One of my earliest nature memories is that of making "soup" with the other kids at my day care center.  We used to visit a local park and there was a hollowed out stump there.  We'd fill the stump with grass, mud, twigs, leaves, whatever we could find, and then mix it all together and serve this imaginary "soup" to others!

My parents went ahead to finish hiking a trail in the Tetons. I asked to stay behind on the trail. I was a young teenager. Alone, I became acutely aware of my surroundings. I heard so much being still and silent. I observed so much in what was likely an hour long period of time. The mule deer came so close I could have touched them. Instead we just peered curiously at each other until they dipped back into the brush. I realized then how powerful my ability was to stay in the moment, observe, and question.

When I was a child, we had a farmhouse.  We went there on weekends and for vacation.  I used to ride a horse, climb trees, fish in a pond within the farm and swim in the nearby river.  I picked fruits directly from the trees to eat.  I have fond memories of that time with the family.  Unfortunately, my mother died when I was 8 years old and things changed in my family.  However, I had an uncle who had a horse-riding school and enjoyed going there to ride a horse both in the school and the nearby wilderness.  I am taking this course because I want to work with children to encourage them towards birding and bird conservation by conserving their habitats. I have a daughter who is no longer a child but an adult, and she lives far away, but we have liked to go on scouting trips together since she was a child.

My dad had a great appreciation for nature but was not "schooled." Is taken me a long time to realize how much he influenced me in that regard.

I loved going on hikes with my family, with Black Mountain in Lake George, NY, being a favorite.  I enjoyed gathering wildflowers as a girl with my best friend.  I used to climb trees.  Swimming in lakes and oceans.

I was probably about 7 years old and living in Manhattan with 4 siblings in a smallish apartment when a librarian introduced to the book, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." That book had a profound influence on my life and as I grew older and could be out of doors more often either alone or with friends, I found myself gravitating towards the outdoors.  I loved wide open spaces and silence and the growing knowledge  that there were so many other living and nonliving things around me that warranted my attention and understanding.

My favorite memories about outdoor play center around my brothers and sisters and Riverside Dr Park.  My parents used to send us outdoors to play in both summer and winter.  I remember pretending we were Eskimos (our childish notions of what that meant) attempting to build igloos and ice caves, eating hands full of snow, making snow angels etc.  In the summer we would play in the opened fire hydrants or sit on our front stoop and watch the local teenagers twirl and gyrate to their blaring transistor radios.  The world was out of doors, all it and that is where I wanted to be.

I want people of all ages to see that the world is much bigger than any one of us, than any one moment in time: that the earth and everything in it and on it undergoes tremendous change.  Everything is integrated, interconnected.  We are all products of our geology and our history.

As a kid, I went to nature camps every summer. I was free to wander and explore, and I remember that as a magical time of freedom and independence. I know there were adults (or at least teenagers!) supervising, but it felt like being in a hidden world away from rules where anything was possible. We hiked, kayaked, caught crawdads, made crafts, and practiced archery, among many other things. My memory of it feels like a dream because it was so wonderful!

My parents always encouraged us to go outside. I remember my dad holding us on our front porch, and encouraging us to listen to the birds and look for the squirrels, and then talk back. On hikes, my mom would speak often of the beauty around us. Both of my parents would ask us questions about what was happening around us with nature.

I loved being able to use the outdoors as a toys. We would use sticks to build forts, we would use different leaves to represent different types of food in our play kitchen, and we would drawing pictures in the dirt.

I would love to at least once a week, go out to observe nature with my own child. As a teacher, I have a goal to have my students feel more connected with nature and more motivated to go explore.

My goal for spending more time outside with my kids is that whenever I feel like "there is nothing to do" I would rather do "nothing" outside. And when I feel like I have "too much to do," I take a break outside. Being outside just feels like such a neutral and peaceful state of being, and I want to share that with my kids by showing them that it is always a good time to be outside.

When I was a child, I had this innate fascination with the outdoors, as I believe many can relate to. When I reach back to those memories of exploration, I find myself remembering the sensory experience it came with. The feeling of the plush moist moss under my hands, the gentile tickles of a millipede climbing up my wrist, or the slow burn of lake water mistakenly taken in with a breath. It is without a doubt that at any age, it is easier to remember how an experience has left you feeling, rather than all the bits and details of it. I strive to keep living those pleasant memories of eating raspberries off the vine, and remembering them for their sweetness, rather than the thorns that wrapped themselves around my ankles as I brush passed. I wish to foster that.

When I was a child my family live near to Machu Picchu, every Saturday we went to my grandmother's house who lived in the country. My grandmother, with a big smile and open arms, welcomed us at her door and after a happy morning with hot chocolate and cookies we would go to the barn to milk the cows. I liked to chase the pigeons and birds that were feeding near the barn. One morning I found a tiny bird near the door of the barn. It was screaming. My grandmother took the bird very carefully and put it in a nest that was above the door.
My grandmother with her beautiful smile told me: “Little birds brighten our lives with their songs, their colors and their flights, sometimes they need our help.” Whenever I go out birding I feel the warmth of my grandmother's smile and hugs by my side and I know that she is with me appreciating the beauty of birds and nature.

¿Recuerdas algún momento que despertó tu interés por la naturaleza?

 

Mi padre ha trabajado en el campo toda su vida, él es técnico en el Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería.

 

Cuando era niña me llevaba a veces a su trabajo y compartía momentos en las comunidades y en el campo. Tenía un amigo cerdo 🐷 y le llamaba suca, le tocaba su colita y movía mi mano haciéndole rizos su cola, trepaba a los montículos de tierra y jugaba en el campo y alrededores. Veía vacas pero como eran muy grandes no me acercaba.

 

¿Cuáles son tus recuerdos favoritos de los juegos infantiles al aire libre?

 

Recuerdo que jugaba con mis primos a los marros, un juego parecido al base ball. Nuestras tías nos dirigieron y lanzaban una pelota y debíamos topar la bola con un palo, si se topaba la bola se debía correr a otra base. Esto lo jugábamos en el patio de la casa.

 

Otros recuerdos que tengo en el campo al jugar, es subirme a montículos de tierra y bajar a toda velocidad, terminaba llena de tierra, me divertía mucho.

 

¿Cuáles son sus objetivos para pasar más tiempo al aire libre con un niño?

 

El objetivo principal es que uno como adulto llegue a tener una conexión con el niño y que el niño llegue a tener a su vez, una conexión con la naturaleza. Aprenda de una forma divertida sobre el medio ambiente y su entorno y se relacione con los animales y el campo.

My very first memories and connection with nature started when I was a child, my family and I took daily family trips to our local Metro Park in Columbus, Blendon Woods. Even when I visit the park today I am immediately transported back in time to walking the trails, visiting the nature center, or playing on the playground with my sister as a child. The smell and the crunch of the leaves floods me with nostalgia. It feels like a warm embrace being at that park. Even visiting the zoo every week as young child connected me to nature. I wondered and learned about the various animals and the consistent trips made me feel connected to the animals getting to see them often. These things encompass my favorite memories of outdoor childhood play. As a first grade teacher, I wish for my students to develop the same connection and embrace I feel from Blendon Woods and the zoo. No matter how I am feeling, visiting these places always lifts me up and reminds me that nature is always present for us. This started because of my visits there as a young child. I worry as a teacher that because of technology, my students may lose that connection early on with nature. I pray and hope I can connect them to nature so they grow to love it as much as me.

Me & Nature Below...:)

Yo vivia  en la ciudad  me intrigaba saber como era  estar conectada con la naturaleza  hasta que fui adulta pude hacerlo  verlos árboles los ríos el amane

cer el canto de la avez   sus colores  verlos volar es algo maravilloso

Que  un niño aprenda a amar y respetar  la naturaleza y el maravilloso mundo dela avez

When thinking about my love for nature, I immediately think back to my childhood as to where my love stemmed. From the time I was a baby to starting kindergarten, my nanny would take my twin sister and I to the metro park 5 minutes from our house almost every day. It was there that I fell in love with the leaves, animals, the sounds of trees swaying, and just the smell of "outdoors". I have fond memories of running in the meadows and walking the nature trails. Aside from constantly going to the park, my family were regular visitors to the Columbus Zoo. It was there that I learned early on the importance of conservation and protecting all living things big and small. Often as a child, I would have rather been outside riding my bike and roaming the woods than playing dress-up or dolls inside. These memories bring me nothing but pure happiness.

As a teacher, my goal is to guide students in fostering this same love for nature, animals, and the outdoors. During this school year, I simply hope to be outside with the students more and let them LEARN while doing so. I want them to ask questions, evoke their senses, and conduct investigations.





Blendon Woods Metro Park (Columbus, Ohio)

I spent my entire youth in scouting, from first grade until I graduated college.  All that time inspired a love of nature, but the most specific moment was the first summer I worked at a scouting camp.  I was assigned to work in the nature lodge which is where I first encountered nature as something to be studied analytically instead of just played in and appreciated.  My favorite outdoor memory is the stupidest game my brother and I ever devised.  We got bows and arrows for Christmas one year.  We decided that shooting the arrows straight up in the air and hiding under laundry baskets like turtles was the best way to use our gifts.  Our parents confiscated our bows less than one hour after we opened them.  Now that my son is in preschool, I've been taking him outside a few times a month to do a bit of birdwatching or simply playing in the park.  I'm looking forward to learning how to get more out of our trips outside, especially when the weather starts to warm up in a few months.

Until I was in 5th grade, I grew up in a rural area. Since my parents, weren't helicopter types, my siblings and I spent a lot of time outside running all over the 2 acres we lived on, as well as climbing over fences to explore areas and fields nearby.

One vivid memory I have is of climbing onto the roots of a fallen tree and looking down and seeing dozens of tiny snakes all around my feet! I must have walked onto a snake nest of some sort and I wish I could go back and look more closely at the snakes to ID them.

I also remember the bright wings of the Red-winged Blackbirds and the Woodchuck the lived in our compost pile. We had a feral cat that lived outside and occasionally got food scraps and enjoyed being petted. Many of our neighbors had animals, such as cows, pigs, chickens and one couple even bred show pigeons!

Whenever I complained of being bored, my parents would say, "Why don't you go outside?" Great advice!

I don't think I have a specific moment that ignited my passion for nature, as I was very fortunate as child to have had countless experiences enjoying the natural world near me. As a kid, I loved learning about birds and other animals that I would come across at my local beaches, parks, and various other locations I visited as my family went about our daily activities. With that being said, I am very glad that my experiences made me the nature loving adult I am today. My goals for this class are to learn more about the natural world and find ways to help others connect with or enjoy nature as much as I do!

I grew up exploring the beaches of my hometown in Portugal, every summer, the intertidal pools became my refuge, and together with my father we explored every water pool, searched the rocks for starfishes, sea urchins, octopuses, fish and algae, these are the best memories I keep from summer. Quality time with my dad, some sunburns (ups) and lots of lessons learned. That, the wildlife shows on tv and a book offered by my uncle on nature were the main pillars that cemented my desire to work with nature, I followed the dream and I am a biologist nowadays :)

Now, i have a 3 year old son, and i want to share time with him in nature, so that he can learn more about it,  he can respect it and realise he's part of something greater and amazing.

Faith: When I fed the baby robins that nested in my playground tree house. Then that continued when we found the baby Cedar Waxwing and raised it and she went off with a flock of her own kind and we named her Stormy.

Mamma: My first spark for nature I have to say I cannot remember I feel like I have always been drawn to the outdoors and especially the wildlife.

Faith and Mamma: When it is a nice enough day we make a point to go out side together and look for wildlife and simply enjoy and take more notice of the goings on around us as we are outside. Lastly, when we go outside we sit down in the grass and close our eyes and listen.

I can remember so many memories outside from a very early age up to today. Some of my most life changing moments occurred in nature and I think that's why I've recently changed my career from crime victims advocacy toward interpretive naturalism and conservation. It brings me immense joy to explore new places, get real familiar with the same spaces, and use all my senses along with my whole body to engage with others.

Spending time as a child in Yellowstone, building kinship with bison and friends, experiencing a totally different ecosystem on two separate school trips

Assisting in feeding and caring for animals on a farm for a week with family on the peninsula in WA

Raising salmon from eggs to smolt annually and have a big celebration during their release back into the wild

Climbing and running on huge logs and fallen trees for long stretches at Point Defiance in the 90's

circus camp on Vashon island in fields, camping for weeks in the summer

Backpacking the Olympic coast and North Cascades

Swimming in Lake Michigan, the pacific ocean, the Puget sound, the Atlantic ocean from the eastern US and South Africa

Stopping off at a rest stop in Utah to climb some steep stairs and being rewarded with a phenomenal

Playing house with friends in the yard and making "food" from soil and dirt and rocks and plant debris

Mussel grubbing in the Sangamon River

Long walks in the snow during the winter in Anchorage

Watching over 60,000 sandhill cranes awake at 5-6am in the morning during migration in Nebraska

My 3 years as a forest preschool teacher, experiencing a heightened level of adventure, curiosity and intimacy with the land

I am the oldest girl and second oldest of eight children, six brothers one sister. It  seems like most of my childhood was taking care of my youngest brother. He was born in the fall and I spent hours pushing his carriage around the maple lined streets. I think I had the largest fall leaf collection in town. For years my parents would find colorful leaves pressed in big books. I never hesitated to take him on a walk. It was my break from all the other responsibilities I had. Every summer we would travel to see relatives on the east coast and go to the b each. Again for me it was a break from all my responsibilities. Playing with my cousins,  being repelled by the sea weed, cutting my feet on the barnacles, catching horseshoe  crabs  was  heaven to me.

I grew up in a family that traveled and lived abroad quite a bit. In several places - Japan, Germany, Austria and Cyprus I had lots of access to nature. I loved playing outside both alone and with friends, and often had the opportunity to explore forests and beaches. While my parents were not particularly knowledgeable about nature, they always encouraged curiosity and helped find answers to questions. Later in life a close friend introduced me to birding and accompanying her helped foster my interest in birds. Our daughters still talk about the times I would brake and (hopefully) pull to the side of the road to observe and identify a bird. Now, I tease the four grandchildren that once they're three they can no longer just say bird, we have to identify it! They're getting pretty good now that they are 5-8. We also hike a lot and pause to identify possible nature mysteries - what happened here is often the question. In this way we have learned about nurse logs, for instance. My goal with our grandchildren is to foster our relationships, encourage curiosity and observation skills, and to lead them to understanding of the importance of respecting and protecting our natural world.

I grew up exploring the beaches and sea life on Vancouver Island in the summer where my Great Aunt lived. It is my favourite place and cemented my connection and love of nature.