network, an organization helping build the movement.

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GRAND Magazine - September/October 2019

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