Siouxland Magazine - Volume 2 Issue 2

Digging Deeper to Answer Nature’s Questions
By Olivia Parks
Exploring nature for young children includes many
questions: What is this? Why is this here? How does
this move? How do I fit in with this place?
Having a safe place to be engulfed in nature is very important
for a child’s development. This encourages independence,
exploration, curiosity, and eagerness to learn. Time for
exploration without structure allows children to become
whatever their imaginations can build: from a zookeeper
with a collection of wild bugs, to a chemist measuring water
quality from your backyard kiddie pool, to an archeologist
digging up old artifacts like the watch you lost years ago.
Siouxland Magazine | Explore / 51
negative reaction by making their first encounters with
insects positive and informational, and that starts with
ensuring the safety of the child and the safety of the insect
being studied. Children should approach all insects with
curiosity and the understanding that they are a fragile part
of the environment. After recognizing this in the smallest
creatures in the environment, children will apply it to
larger wildlife they will eventually learn about and study.
Not only is it important for children to have the
opportunity to be able to explore and question
what is around them, but it is also important to
find those answers independently. Many times,
while exploring the outdoors, questions will
have a domino effect. One question will lead to
many more, sparking curiosity in children and
motivating them to always seek the answers to
their questions.
One thing that children find fascinating, but as adults we
tend to overlook, is what you can see while looking at the
ground. An example is insects! Children who see insects
have a positive or negative reaction to them based on
those who are around them and their reaction to bugs.
Many children become scared of bugs since some adults
react suddenly, scaring the child and teaching him or her to
react negatively to insects. We can help children avoid that
Children exploring nature will stumble upon many
questions. As people they look up to, we must do our
best to help them find the answers, and we must also be
sure to act as role models in helping nature and not being
afraid to explore. We must take it into our own hands to
show them it is alright to want to learn about reptiles, even
if we have learned to fear snakes. We can teach children
it is alright to not know all the answers, and then help
them find the resources to discover them. Not all animals
can live inside as pets, but we must help save the homes
animals do have. This will help them learn how to help
nature and have a positive impact on it, rather than taking
advantage of what we have.
Olivia Parks, AmeriCorps 4-H Environmental Education
Naturalist, Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center.
Photos courtesy of Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center.