The year ahead is a blank slate waiting for individual and collective moments to be inscribed in time. New day by new day we will navigate the field of hours, adding our imprint onto the void, as if footprints laid across a meadow of untouched snow.
In experiencing a newborn world of snow and wind, we understand, if only for an instant, that we belong to nature and nature belongs to us. The moment doesn’t escape children.
Inner impulses compel children to dig in snow. Shape it. Feel it sting their cheeks and watch it mysteriously melt in their hands. They toss it skyward, roll in it wet and cold, and taste it. It is how winter becomes a known friend. This is the essence of rewilding — nature’s beautiful calling which our children deserve to answer.
In the broadest sense, rewilding is the practice of returning to a natural state. It typically describes habitat and wildlife restoration. More recently it calls out the need of children to discover nature on their own terms.
Experts believe rewilding children benefits physical and mental health, helps develop resilience and self-confidence — and has never been more urgent.
Our children are losing ground as outdoor play time diminishes. The National Institutes of Health report a recent survey showed half of the world’s children spend less time outdoors than prison inmates. (U.S. maximum security prisons guarantee prisoners at least two hours outdoors each day.)
Children intuit Mother Earth’s ways when allowed unstructured outdoor play. In the child/nature bond, humankind’s future will be forged, because children who hear the voices of nature become aware of and sensitive to the natural world. They will have developed a foundation to guide and inspire them in preserving the planet when their time comes to take the reins.
While not all young ones can be free-range kids, we are fortunate to live in a region with an exciting outdoor recreation infrastructure that can get rewilding off to a fun start.
Boardman River Nature Center’s Nature Playscape invites children to do what they’re created to do — exercise their senses and get their hands dirty exploring and manipulating natural materials. Grass River Nature Center offers a two-day, winter break nature camp for kids 7 to 12. Local parks beckon adventures.
Or we can simply step out the back door on a starry night with our child to wonder at the magnificence of the cosmos. It’s here our wild hearts find their home and the future begins.