Outdoors, hiking a trail with children, so many conversations happen. Sometimes they happen because we come upon a discovery. Sometimes they happen because a child is still pondering or wondering about something we did earlier in the day. And sometimes they just plain happen… conversations that, while seemingly disconnected from what we’re doing, can only occur because we happen to be together, walking in the woods and everything is feeling less hurried.
Nature has a way of always creating the space children need when they have something to share or something they want to explore or ask questions about. There’s something about being in the woods or walking through a meadow that just plain slows things down.
In our increasingly hurried world, nature continually offers all of us its unhurried pace . The natural world is not demanding. It doesn’t ask any of us, children or adults, for right answers. Instead, it just offers us invitations. ‘Look and wonder about what you’re seeing.’ Or ‘Just be here and wonder about other things; anything you want to wonder about.’
There’s so much that happens when you’re outdoors with children that may not happen when you’re with those same children inside. Children who are quiet in other places may talk more. Children who have talked all day long at school may finally be able to relax and enjoy their own company and their own quiet. Children who worry about answering questions with right/wrong answers may finally have a chance to simply observe and share what they’re thinking about with no expectations; with no need to provide any answer at all. Nature offers a space where children can slow down long enough to fully notice things, to look more closely at the world around them and feel a sense of wonder about just how fascinating and absolutely mesmerizing that world really is.
~ Wendy Banning ~
Nature has a way of always creating the space children need when they have something to share or something they want to explore or ask questions about. There’s something about being in the woods or walking through a meadow that just plain slows things down.
In our increasingly hurried world, nature continually offers all of us its unhurried pace . The natural world is not demanding. It doesn’t ask any of us, children or adults, for right answers. Instead, it just offers us invitations. ‘Look and wonder about what you’re seeing.’ Or ‘Just be here and wonder about other things; anything you want to wonder about.’
There’s so much that happens when you’re outdoors with children that may not happen when you’re with those same children inside. Children who are quiet in other places may talk more. Children who have talked all day long at school may finally be able to relax and enjoy their own company and their own quiet. Children who worry about answering questions with right/wrong answers may finally have a chance to simply observe and share what they’re thinking about with no expectations; with no need to provide any answer at all. Nature offers a space where children can slow down long enough to fully notice things, to look more closely at the world around them and feel a sense of wonder about just how fascinating and absolutely mesmerizing that world really is.
~ Wendy Banning ~
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