Suz Lipman has more than 25 years experience as a writer, editor, social media manager, community builder, and advocate for getting children into nature. Suz serves as Social Media Director for the Children & Nature Network.
Summer is upon us and, for many families, that means a traditional camp experience for their children. But even the camp experience has changed over the years to reflect what Richard Louv noted in 2005′s Last Child in the Woods as a “shift in our relationship to the natural world … even in settings that [...]
Updated June 1: As First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the Let’s Move Outside initiative, expanding her campaign to solve childhood obesity, a broad coalition representing the business and non-profit communities announced a national strategic partnership called the Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK). OAK brings together the YMCA of the USA, REI, Sierra Club, National Wildlife [...]
An important new paper has just been released that further links children’s time in nature to their overall health. The paper, Using Nature and Outdoor Activity to Improve Children’s Health, was written by Leyla E. McCurdy, MPhil, Kate E. Winterbottom, MPH, Suril S. Mehta, MPH, and James R. Roberts, MD, MPH, and published in the [...]
There is a wealth of research to bolster the need for children to spend time in nature. Now visitors to the C&NN web site can access a round-up of selected research and studies that focus on nature in education and educational settings. These studies, along with others, were originally published by C&NN in four volumes, [...]
In addition to having 72 grassroots campaigns and hundreds of members in many parts of North America, the Children & Nature Movement includes clubs, groups, programs, and events around the globe, with ever-increasing numbers of people joining in. NatureWize in Guiyang,Guizhou, China, just hosted a brunch and litter-pick up event for April Awareness Month. A [...]
The 40th Earth Day day is upon us April 22, and many are celebrating the entire Earth Week, not to mention April’s Children & Nature Awareness Month. Earth Day’s legacy, from that first one in 1970, heralded a new era of conserving our land, air, water and other resources. At the government level, it sparked [...]
The Conference has ended. It was exciting to follow along and provide updates. A complete transcript of President Obama’s opening remarks can be seen here. C&NN Vice President and co-founder Martin LeBlanc, who is at the conference, wrote, “My main observation is that connecting children to the outdoors is fundamental to every Conservation priority the [...]
Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted the White House Childhood Obesity Summit as part of her work with the newly formed Childhood Obesity Task Force and its accompanying Let’s Move campaign. The Summit was attended by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, and Martin LeBlanc, [...]
The Obama Administration is recognizing the importance of the outdoors to people’s health and well-being, with two important new programs: The White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign to eradicate childhood obesity. The White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors will be held Friday, April 16. C&NN [...]
Hundreds of young people around the U.S. are preparing for Get Outside Day! 2010. On April 3rd and throughout the week, these Natural Leaders will engage in a variety of events to have fun, get out in nature, and encourage others to put down their electronic media and do the same. C&NN’s Natural Leaders Network [...]
The National Wildlife Federation is ramping up its Certified Wildlife Habitat program. Thousands of home and school gardeners already participate in the program, which allows families, students and others an opportunity for deeper enjoyment of nearby nature, as well as the education and satisfaction that comes from knowing that their spaces are helping local wildlife [...]
Despite a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study revealing that the average young person spends nearly eight hours a day with electronic media, attendance at traditional summer camp is up. U.S. camp attendance has grown by an average of one to three percent per year over the past several years. Parents report absorbing the message that [...]
Two members of C&NN’s Natural Leaders Network have been featured in important upcoming books.
Juan Martinez, Natural Leader Coordinator, is featured in the book, Hispanics Living Green, by Sharon T. Freeman. A Congressional Reception to celebrate the book will be held March 17.
Juan is also speaking at the Smart Start/Early Childhood Best Practices Conference in San Jose March 20.
Katia Rossi, one of the Core Leaders of the Natural Leaders Network, is profiled in the upcoming Girls Gone Green by Lynn Hirshfield.
Many states around the U.S. are working to get children into nature. Maryland’s Governor recently announced that state’s Children in Nature Action Plan for 2010. California passed a Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights, which includes 10 easy and fun things the state recommends children experience from age 4-14.
There’s more good news. In Colorado, “Colorado Kids Outdoors Program†legislation is making its way through the statehouse. The Kansas Coalition for Children in Nature was formed to work with state agencies to create opporturnities for children to experience nature. Connecticut’s Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection vowed to maintain a commitment to state parks and to the state’s existing “No Child Left Inside” initiative.
Safe Routes to School Publishes New Resource Guides
The Safe Routes to School National Partnership, to which C&NN belongs, has issued two new resource guides: Getting Students Active through Safe Routes to School: Policies and Action Steps for Education Policymakers and Professionals and Implementing Safe Routes to School in Low-Income Schools and Communities: A Resource Guide for Volunteers and Professionals. Getting Students Active [...]