Every Child Needs Nature. Not Just The

Prize The Natural Spaces And Shorelines Most Of All, Because Once They're Gone, With Rare Exceptions They're Gone Forever. In Our Bones We Need The Natural Curves Of Hills, The Scent Of Chapparal, The Whisper Of Pines, The Possibility Of Wildness. We Require These Patches Of Nature For Our Mental Health And Our Spiritual Resilience.

We Cannot Protect Something We Do Not Love, We Cannot Love What We Do Not Know, And We Cannot Know What We Do Not See. Or Hear. Or Sense.

The Physical Exercise And Emotional Stretching That Children Enjoy In Unorganized Play Is More Varied And Less Time-bound Than Is Found In Organized Sports. Playtime—especially Unstructured, Imaginative, Exploratory Play—is Increasingly Recognized As An Essential Component Of Wholesome Child Development.

There's A Generation Now That Didn't Grow Up In Nature. Some Of These Adults Are Parents And They Know That Nature Is Good For Their Kids But They Don't Know Where To Start.

As A Species, We Are Most Animated When Our Days And Nights On Earth Are Touched By The Natural World. We Can Find Immeasurable Joy In The Birth Of A Child, A Great Work Of Art, Or Falling In Love.