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A Sense of Wonder
By Wendy Priesnitz
“If I had influence with the
good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all
children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a
sense of wonder … so indestructible that it would last throughout life,
as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of
later years.” ~Rachel Carson
Wonder is the art of observing and asking
questions. Your child comes across a spider web and you pause together
to look at the web. I wonder what that web is made of? Why do spiders
make webs? How long does it take to make a web? How does a spider drink?
What happens to the web when it rains? Wonder helps to humble us with
the knowledge that there is always more to learn. And Nature is the best
place to develop our sense of wonder. Unfortunately, many children today
are not being mentored into knowing and appreciating the natural world.
Many parents are intimidated about sharing Nature
with their children because they are worried that they won’t know the
answers to their children’s questions. But one of the benefits of life
learning is that we get to learn alongside
our children. When you and your child walk in Nature, take along a
field guide or two, as well as a camera and a notebook. This will allow
you both to gather information and find the answers later in a book or
on the Internet. That way, you’ll be mentoring self-directed learning as
well as helping your child discover Nature.
Nature is everywhere, and experiencing it –
either alone or with a child – can be as simple as taking a walk.
The natural spaces within walking distance of our homes are filled with
any number of plants and animals that we can enjoy with our
children.
Play tag. Pick dandelions. Blow their seeds away.
Close your eyes and identify the sounds around you. Lie on the grass and
watch the clouds. “Become” a tree. Or a butterfly. Sit down under a real
tree and read a favorite story. Observe a spider building a web.
As adults, we need to make the time to develop
our own Nature connection and to nurture our own sense of wonder, in
order to share that with our children. It may be challenging to
make it a priority, but in the joy of Nature lies the motivation to live
more lightly and to protect the Earth. And that is something worth
passing on to our children.
At the same time, we can learn from our children
– how to wonder, how to dream, how to question. As poet W.B. Yeats put
it, “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses
to grow sharper.” So get out in Nature with your child and
you’ll discover many wonderful things together.
Learn More
Sharing Nature With Children by Joseph
Cornell (Dawn Publications, 1998)
The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our
Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv (Updated
version, Algonquin Books, 2008)
Childhood and Nature by David Sobel
(Stenhouse Publishers, 2008)
Into the Field: A Guide to Locally Focused
Teaching by Clare Walker Leslie (Orion Society, 2005)
I Love Dirt!: 52 Activities to Help You and
Your Kids Discover the Wonders of Nature by Jennifer Ward (Roost
Books, 2008)
It’s a Jungle Out There! 52 Nature Adventures
for City Kids by Jennifer Ward (Shambhala Publications, 2011)
Wendy Priesnitz is the founding
editor of Life Learning Magazine, the author of 13 books, and the mother
of two adult daughters who learned without school and have retained their sense of wonder.
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