Children & Nature Network Designates April Children & Nature Awareness Month

SANTA FE, NM – April, 2010 – This month is the third annual Children & Nature Awareness Month, a call to action announced by the Children & Nature Network (C&NN). Groups and organizations – along with families, educators, health care professionals and others – across North America are creating special community events to get children and adults outdoors and into nature.

“The purpose of Children & Nature Awareness Month is to celebrate the benefits of experiences in the natural world to children, and to all of us, and to offer alternatives to nature-deficit disorder,” said Dr. Cheryl Charles, President and CEO of C&NN.



“This year, C&NN is encouraging groups to reach beyond their usual constituencies, especially to underserved neighborhoods – to start family nature clubs, and to honor the ‘natural teachers’ who continue to help young people learn outdoors,” said Richard Louv, C&NN chairman and author of Last Child in the Woods. “We’re encouraged by the growing number of families that are creating family nature clubs, and the young people – who we call Natural Leaders – who are emerging as leaders in the children and nature movement,” he added.

As of April 3, 168 Children and Nature Awareness events have been posted on the C&NN Awareness Month Map.

“It's not too late to tell communities around the world about your own April Children & Nature Awareness Month celebration,” said Charles. “Once you’re on the map, we'll promote your events, programs and clubs through C&NN's websites and social media networks.” C&NN invites groups and individuals to post their events on the web site and map, at http://www.childrenandnature.org/movement/index/C15

Last year, the response of local governments, private groups and individuals across the country was impressive. From neighborhood celebrations to the special proclamations of civic leaders, Children & Nature Awareness Month has both inspired those already interested in reconnecting children with nature and focused the attention of others on the importance of outdoor play in nature as a critical part of childhood development. It has also helped bring attention, visibility, and a sense of community to the many outstanding efforts already under way.

Stop by the C&NN Web site at www.childrenandnature.org to explore the growing list of events and activities, including county, regional and statewide children and nature proclamations, family hikes and “play days,” and to download toolkits to get you going.

To learn about some of the exciting events going on this month, read the March issue of the C&NN Newsletter.

Year-round children and nature initiatives have emerged from coast to coast and globally since the Children & Nature Network was formed in 2006. “Nature helps children become healthier, happier and smarter,” said Charles. “Now we must change the culture so that every child has a chance to have safe, meaningful experiences in the natural world – in their neighborhoods, urban, suburban or rural; at school; on farms and ranches; at nature centers, botanical gardens, in our local, regional and national parks, and in other places of natural wonder.”

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