Would you like to print the images in this article?

“For an environmental ethic to succeed, nature needs to be meaningful to us on a variety of levels, including the emotional.”

-Phyllis Windle, “The Ecology of Grief”

Environmentalists, natural scientists and people who care very deeply about issues of environmental justice usually have one important thing in common: a positive childhood experience with nature.

Thomas Berry, the father of the modern environmental movement, spent boyhood afternoons lying in a field of lilies, gazing at the blue sky. Later in his career, he revealed that moments spent in that field made him feel a sense of oneness—a deep connection to the world beyond himself—and inspired perseverance for his work on behalf of the environment.

As a young child, Jane Goodall tried numerous times to shelter earthworms in her bed. Her shared joy and friendship with this living species from her backyard formed the foundation of her passion for primatology and conservation.

The natural connections Berry and Goodall describe are formally known as biophilia, the human love of nature and living systems. Biophilia is critical to combating the mounting environmental problems we face as a planet.

Ecopsychologists, scientists who study the relationship between humans and nature, have done vital work examining how humans develop a relationship with the earth that encourages them to care for it. The education world can benefit from this research.

In her book, The Ecopsychology of Child Development, author Anita Barrows illustrates the development of the “ecological self”—the self that emerges when personal interests become entwined with the interests of the ecocommunity. Barrows explains that this development begins in infancy and continues through Piaget’s concrete operational stage (ages 7-11). It is supported, she argues, by sensory experiences in nature; appeals to logic and problem solving don’t allow students to build a meaningful connection with all living things.

I, along with millions of other students, learned the mantra, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” in elementary school. This refrain—along with save-the-rainforest campaigns and pledges to reduce water consumption—still serve as the model of environmental education used in many elementary schools, like my daughter’s, today.

But ecopsychologists tell us that emphasizing destruction of the earth—and what we must do to halt it—is not appropriate for elementary school students and may breed apathy, despair or anxiety in young children.

The elementary classroom should be filled with more joy, more awe, more time spent allowing children to interact with nature on a sensory level. This approach aligns with social science research many educators already draw from to strategically foster intergroup contact, understanding that positive experiences with a variety of people improve mutual respect and appreciation.

Activities that foster relationships between children and nature include, but are not limited to:

Allowing outdoor time as a class for observing, writing and drawing

Approaching nature as a “text,” e.g., reading the weather, reading the patterns of ant movements, reading the change of the seasons and making hypotheses about what they observe

Asking students to bring in found natural objects and using them as prompts for writing, reading or creating art

Using a nature word wall featuring specific animals, birds, plants or natural occurrences specific to your region

Investigating ways to incorporate natural playscapes into your playground

Asking students to write or tell about their favorite place in nature

Fostering biophilia in our schools helps children find joy in the world around them and increases the likelihood children will develop as stewards of the earth. The more people who deeply love the planet and view it as a friend, the greater the opportunity for environmental justice to become a reality.