Children and Wilderness: Why They Should Both be Connected?

I read a great poem or saying somewhere and I could not wait to share it with you guys. It goes like:

Only when the last tree has been cut down,
Only when the last river has been poisoned,
Only when the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.

What a powerful message. This is what we should be teaching our children. To all those parents who let their kids be the gaming gagets, please bring wilderness in your child’s life, because that is what’s going to teach them the positives and the negatives of the life not the commercial playground equipment. Below is the compilation of the various quotes that highlight the importance of wilderness:

The wilderness and the idea of wilderness is one of the permanent homes of the human spirit.
~Joseph Wood Krutch

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books. ~John Lubbock

If you know wilderness in the way that you know love, you would be unwilling to let it go…. This is the story of our past and it will be the story of our future.
~Terry Tempest Williams

“As you sit on the hillside, or lie prone under the trees of the forest, or sprawl wet-legged by a mountain stream, the great door, that does not look like a door, opens.” ~STEPHEN GRAHAM, The Gentle Art of Tramping, 1926

“In the end, we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.” ~BABA DIOUM, Senegalese conservationists, 1937

“Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.” ~George Washington

"Wilderness is not only a haven for native plants and animals but it is also a refuge from society. Its a place to go to hear the wind and little else, see the stars and the galaxies, smell the pine trees, feel the cold water, touch the sky and the ground at the same time, listen to coyotes, eat the fresh snow, walk across the desert sands, and realize why its good to go outside of the city and the suburbs. Fortunately, there is wilderness just outside the limits of the cities and the suburbs in most of the United States, especially in the West." ~John Muir

I hope the above-mentioned quotes gave you enough inspiration about the wilderness. So why children and wilderness should be connected? I hope you have found that answer by now. Here’s my take on the subject. I believe that by letting children connect with the wilderness, we allow them to have a sense of freedom and creativity. Wilderness has something that no outdoor playground equipment or gaming device has. It’s nature that can teach your kids about the failures, disappointments, pain and gain, and the dangers.

How much do your kids enjoy the wilderness? Share your thoughts about wilderness and children’s involvement with it through our comment section below.