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C&NN Connect was created to support people and organizations working worldwide to reconnect children and nature.

Children and Nature News

We celebrate nature connectors and protectors, including barrier-busting women of the past and those who are making herstory today. We’ll be adding new profiles, from A to Z, throughout the month.

Legacy of Leadership: A Q&A With Juan Martinez

‘Forest kindergarten’ gets kids outside and into nature

Nature Is Important, But Access Is Limited For Many

Medical Providers Are Taking Nature Therapy Seriously

More…

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September 2009 Blog Posts (24)

Ready Set Fall! 10 Ways to Enjoy this Season

http://shannonbaer.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/ready-set-fall-10-ways-to-enjoy-this-season/

Added by Shannon Baer on September 29, 2009 at 5:20am — No Comments

Grow Your Own Tree Hugger -- a new book helping preserve nature through children --

Putting the fun into being green ... is the theme of my book out this month, Grow Your Own Tree Hugger: 101 activities to teach your child how to live green. It just received a most positive review from Rebecca Johnson, a top 10 Amazon reviewer and was referenced by Sara Snow, TV Host & Green Living Expert on www.treehugger.com....it makes a good adult read too. Helping kids to think sustainably can evolve into being as commonplace as brushing their teeth or buckling their seat belts if… Continue

Added by Wendy Rosenoff on September 27, 2009 at 11:52am — 1 Comment

The Backyard Revolution II

Just posted at http://www.childrenandnature.org/blog/

Sep 21st, 2009 by Richard Louv

A while back, I wrote about a terrific book in this space, and mentioned there was more to come. So here’s Part II.

Doug Tallamy is professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, and the author of “Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens”, a book I’ve endorsed as “the perfect antidote to the… Continue

Added by Richard Louv on September 22, 2009 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Are You a Road Block to Play?

Today, there are so many great people lending their voices to the play movement. Educators, pediatricians, the Department of Health and Human Services, and great organizations like the Alliance for Childhood, the International Play Association, and others.

I encourage you to watch the video above and think about the… Continue

Added by Bethe Almeras on September 21, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

NJ's Campaign Tools

When we launched our statewide campaign for afterschool programs, Celebrate Afterschool! Outdoors in the Garden State we:

First, hosted a launch at our Annual Statewide Afterschool Conference in November . we partnered with NJDEP, Gov Commission on Environmental Education, the Sec. of State's office and the Association of NJ Environmental Educators. At this Annual conference 1/3 of the workshops were provided by our partners.

Second:

We provided… Continue

Added by Diane Genco on September 20, 2009 at 6:26pm — 1 Comment

Why your child needs more time outside (Reprinted with permission)

Why your child needs more time outside

by Kathleen F. Miller

http://www.blueemu.com

Apr 01, 2007

Does your child have "nature-deficit disorder"?

In his 2006 book, Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv coined that phrase, and it's been inspiring discussion ever since. More than ever before, Louv says, children are out of touch with nature, instead staying inside, plugged in to television and other electronic… Continue

Added by Alice Hohl on September 18, 2009 at 8:30am — No Comments

Wilderness Works, an Amazing Organization in Atlanta

Yesterday, a new visitor and new friend to The Cabin Path! Bill Mickler of Wilderness Works contacted me about bringing some groups out for workshops. His work is amazing! While walking our trails, he told me that he grew up watching "Daniel Boone" on tv, and he always wanted to be like him! I think he has achieved his dream! A different time, and different circumstances, but he is truly a trailblazer! He and his group are taking the… Continue

Added by Sarah Crutchfield on September 17, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

Green Your School Contest!

The Student Conservation Association is hosting a Green Your School Contest for all high schools.

The contest presents a fantastic opportunity for high school students to receive recognition for environmental projects that they are working on and to receive funding to continue or start new sustainability projects. It also presents teachers with the opportunity to merge hands-on and student based learning strategies with community involvement, science and… Continue

Added by Greg Amend on September 17, 2009 at 6:31am — 1 Comment

It’s Summertime: Where are the Children?

Re-posted from Outdoor Afro, August 13, 2009

Each 1970’s and early 80’s summer in Oakland, California meant freedom. Summer meant my friends and I left our houses as early as we could, and dreaded the sight of flickering street lamps in the evening. We sometimes spent an entire day riding our bikes to the nearest convenience store 5 miles away, or roaming the neighborhood by roller skate or “tennis” shoe.

We had… Continue

Added by Rue on September 16, 2009 at 9:30pm — No Comments

My Wishes for Today's Kids...

Today I wrote a blog post that I would love to share. While it's about children and nature, it's also about a whole lot more.

“Childhood is the fiery furnace in which we are melted down to essentials and that essential shaped for good.” ~ Katherine Anne Porter

As a writer, and I hope, a thought-leader on childhood issues, I spend a lot of time speaking to parents, educators, and other grown-ups. Today, I want to speak to the kids. Hopefully, some of their grown-ups… Continue

Added by Bethe Almeras on September 16, 2009 at 1:02pm — No Comments

Help Nature Clubs for Families make a master list of events for the year!

Here is a growing list of special events. We have been trying to make a master list resource of special natural events that happen yearly. Please add to the list!

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Jan. 19

National Wildlife Week March 23

World Water Day March 22

Earth Hour March 28

Leave No Child Inside Days April 20-25

Earth Day April 22

Guerrilla Gardening Day May 1

National Doughnut Day - love… Continue

Added by Chip Donahue on September 16, 2009 at 7:08am — No Comments

Ten Feet Off the Beaten Path

The Children and Nature Grassroots conference is over, and I am overstimulated. Head around the resort lake, then off the path into the clear bright creek to lie flat in the high altitude sun. Here's a photo of what it looks like, ten feet off the asphalt path..

Added by Ellen Haas on September 15, 2009 at 12:02pm — No Comments

Outdoor Afro! Check this really terrific Blog about African Americans in the outdoors!

Outdoor Afro! Where Black People and Nature Meet

Added by Kyle Macdonald on September 15, 2009 at 10:31am — 3 Comments

A Fine Example of Natural Revitalization

In my childhood hometown, where I've recently re-located after 24 years of city living, and adjacent to my former elementary school - was once the town's sewage lagoon.

Take a look at it now! (And what a combined community spirit can create!)

http://www.watershednaturecenter.com/index.php

What I especially love about the Watershed Nature Center "is" its proximity to my old elementary school. It now serves as a… Continue

Added by Jennifer Ward on September 15, 2009 at 7:04am — No Comments

To-Tweet or Not-to-Tweet?

Here's a great explanation of why we Tweet by the non-profit savvy folks at http://www.givezooks.com

"You are not alone if you are a community based nonprofit and trying to figure out how Twitter can help your organization, but Twitter’s famous simple question, “What are you doing?” is exactly what your supporters want to know. If you focus on that, it may really help you tell your story better than the most highly crafted, polished,… Continue

Added by amy pertschuk on September 14, 2009 at 3:30pm — 3 Comments

New research on value of outdoor play for classroom learning

From the National Wildlife Federation:

Dear Colleagues,

As American childhood has steadily moved indoors in the past 12 to 15 years, outdoor play is increasingly rare. The weekly indoor-outdoor time ratio is now about 10 to one on the indoor side. We wondered what effect this modern "indoor childhood" is having on the quality of K-12 education and the average student's readiness to learn in the classroom.

In this back-to-schools… Continue

Added by Alice Hohl on September 14, 2009 at 8:38am — 2 Comments

Early Education newsletter focuses issue on Nature Education

http://www.communityplaythings.com/mailing/collage/currentcollage.html

Added by Alice Hohl on September 14, 2009 at 8:38am — No Comments

Grand Rapids Press features No Child Left Inside Legislation

http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2009/09/legislation_aims_to_get_kids_o.html

Added by Alice Hohl on September 14, 2009 at 8:37am — No Comments

Leave No Child Inside Central Ohio Leadership Retreat

The Leave No Child Inside

Central Ohio Collaborative

Leadership Retreat

September 25, 2009

10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Greenwood Lake Camp, Delaware Ohio

Please check out our registration link for complete information and to sign up if this event is right for you. This will be a break from our traditional large-scale annual events.

We will have a large-scale event in the spring that will include… Continue

Added by Alice Hohl on September 14, 2009 at 8:37am — No Comments

Children Should Run and Fall Down

I think kids should run and fall down, talk to strangers, get lost, be scared, suffer consequences and so grow stronger, more vital. Too bad if they get injured and traumatized; they’ll heal -- and bear scars that tell good stories. Our culture has become too fearful, and this isn’t good for us.

Macbeth’s witch, Hecate, prophesies at the beginning of the play, “Security is mortals’ chiefest enemy.” This declaration led to many animated discussions in my English classrooms. It means… Continue

Added by Ellen Haas on September 13, 2009 at 11:02pm — 5 Comments