Jenny Hanlon
Nature is Everywhere
Often, we think of nature as large, wild spaces without humans. However, this means we have an underlying belief that nature is “somewhere else,” when it is all around us.
Yes, nature is our awe-inspiring National Forests and other public lands with thousands of acres of trees and no buildings in sight. Nature is also the birds nesting on the sides of buildings. It’s the worms on the sidewalks after a hard spring rain. It’s the tiny park tucked between apartment buildings in the middle of a city.
When we remember that nature is everywhere, it makes it easier to connect with the natural world every day.
Get to Know Your Neighborhood
One way to appreciate nature more is to become more familiar with the places in your community that are nature-rich. How do you do this? Visit that place regularly and take note of the sights, smells, and sounds.
Maybe there is a flower garden in your neighborhood, for example. If you visit that flower garden once a week, even for 5 minutes, you’ll start to see subtle changes from week to week. Building a relationship with nature can also be as simple as noticing the bird calling outside your window every morning. When does it call most often? Is there a particular tree it’s always sitting in?
These observations alone can start to build a connection to the outdoors. Then, if you’re feeling ambitious, you could learn the names of these flowers and birds. Naming is an important part of building a relationship with nature, just like we build relationships with people by learning their names.
A “nature-rich” space is any place where you can see, hear, touch, or experience the natural world around you. It could be a backyard, school garden, city park, or even a patch of grass or tree-lined street.
These spaces are “rich” not because of their size or location, but because they offer opportunities to notice and connect with nature.
Cedarville Global Community School
Cedarville Global Community School
Notice All of Nature
Another way to build a relationship with nature is to appreciate the many parts of the natural world: plants, animals, weather, the sky, the soil, and anything else not human-made.
Plants, animals, and weather reveal the steady rhythms of nature. Plants stretch toward the sun, lean with the wind, shed their leaves, or prepare to bloom. Animals, too, show us change through their appearance and behaviors. In winter, you might spot birds flitting in and out of tall grass, while in spring, new species arrive and familiar ones reappear. Maybe you’ll notice rabbits darting about your yard again after their winter pause. Each season tells its own story if you take the time to notice.
In no time, you'll have a better understanding of what is normal in your area and what to expect at different times of the year. Soon, you'll anticipate these changes. "The monarchs are getting ready to leave on their journey south!"
Document What You Notice
We can continue to build a relationship with places in our community by documenting the things we notice outside. This can be as simple as saying to a friend, “I heard that woodpecker again today!” Discussing our experiences is a super simple form of documenting what we’ve noticed.
You can also record your observations in more formal ways—taking videos and photographs, journaling in a notebook, or jotting down notes on a printed calendar are all great ways to capture what you notice. Recording the date makes it easier to see how things change from week to week or month to month.
When we embrace that nature is everywhere, it’s easier to notice and appreciate nature all around us. This simple shift in thinking provides a strong foundation for an ongoing relationship with nature and a stronger sense of place and belonging in our community.
Tips for Caregivers:
- Notice nature during your regular routines. Notice nature on the way to or from school, on your walk to and from the mailbox, or as you’re walking the dog.
- Invite nature closer. Make it easier to notice nature by installing a bird feeder near a window in your home.
- Keep a family calendar of nature noticings. Hang a printed calendar in the kitchen to document the nature you notice each day (the small spots keep it focused on the highlights).
Jenny Hanlon
Tips for Educators:
- Talk about nature during group meeting. What is the weather like today? Did you see any animals on the way to school today? Did you notice the flowers blooming in front of the school?
- Build a relationship with your schoolyard. Visit the same places on your school grounds regularly (daily, weekly, monthly) to see the changes over time.
- Document what you notice. Keep a group journal or calendar to record what you see outside on school grounds or in the neighborhood.
Noticing that nature is everywhere—the grass in the sidewalk cracks, a line of ants near a building, mud puddles—can be a good first step to becoming more comfortable and more aware of the interconnectedness between ourselves and the rest of nature.
Parent & Educator