Embracing Nature: Year Two in the Forest
- Aug 13
- 3 min read
As summer comes towards an end, Wellchild Niagara is wrapping up our second year of offering Connected & Confident: Nature Adventures in partnership with the City of St. Catharines Recreation and Leisure Department.
Over the past two years, we have had many children join us as we explore the beauty of Malcolmson EcoPark - taking the time to look, listen and walk the land together.
We have also had a core group of children who have returned session after session.
One of the amazing things about returning to the same space throughout the year is having the opportunity to watch it change.
We have walked through Malcolmson when the forest is full and green, watched as the leaves changed colour and fell from the trees, returned when the trails were covered in snow, and watched as the first buds appeared and the forest came back to life again.
And children notice these changes, too.
When we return to familiar places, they begin to remember what was there before. They notice when something looks different. They recognize favourite places along the trail and become increasingly curious about the plants, animals and other things we discover along the way.
Some of our favourite practices throughout these sessions have included:
Adopt a Spot
Each child "adopts" a spot that we revisit throughout the session. They spend time connecting with their spot through their senses -observing, listening and recording what they notice in journal entries, drawing and photos.
The addition of our camera has been especially helpful in documenting the changes children see. By handing the camera over to them, they are able to document the changes that are meaningful to them. And return to these images as printed snapshots.
Nature Mandalas
Children collect fallen items they find in nature and, either independently or collaboratively, use them to create a land-based piece of art.
This has given us an opportunity to explore transient art. Our art is here for the moment, and when we are finished, we leave it for the natural world. There is no art project to bring home at the end - and that's okay. The experience of creating it, together and on the land, is the important part.
Field Guides
We have really enjoyed bringing field guides along on our adventures to help us put names to the things we see.
From spiky seed pods, to critters, to wildflowers, there is often a moment where someone asks, "What is that?"
And sometimes we know! Other times, we pull out a field guide and try to figure it out together.
At the heart of these sessions is something that we believe is really important: giving children opportunities to develop an ecological identity.
An ecological identity is, quite simply, developing a sense of connection to the natural world and understanding ourselves as part of it. Before we can expect children and youth to advocate for the environment or engage in conservation efforts, we first need to give them opportunities to connect with the land. To explore it. To play in it. To be curious about it. And, most importantly, to experience the joy that can come from spending time in it.
We don't expect children to care deeply about something simply because we tell them that they should.
But when a child has a favourite tree? When they recognize the trail they have walked throughout the year? When they notice that their adopted spot has changed since their last visit, or become excited because they identified a flower they have seen before?
They are beginning to build a relationship with the natural world around them.
And from that relationship, care can grow.
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