Last Child in the Woods
- Jessica Dunn
- Mar 23, 2021
- 3 min read
Growing up I was constantly outside. I spent my summers on Cape Cod where I was outside from sunrise until the street lights went on. I caught fiddler crabs and minnows, and made periwinkle "hotels" out of sand. I made myself and my friends mermaid hair out of seaweed. My grandfather used to take me on hikes in the woods on Cape Cod and hikes up Blue Hills in Canton, MA and point out animal burrows and nests. In my own backyard I caught caterpillars and made them swimming pools out of puddles on my driveway. My mother fondly remembers the time I decided to start an insect collection and preserved different species of insects by putting them in ice cube trays and freezing them in the freezer (I neglected to tell anyone in my family about this project, and people RUINED it by putting ice in their drinks!). My childhood was filled with muddy hands, insect bites and sunburns, and it was wonderful.
When I started teaching high school, I became very aware that this was not the case for many children now. I was in Florida, and was astounded to see that my students rarely went to the beach or spent much time outside - they always told me it was too hot or too cold, and that they preferred to just stay inside in the AC. At one point a student told me he didn't understand why I was amazed they didn't go outside - he said I couldn't have spent much time outside growing up in MA because it is too cold most of the year to go out. I explained to him that we would wear coats and bundle up with hats and gloves, and he STILL didn't think I could have spent much time outside! My students didn't know the names of common plants and animals in the area (how do people look at 4 foot tall birds walking around and never wonder about them?). I tried to teach them as best as I could and take them outside for lessons when the topic I was teaching permitted it. I taught them about plant pigments by doing an art project where they collected plants from around the school and used them to paint a picture. My favorite day I ever had while teaching was taking my marine science students on a field trip to the beach. They walked around marshes and saw the marine plants they had been learning about, they found animal prints in the sand and used them to identify what animals had been there, they put on waders and used netting to capture plankton. They had a lot of fun, and learned at the same time.
During a teacher workshop where I had the opportunity to visit Wyoming, we had a discussion about the book "Last Child in the Woods". It was amazing to see someone put into a book the phenomenon I was seeing with my students. Children now spend much more time plugged in than outside. Most kids don't just "go outside and play" like I used to. Frequently I didn't even need any toys to play with outdoors-I made my own. I have always found the natural world to be a source of inspiration, and it is very sad to me that many children are missing out on this. It was love of nature and animals that drove me to become a zookeeper, and wanting to share this love is what led me to become a teacher. It was a desire to capture the beauty of nature that set me on the path to be an artist. It is impossible to say what impact lack of time in nature may be having on children.
Now that spring has sprung take some time for yourself outside! Lay in the sunshine, plant a garden, paint a picture. Go on a hike with your camera and shoot some inspiring photos of nature waking up from winter. Bring your kids to the beach and let them explore. Have your kids help you in the garden and let them get dirty! Nature is endlessly inspiring- you never know what hidden talents or curiosities might be awakened in yourself or a child by taking the time to experience the great outdoors.
If you are interested in learning more about the importance of children spending time outside, you can purchase the Last Child in the Woods book here:
If you are interested in some educational activities you can do with your child, Project Wild has some fantastic lessons, and many of them have correlations to art:
This page also has links to Aquatic Wild, Growing Up Wild, and Flying Wild
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