How can you want to protect something that you do not understand, or have never experienced in person? That is why it is vitally important to provide children with experience in nature in order to foster love and respect for it.
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© K Martinko — Toddlers playing in a campground Experts say the first 14 years of a child’s life are crucial for establishing a connection with the natural world. Children have a natural affinity to the outdoors. They are fascinated by it, attracted to it, and eager to explore it. This lasts until about age 14, at which point, unless parents have made a concerted effort to "provide their child with rich and repeated experiences in nature," they tend to lose it. The potential outcome is described dismally by Drew Monkman and Jacob Rodenburg in " The Big Book […]