Connecting with Nature

by Rebecca Thompson, M.S.

In our western society, we’re fairly removed from nature. Ask any child where their food comes from and you will probably hear the name of the local grocery store. Unless we provide some sort of experience so that our children can connect with nature, our children won’t know that oranges grow on trees, blueberries grow on shrubs and potatoes grow underground. Summer is a wonderful time to connect with nature, to connect with your kids and breathe in some regulatory fresh air!

For Christmas several years ago, my younger brother- then a 30 year-old bachelor- gave my husband a Chia pet. If you aren’t familiar with Chia pets, they are terra cotta animals- cows, dogs, frogs- in this case, a Chia Garfield, the lovable cartoon cat from the 80’s, which my brother and I used to watch when we were growing up. It comes with a package of chia seeds, which are spread over the back of Garfield’s head. As the seeds grow, it looks like Garfield is growing an unruly head of green hair. Needless to say, my husband wasn’t all that excited about this joke gift, so it was put into a box and forgotten.

I hadn’t thought about that until we moved recently and my 8 year-old found the aforementioned Chia Garfield. In the midst of sea of boxes and trying to find my own lost toothbrush, I found myself reading the directions for this ever-important new project. We located a large bowl and soaked Garfield overnight. In a separate bowl, we soaked some of the chia seeds in water. The next day, we spread the chia seeds over the back of Garfield’s head, placed him in a light spot out of direct sunlight and waited.

I began thinking about a book I read many years ago by Robert Fulghum called Everything I Need to Know in Life I Learned in Kindergarten. The following is an excerpt from the title story: “Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.” As I watched the excitement my children showed each morning as they waited with great anticipation to see where our chia pet had grown hair overnight (“Hey, he’s growing hair on his back, just like daddy!), I took a moment to be aware of their wonder. It was just a chia pet- but it was really so much more.

Now, watching Chia Garfield grow isn’t the optimal experience for connecting with nature. However, I realized that so many important things were happening in the midst of this project. It was an opportunity to connect with the wonders of living, growing things. It was an opportunity to connect with my children and see the world through their eyes. If I had just dismissed the requests to put Garfield together, I would have missed that. I don’t have the time or energy right now to put together a garden for my family, but that doesn’t mean that my children have to miss out on the joy and wonder of connecting with nature, even if it is growing on the back of a dated cartoon character.

Some ideas to connect with your children and with nature this summer:

• Go outside and get some fresh air! Point out what is growing in your own backyard or your neighborhood as you go on a short walk. Can you find any fruit trees growing nearby? Any berry bushes? Most children do better just being able to get outside and most love a good nature scavenger hunt. However, I know for me, some days it seems like more trouble than it is worth to get everyone outside. But once we’re all outside, I wonder why we didn’t do it sooner!


• Go visit a garden. This could be your neighbor’s, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) garden where your children could actually dig into the soil or pick something to eat right off the plant, or a you-pick farm, where you and your child can pick your own strawberries, blueberries, etc. right off the plant and take them home. If you’re feeling less adventurous, simply freeze them in a single layer in a freezer zipper top bag and use them for smoothies or other summer treats. If you’re feeling more adventurous, find a recipe to make with your child using what you picked.


• Plant something… anything. This can be indoors or outdoors, chia or non-chia, and watch it grow together. Choose a seed packet with your child, get a scoop of dirt from your backyard and plant the seed in a paper cup in the house.


• Start a small garden. If you’ve never done this before, Dennis E Stoltzfoos, an Amish-Mennonite farmer in northern Florida, recommends starting with pole beans. They sprout within a few days, grow quickly, grow under conditions that most other plants cannot survive and can be eaten right off the plant.


• Whatever you choose to do, involve your children! When children are involved in the process- on any level- helping food find its way onto the table, they are more likely to have buy-in. The whole idea is to connect with your children, with nature and to find another pathway to create those positive feedback loops!

Healthy eating!

Rebecca Thompson

Epilogue: Chia Garfield lasted for about a month, growing green and bushy on our kitchen table. We went out of town for a five-day vacation and found a pet sitter with four years experience to watch our green friend. We returned home to a wilted, scraggly, and slightly moldy Garfield- not the healthy plant we had entrusted to her care. But the great thing about Chia Garfield is that it comes with extra seeds and is entirely renewable!

Originally published in the BCI Parent Enrichment Journal

Rebecca Thompson

Rebecca Thompson, M.S., is the founder of The Consciously Parenting Project. Rebecca has been actively educating parents and facilitating parent groups and workshops that encourage conscious decision-making in family life since 1998. As a wife and the mother of two boys, she has personal as well as professional experience navigating the terrain of parenting. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, with specialized training in attachment and trauma.
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