Posts Tagged "nature"
Giant heads and conkers – still life assessment pieces
I’m busy cracking on with my next module, but I thought I’d post the finished assessment pieces from my last one for my learning journal. The brief was a series of studies on still-life subjects, one man made, one natural, culminating in two finished pieces. It’s amazing how much you learn from drawing something over and over again. Change the arrangement, change the light source, change the medium and seeing what works and what doesn’t… The natural pieces are much more my sort of thing and I enjoyed these a million times more, and I think it shows too, cause they’re better drawings and much more full of personality and ‘me’. Anyway. Here they are:
Read MoreCloser to Nature – my chat with Chris Packham!
As anyone who reads this blog or sees my photographs will know, I’m a bit of a fan of the outside. I sometimes think that my entire natural skill as a parent lies in three areas – I’m pretty hopeless at most else, but when it comes to getting creative and making a mess, reading stories, and, most importantly, poking leafy, muddy things with sticks and jumping in puddles, I really start to shine as a mum.
A couple of weeks ago, the people at Arla contacted me about their Kids Closer to Nature Campaign, to see if I’d like to get involved, The campaign aims to encourage children to reconnect with the nature in their local areas by facilitating Closer to Nature Grants, allowing individuals, communities and families to work together to get our children out of the house and excited about nature.
As part of their work, Arla recently commissioned a report looking at “the population’s changing relationship with nature and the outdoors to show how factors of modern society have led people, specifically children, to be less connected to the natural world around them.” The results are staggering, revealing that almost a quarter of children rarely or never play outside, with the vast majority of children spending DOUBLE the time watching television than they do playing outside.
Parents’ reasons for this, including the social pressures of busy lives and concerns about safety, are valid but still fall short somehow. I myself know the pressure of trying to fit everything in into a day, and especially how lack of energy and a dozen things to get done can often make staying inside, TV on, the easier and seemingly less stressful option when you have a toddler. But do I really want Kai to grow up not knowing what it’s like to find conkers, or pick blackberries, or find a bird’s nest? No, I really, really don’t. Even as a parent usually keen to get outside and have Kai learn about nature not from a book or a TV show, but by getting his hands dirty, I’ve been challenged by the report’s results and started to rethink the balance of our inside-outside living. And I know I’m not alone – over 95% of parents when questioned agree that they think more time outside would make their children healthier and happier.
Last Friday I was delighted to have the chance to have a chat with none other than Chris Packham, TV naturalist, photographer and wildlife expert, who is backing Arla’s campaign, to talk about his frustration at the way in which our children seem to be losing their relationship with the natural world, and how we can overcome the apparent obstacles of modern society and our tendency for us to keep our children inside. Chris was lovely: full of passion and a practical, common-sense attitude about the whole thing which I really warmed to. I came off the phone inspired, with feet itching to don wellies and go get muddy with Kai.
As well as chatting about Chris’ childhood, growing up firmly rooted in the natural world around him, and how that has led to a lifelong passion for wildlife, Chris and I talked about his own top tips for parents to help get their own children enthused about nature.
1. Don’t let your appreciation of nature be “weather dependent”
It is all too easy to glance out of the window in the morning, see that it is cold and wet, and opt out of ‘outside’ for the day, moving our kids from inside space to inside space by way of the car. But as Chris rightly pointed out, we live in a country where it generally rains A LOT! This is our climate! We need to be teaching our children to enjoy nature in the country they live in – and that means getting wet! Children, generally, are far hardier than they we assume, and warm outdoor and wet-weather gear is usually affordable and easily available. One of Kai’s favourite activities is walking in the rain with his little umbrella, it’s ME that doesn’t enjoy it very much! This is a case of us as parents being hardier, and bringing up our children to be the same. If we forever wait for a dry day, chances are, for most of the year, our opportunities will be far and few between!
2. Have a healthy and common-sense attitude toward cleanliness – “cotton wool-ing” is not an answer.
Insisting that our children always have clean hands and a “don’t touch” mentality is only going to be barrier to our children properly enjoying nature – a look but don’t touch environment is no fun at all!. As Dr William Bird, the campaign’s independent adviser on the health benefits of nature points out, the development of a healthy immune system depends on exposure to natural bacteria. So let your children learn through touch, let them prod, poke, pick up and get mucky while they’re outside. It is the tactile, sensory experiences that children will remember and love the most.
3. Remember that nature isn’t dependent on where you live
Even in the heart of cities and busy towns there are ample opportunities for children to experience the natural world. Green spaces, footpaths and parks all provide environments that give children the chance to get close to nature and learn about wildlife where they live. Nature doesn’t always have to be exotic and wild, you don’t need to live in the middle of rolling countryside or right next to a nature reserve – encourage children to look for, and notice wildlife where they are because it IS there.
4. If you’re worried about your child’s saftey, make use of the many safe, supervised opportunities for them to be outside.
Youth and community groups and schools are a fantastic way for children to get outside within a secure, trusted environment, especially when our own time is often short. We should be working with our schools and communities to take a leading role in children’s nature education, getting children out of the classroom and outside as part of their day-to-day educational experience. Encouraging school involvement means that all sections of our society are covered – all children go to school meaning wherever you live, your child will get a chance to experience nature. Arla’s Back to Nature Grants, which anyone can apply for, are a fantastic way for us to help enhance our schools’ and communities’ nature resources, providing small-scale grants as well as larger grants up to £1500. Chris encouraged parents to talk their children and work with their teachers and community workers to help children come up with their own ideas about how to encourage nature in their area. Whether it’s just putting up some bird boxes, buying some allotment space for a school, or making a nature trail through local woodland, Back to Nature Grants provide everyone with the opportunity to do something.
To find our more about Arla’s Back to Nature Campaign and how to apply for a grant for a local nature project, have a look at their website for lots of encouragement and ideas.
Many thanks to Chris for his time. I narrowly missed out on a chance to meet him in person this time, but really hope to have another opportunity soon, so watch this space!
I’d love if you could help add to Chris’ top tips. What are your best ideas to encourage parents to get their children out of the house and discovering wildlife?
Read MoreUrban Sanctuary
I was disappointed not to get the chance to do the photo prompt on this week’s workshop. Photography (of the amateur kind) is a bit of a secret passion of mine, although not one I seem to have invested a lot of time in lately. My camera is a bit rubbish and not working very well, with a battery life of about 20 minutes if you don’t use the flash, but it takes reasonable pictures.
So, this morning when there was finally a break in the rain, me and Kai wrapped up and set off to take some photos to introduce you to the very best thing about my home neighbourhood. We moved into our tiny terraced house 7 years ago at a time when I still couldn’t walk very far so it was actually only once I had started walking longer distances again, about 3 years ago, that I discovered this place.
Read MoreBliss Is…
… Lying cheek-to-cheek on the grass under a tree in the park with my almost-toddler, one week before his first birthday.
Looking up at the blue, blue sky peeping through the branches, and watching the leaves dance and shake in the wind, and said almost-toddler pointing and pointing at the patterns and turning his face to grin at me and give me kisses. Telling me the secrets of the universe through noncensical words of two syllables, laden with meaning and expression and delight.
My bright, vivacious, exhausting, miraculous boy. Let me see you grow and change and flourish and ripen. But please, please, please stay exactly as you are. Smiling at the clouds and smelling of strawberrys.
