LIVING EARTH RICHMOND HOW TO

A couple of children remained grinning down at me still not quite sure how to start, but an encouraging, “Down you go!” set everyone in motion.

Most of the children at the top of hill imitated my roll and came down.

Children who were still on the playground and watching from afar were cheering for me to do it again. I often model problem-solving skills, perseverance, kindness and patience for the children, but was I also willing to model “fun” for them?ĭown I went like a log and for a brief moment I was a rock star. I instantly had many willing players however, most did not roll down with abandonment, but were rather timid and watched me. Play is teaching me.Īnother day I invited the children to roll down a small hill. In my first few years of teaching, I thought that I needed to be serious in order to be an authority or to be “in charge”. I was even more accessible to them, yet still their teacher. Usually, this game is sung and acted out by small children. It was almost as if in that moment, they knew that I understood them. The way they looked at me is something that is hard for me to put into words. The children’s reaction to this was immediate. One day I decided to really “fall down” as the verse indicates rather than simply bend forward or bend at the knees. Even something as simple as the game, “Ring around the Rosie” turned out to be a lesson for me. In response to the child’s comment I simply said, “Mother Earth loves all creatures, even the earwigs.” There was a brief pause and the child who killed the earwig said, “I didn’t know Mother Earth loved earwigs.” I said, “Yes, she does.” The little child then said, “I won’t kill them no more.” To this I simply said, “Good.” No moralizing or judgment needed, but rather helping a child maintain a trusting and respectful relationship with the earth.Ĭhildren connect with an adult’s authenticity very quickly. One child said that earwigs are bad and one child killed an earwig. Now, to be honest, under my cool exterior, I am not extremely fond of earwigs however, my purpose in teaching is not to teach the children my likes and dislikes, and especially not my fears. A couple of the children stood up and wanted to run off, but when they saw that I did not, they stayed and sat back down. Naturally, this set off a commotion with the children. When a child began using the claw end of the hammer head to try and pry a small board loose, a whole host of earwigs began to scurry from under the wood. One day, the kindergarten children were removing small pieces of wood from larger pieces of wood so that they could use the boards to build outside. Our spirits need to connect with nature for the pure joy of it! It is truly a privilege to witness a child’s accomplishment and sense of efficacy when they have mastered the monkey bars, climbed a tree or jumped the rope 37 times without a miss! In my work with young children, I’ve come to understand how deep a role play, and especially play in nature, has in the healthy development of children. Helping children stay connected to the earth and to the cycles of the year feeds their spirits and calms their minds in ways that are impossible to achieve by other means. In a very basic way, play, exploration, work and contemplation in nature provides children the opportunities whereby a personal relationship with nature can form. When children are given the opportunity to form an intimate connection with the earth through consistent self-directed experiences a certain strengthening occurs within them – in their confidence, motor abilities and knowing about the greater cycles of birth and death, of sowing and reaping, of caring for and feasting off of the land and, over time, of creating a relationship with life and all that it offers. As we grow older, the pure joy and wonder is supplemented with our natural curiosity to know more through intellectual understanding. We’ve all seen children flap their arms when a bird passes, twirl around when leaves fall, dance like dervishes when the winds pick up and embody a myriad of different animals. When we observe young children, we can see that they not only want to be in nature, but it is as if they are a part of it or better said, they experience nature as if they are it. For young children this connection is easily fostered through their own pure joy and wonder in the ever-changing, dynamic, beautiful living earth. The connection young children feel with nature is innate whether it is with the fluttering butterflies, the delicate yellow blossoms of spring, the mighty oaks, a mud puddle, scampering squirrels or the first snow fall.

Living earth richmond