The Acorn Nature Club was inspired by Richard Louv’s book “Last Child in the Woods” , in which he documents the loss of the nature-child connection and the impacts this has on their development and the future of our planet. He coined the phrase ‘nature deficit disorder’ and presents convincing research that unstructured play in nature is important for healthy child development. The book has sparked a movement to ‘leave no child inside’ (see the website on the blogroll).
The Acorn club is an effort to create opportunities for parents and children to enjoy some play time in nature, for parents to meet other likeminded parents, and an opportunity for moms at home to get out to nature with other moms, to places they might not feel comfortable going alone.
We are planning to blog here about our activities with the Acorn Nature Club, as well as other topics related to natural parenting and environmentalism. We welcome others to send their thoughts and ideas.
Gaela Nelson :
From an early age I’ve felt a deep connection with the natural world, and want to share that sense of connection with my children, family and friends. That connection led me to pursue a degree in environmental studies at Trent, and I have worked as an environmental educator teaching kids about everything from butterflies to compost to international environmental issues. In recent years I developed an interest in natural medicine and so I studied a four year professional homeopathy program and have a small practice in Ottawa, Ontario.
Chad Nelson:
When I went to university, I met a someone that I had not seen since kindergarten and one of the first things he told in remembering our early friendship was that I talked a lot about going to a family cottage. I continued going to that small lakefront lot with a small pop-up trailer near Otter Lake, Quebec and later to rustic cottage in Fitzroy Harbour, Ontario throughout my school years. It was there that really gained an appreciation for the larger world around me through chasing after tadpoles, newly hatched swarms of baby catfish, leopard frogs and bullfrogs, fishing and swimming. I’ve pursued education and public policy work related to sustainability and continue to struggle frequently with the Tragedy of the Commons, the Prisoners Dilemma, and an economic system based on profiting from externalizing costs (onto nature, the future, the poor, and others).
