(11/05/2009) As a parent with good intentions but not much background knowledge in environmental science, I often wonder if I am doing enough with my children to foster an appreciation of the outdoors. In order to learn more about how to instill a deep understanding of and respect for nature, I sought the advice of Bob DeLuca, president of Group for the East End — a nonprofit organization that protects the environment of eastern Long Island through education, citizen action, and professional advocacy. Mr. DeLuca’s approach to sharing his love of the environment with his children is refreshingly simple and accessible to all who are willing to slow down, look, and listen.
Having plenty of time to wander and wonder was the biggest gift he received as a young boy who loved soaking in the sights and sounds of his own backyard. “We were not campers, we were not hikers, we didn’t go away on vacations to do this kind of stuff, but I had it right there in the backyard. Two-thirds of my life was just sort of lying around, looking at it all.” Now Mr. Deluca affords the same luxury to his children.
“So, one of the things that I do with my kids is we go outside, and we just hang out and look and listen. You just want to open their ears and open their eyes at an early age. You don’t have to be a teacher, and you don’t have to be an expert.”
Mr. DeLuca has a few tried-and-true family favorites for experiencing the great outdoors together. Stargazing offers a wonderful opportunity for what Mr. DeLuca refers to as “free entertainment.”
“I still remember when my daughter was really tiny, and she looked up at the sky and was asking questions about the stars. In that moment I realized that even if you didn’t know one constellation-other than the Big Dipper, you could talk about everything from the planets to travel, to culture, to life and death.” For Mr. DeLuca’s daughter what started out as time with Daddy, simply looking up at the stars, became a true passion for finding and identifying the constellations.
Another simple recommendation is to make a small frame out of sticks or wood. Once the frame is made, you can set it down anywhere—the beach, soil, the lawn in your backyard—and look closely at what you see. “If you look at it long enough, not only can you sketch different things, such as the grasses that are different heights, you can see stuff crawling by. All those little things that we usually just ignore.”
Mr. DeLuca does not recommend stopping there. Discoveries, discussions, and research, which come with identifying and learning new things together, can create real excitement as a family.
Beachcombing and cleaning also holds many possibilities. Mr. DeLuca relayed a story about how a beach-cleaning project became a whole day of family fun, as well as a school project for his daughter.
“We took everything back to my house, dumped it out all over the driveway, and actually counted every single thing, and we did a whole graph on what we found. Beach cleaning is like a scavenger hunt. It was great because we actually had real, hard data from about 500 feet of beach, and we still remember the results.”
Mr. DeLuca it is all about creating an interesting array of unstructured “points of contact” with the outdoors. Once his children take interest in something, he captures the teachable moment by making himself available and following their lead. “It’s not like I say, ‘Okay, kids, today we’re going to go identify butterflies.’ Instead, I just plant a butterfly bush in our yard. Eventually, the kids will be on the front lawn the same time something flies by, and then it’s an afternoon of talking about it.”
Through these simple interactions with the natural world, children begin to develop characteristics or habits of mind that will serve them in a variety of situations. Mr. DeLuca shared some of the characteristics he has seen develop in his children over the years.
Attention to detail: Nature, in all its glory, offers endless opportunities for looking closely at the world. Whether it is the patterns on a leaf, the bugs under a rock, or the miraculous individuality of snowflakes, there is an unlimited amount to observe. Noticing such details is not nurtured in our busy lives, yet the more time one spends outside, the more astute one becomes.
Curiosity: A natural sense of curiosity is the ultimate cure for “boredom.” In a world where children are fed a constant stream of information, curiosity seems to fall by the wayside. A special aspect of spending time outdoors is that the more you see and learn, the more questions you have. Not only is curiosity nurtured, so is the ability to formulate and ask good questions. The answer to one question can always lead to a bigger and better one.
Connection to something larger than yourself: Mr. DeLuca has found that the more time he spends outside with his family, the easier it has become to talk about life, death, growth, and change with his children. Discovering a bird that has fallen from its nest prompts a discussion about how its death is a natural part of life. “Almost all of life’s stories and life’s challenges can be found in some metaphor in nature.”
Through discoveries and discussions children begin to realize that they have a lot in common with animals and other living things, and they start to feel a deep connection. “I can’t underestimate or undervalue what it means to be connected to something other than just the four corners of your house and the people inside it.”
When I asked Mr. DeLuca how the environmental advocacy he focuses on at the Group for the East End connects to his children, he concluded with the following:
“I think that the way environmental issues are presented to children is daunting—portraying a pollution, global warming, end of the rain forest horror story, which they can do nothing about. I have this internal issue about desperation versus aspiration. In desperation you can usually get people to do a couple of things for a short period of time because they’re terrified. Aspiration is something you do for a lifetime. What can a 10-year-old kid do about some giant, polluting factory or chopping down the rain forest? I would rather that they just love their backyard.”