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May in New England is amayzing (sorry for the pun). The sheer vitality, exuberance and fecundity of the natural world beckons children (and adults) to explore the abundance and fertility of the circle of life. The forest floor is covered with a green carpet of grasses and low-lying plants and shrubs. The trees are bursting with sticky green leaves and colorful flowers. The songs and calls of the birds fill the air. Nests pop up everywhere and if you are lucky you might find the remains of a broken robin’s egg, or even better, a well tended nest that you can observe from a distance. Painted Turtles line up on logs like so many clowns trying to fit into a Volkswagen Beetle. Garter Snakes flit noiselessly from the underbrush to a warm rock or path. Foxes become emboldened, taking care of their young. Perhaps most importantly it’s warmer out and everybody feels more comfortable playing outside. There is so much to sense, feel, experience, learn about and understand.

I have a hard time explaining the magical things that can happen when a  group of children plays in the woods. They find their own ways to be in relation to each other and the natural world. Some children find special places to be and hang out. Others climb trees. If there is water nearby, a river, pond or ocean, there are always children who are captivated by the water and the water’s edge. Both the deep causal networks of the natural world and the ephemeral nature of any one moment in time, work their way into the individual consciousness of each child and the collective consciousness of the group. Suffice it to say that there is a reason for the “green man,” flower fairies, plant parables, and animal human transformations figure so large in the mythologies and stories of humankind. Children hunger for the freedom that comes from being outside. When we do our version of a traditional dedication of merit after our daily meditation-may all beings be safe, may all beings be happy, may all beings be healthy, may all beings find their true nature and may all beings be free– the children have not so subtly changed it to, “may all beings be free to go outside.” 

There are some new dangers and nuisances that children should be prepared for and protected from. The thorns on the bramble bushes become hidden behind green leaves. I know a lot of teachers that feel uncomfortable letting their charges go off trail because they will be scraped by a thorn bush, but this a perfect way to introduce young children to an attentiveness to their surroundings. You can’t just blunder in blindly into the underbrush and expect to emerge unscathed! And yet getting scratched by a thorn is a relatively safe reminder to pay attention to the world around you and not be blinded by whatever shiny object that seems just out of your reach.  (On a side note it is pretty funny taking kids into the woods who are new to the experience and watch the madcap hilarity that ensues as they stumble and bumble over logs, branches, vines, roots and stones until they get their “woods legs.”

Many of the places where we play in the woods are also home to poison ivy. This doesn’t make the place off limits, it just means we as a group and we as individuals need to learn how to recognize poison ivy, walk around it and stay away from it. Similarly, after a day in the woods or at the park parents should help their child with a “tick check.” A tick has to be embedded for at least 36-48 hours to transmit a disease, so if you do find one (or two) there is no reason to be alarmed. Irrational fears are replaced by commonsense precautions and practical solutions. Most importantly, children and the adults who take care of them in an outdoor environment develop a more attuned sense of the world around them and are more attentive to the wonders of the world.

One additional note about being sensible outside. You have to wear the proper clothing. Let me repeat that to all of you parents who send your kids to school without a rain jacket, boots, water shoes or whatever is required to be comfortable and fully experience the joys of being outside. You have to wear the proper clothing. Nothing is more fun than a rain walk, if you have a rain jacket, hood or hat, and waterproof shoes. It’s not so fun if you are not prepared. Also don’t send kids outside in clothes that they can’t get dirty. It kind of defeats the whole purpose. So invest wisely in whatever seasonal wear is appropriate and always have an extra set of clothes on hand in your car. This goes for adults too. Teachers and parents who are not adequately dressed for the weather will always find any excuse to not go outside. Be prepared!

One of the great gifts you can give to a child is a more vital sense of our human dependence on plants and how plants are the energy producers for all the animal and humans that populate the world. As any gardener knows late April, early May are prime times for planting. Gardening helps children have “hands on” experiences with the soil, seeds, and water and understand the fundamental dependence human beings have on plants. Children learn how plant leaves soak up the sun and turn it into energy. They learn that plants need water to grow and that the quality of the soil determines the health of the plant. They learn that plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen and the people breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide.  And they learn that plants are the primary producers of energy upon which all other animals depend, even carnivores.

As is almost always the case, dealing first hand and directly with the natural world cuts through abstractions and alienation to concrete intuitions about the interconnections between different aspects of the phenomenal world. So when we grow radishes, basel and cucumbers and have little “handwiches,” the children learn how connect different aspects of the real world, rather than succumb to the mystifications of the supermarket where money magically buys super processed food. Children learn that “dirt made my lunch” and that if you don’t respect the “corn spirit” the food supply will degrade. Of course these insights into the inner workings of natural world don’t happen overnight. Gardening with kids is messy, chaotic and happenstance. But stick with it and the experiences and insights children develop  will last a lifetime. They occur when adults consistently provide opportunities for children to garden and bring to harvest seeds that they plant. The activity of gardening can be supplemented in a wonderful way by foraging in the wild. Of course a child should never eat something that a knowledgable adult has not assessed, but children take great delight when they learn that they can eat wood sorrel or honeysuckle flowers, onion grass or cattail shoots. In this way children learn that the farms and gardens of human beings are only a creative extension of the bounty that already exists in the natural world!  

I came home from work at my “pre-school” happy to be alive. We had been working for two weeks on Nature Maypole Power Sticks (or wands). I will give a full description of how we went about this elsewhere but here is the short story of what we did.  We found “special” sticks in the woods, “imbued” them with the powers of the earth, air, fire and water, and then decorated them with beads, feathers, acorns, pinecones, leaves, string and colored tape. Today, I put a large multi-colored parachute in the middle of the backyard, put a speaker in the middle of that, put together a playlist of Maypole songs, and gave the “musicians” some instruments to “play along.” For over a half an hour we danced, skipped and marched our hearts out, celebrating the month of May and the full blown vitality and life of the season of Spring. It was an amazing experience that embodies our commitment at Leila Day Nursery to help children cultivate deep, meaningful, life long connections with the natural world. I can’t wait to get back outside and explore the wonderful world of edible herbs when we plant our “herb mascots” tomorrow (more on that at another time). For the present moment, I am basking in the glory of a learning community that values outdoor play and exploration, and is committed to studying in nature’s classroom. See you outside.