I went through the educator certification yesterday for Project WILD which is a global educational curriculum for K-12 outdoor education. This training helps educators teach children about the importance of plants, animals, and the great outdoors through classroom lessons, interactive activities, service learning community projects, PE, etc. The facilitator had been teaching Project WILD for over 30 years and started the training with this question to us: "What was your best outdoor experience as a child?" She explained after listening to our answers that many younger people do NOT have outdoor experiences due to excessive use of technology. This subject is worthy of a whole show today and some deep reflections about how adults can help children to have some outdoor experiences which are essential for mental stability and overall health and well-being.
*Photo Credit: "Ronnie @ Raven Cliff Falls" by Ron Jones