Nature Connections 

With school Holidays coming up and winter days often variable, here are some of my observations on how to connect kids with nature. I’ve noticed that bombarding kids with science and scientific principles is usually not a great intro into working in and with nature. Each person has different interests and those are the ones that allow a connection to be made. 

 

Image from Ruud Kleinpaste

If you have kids there’s no doubt that each one is different – one may enjoy running around outside. While the other is content playing with lego; or building roads with trucks, setting possum traps; technology. Another loves to draw or paint pictures, read a book or engage in role-play…. 
 
When I work with students or teachers, I often tell stories, use language, or play piano. And all these activities have a really nice connection to our natural world. 

Image from Kate Parker - Kowhai and the Giants

 
For example, last week I got a book by Kate Parker “Kowhai and the Giants” and basically it’s about Predator-Free NZ via a historical journey in story format. Well – that’s what I see in this book...but you can also interpret it as an indigenous history of discovery of Aotearoa. It’s about a magical creature “Kowhai” who gathers light for the giant trees, in a land in complete, ecological harmony. “Kowhai” is climbing trees and living in that ecosystem with all the – now - rare birds of our country. These scenes were originally designed as three-dimensional dioramas, lit from behind. Carefully cut-out trees and vegetation in which you can get totally “lost”, and inspirational images that take you back in time. And then the ships arrive… with people… and rodents; lots of ships, lots of people and lots of pests…scary stuff. As far as I can see, we are the only species (on the planet) that can tell stories and that – in my opinion – is one of the most powerful ways to get us out of the trouble we are in. 
 
Painting – for the curriculum: 

A few years ago I saw some real early drawings by a very famous New Zealand painter; he made these drawings when he was 7, 8, or 9 years old 

 

Here are a weka, a kiwi and a tui and note how he wrote a “W”, a “K” and  “T” on these pictures – just as if he discovered the alphabet though his art! By the way – if you look at these drawings you may recognize the very beginnings of Don Binney’s art career! 
 
Music 

Listen to the sounds of Nature – what do you recognize? Who’s singing? Can you transcribe the notes of the bellbird, the blackbird, or the yellow hammer?  

Theatre 

Some teachers are capable of creating school productions from the stories you find in nature. Connections between caterpillars and their host trees, predators that chase their prey and weta utilising second-hand dwellings made by a borer, deep inside a tree … much more exciting than Shortland Street! 

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