17 Nov
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The Best Playground Is The One Nature Provided

Posted By: Jen in Articles    

 November 01, 2012 By Michael J. Coren New studies find that the more close to nature a playground is, the more kids like it and the healthier it is for kids. Time to throw out that jungle gym.
You can take homo sapiens out of the wilderness, but not the wilderness out of humans it appears. For decades, scientists have reported our species exhibits a...

14 Nov
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Getting kids outdoors makes them happier, healthier – and smarter

Posted By: Jen in Articles    

by Alicia Swanstrom Oct 31, 2012

 
 
 
PLAY3
Liza Sullivan/Through Play
Henry and Jettie Sullivan, 5-year-old twins, would use their times outdoors to role play and reenact scenes from books they read with their mother, Liza Sullivan.
To Liza Sullivan, a mother of two, the Earth is more than the grass beneath her feet. It’s a place where her...

30 Oct
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Let Your Children Go Tree-Climbing

Posted By: Jen in Articles    

By Laura Clark Children are being cut off from nature by mollycoddling parents who refuse to let them play out in the rain, climb trees and get dirty, according to a National Trust inquiry.  In a report out today, the charity urges parents to give youngsters wellies and a raincoat and send them outdoors to build dens, make mud pies and go bug-hunting.  It warns that...

24 Oct
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Is Nature a Cure for Bullying?

Posted By: Jen in Articles    

Huffington Post – October 19, 2012 By Jackie Ostfeld The first time I witnessed one of my students being bullied was during the winter of 2002. Fresh out of college, I had just begun my first job as a naturalist with an outdoor environmental education program in South Carolina. One of my students, Amanda* was very tall for her age, overweight and noticeably...

8 Oct
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C&NN’s Natural Teachers Network: Take the Pledge!

Posted By: gko-admin in Activities, GKO    

Web Resources to help teachers use the natural world as a classroom

  We hope that you find the following list to be a useful reference. This initial list is not comprehensive and will be augmented as new and relevant resources are discovered. Please send us your suggestions for additions by writing to info@childrenandnature.org. We will not be able to include every...

12 Sep
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Prescription for kids: Take a hike

Posted By: Jen in Articles    

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By Denis Cuff
 

4 Sep
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Vitamin N: The missing ingredient in the 21st Century Curriculum by Tonya Gray

Posted By: Jen in Articles, Educators, News    

July 15, 2012

In the words of the renowned philosopher Henry David Thoreau: We need the tonic of wilderness. And yet, in the 21st Century, we find our children increasingly without this ‘tonic’, or what Richard Louv (2011) calls ‘Vitamin N,’ for Nature. All available evidence suggests that young Australians are becoming less likely to engage in free play in outdoor...

5 Apr
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April 30-May 6th Screen-Free Week!

Posted By: Jen in Activities, Articles    
1 Dec
1 Comments

Ice skate, sled, ski or play hockey!

Posted By: Jen in Activities, GKO, News, Winter    

Winter Sports Park

2 Ice Rinks | Ski Area | Sledding Area | Warming House/Concession
Free Admission | $5.00 Skate Rental Fee
Winter Sports Park Photo Gallery | WSP Rules and Regulations WSP The Department of Parks and Recreation staff welcomes you to   the Winter Sports Park. For your safety please observe all rules  and regulations. The Winter Sports Park provides...

22 Jun
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Posted By: Jen in Articles, GKO, News    

The outdoors: Can nature really improve health?

 
 Children from a science class visit the Pioneer Park Forest Preserve in Naperville in 2002. (Tribune file photo)
By Julie Deardorff, Tribune newspapersMay 18, 2011
What would life be like if we were as immersed in nature as we are in electronics? In Richard Louv’s world, we’d be happier and...