I often ponder where thoughts or ideas originate. My interest in children exploring and treasuring our natural world most likely began in my early childhood. I was raised on a farm in rural Arkansas until the age of 10, when we moved to busy city after busy city in California.  

As a child, I experienced the seasons through nature. 

In the spring, after the frost, we would see wildflowers of brilliant colors popping up through the ground as we walked through the woods to the country schoolhouse we attended.  The brown trees became green again.  We picked up the acorns that had fallen on the ground and made tea sets out of them. Then, we had a tea party on an old tree stump. 

In the summer, there were fields of wheat and alfalfa growing together. The wheat grew tall, and the alfalfa was tangled closer to the ground. We created elaborate tunnels that led to secret hideouts. We jumped from rooftops onto piles of hay that my father was harvesting. As he was harvesting the hay, he would come across rabbits with nests of babies. When the mother ran away, he would collect those babies and bring them home for us to nurse to health. We would feed them with eyedroppers. We would chase bugs, lightning bugs, and butterflies. We knew it was summertime when we caught our first butterfly. We would release the butterfly and run home and take our shoes off because we were allowed to go barefoot all summer long after we caught our first butterfly. 

And then fall would come. The leaves changed to gold, red, and yellow. They would glisten in the sunlight, and we would have weenie roasts over the fire as my dad burned the falling leaves from the yard. We would go out and pick pumpkins to make jack-o’-lanterns. We would all walk to the country school in the dark for a Halloween carnival.

And in the winter, it would snow. I would still have to go out into the pasture and bring the cows home in the evening. But we made snow angels and snowmen. Or bundle up and have snowball fights with my mom and dad. My mom would make snow ice cream, which I still love today.

I would want all children to have the experience of living close to nature. But those are days gone by. But we still can give them the opportunity to experience the natural world in a way that will build memories for them, and that will instill in them respect for all the animals and the flowers that they experience.

What has been your experiences in nature that you would want to share with children