Learning to be Gentle Giants Inspiring nature-focused values and habits in young children


By Jane Powell D


ID YOUR MUM HAVE a “sun’s shining, get out of the house” rule? Mine did. In fact, “sunshine” was a subjective concept in my mother’s world and was


understood more as “daylight.” If it happened to be raining or snowing, she would have our appropriate outdoor gear lined up by the door to help make our exit all the swifter. Fresh air was generally understood by her to be the magic ingredient in “happy kids.” My fondest memories, both as a child and as an adult,


are of playing in natural outdoor settings. Although I grew up only 40 minutes from Montreal, our suburban backyard was exploding with so-called “dirty knees” learning expe- riences. “Outside” was where my posse of friends and I discovered why salamanders hide beneath rotten logs, how snakes go about climbing steep rocks, how frogs manage to survive the winter, that a veil of cirrostratus clouds may mean rain is on its way, how to locate North via the Big Dipper, the mathematics behind igloo-construction, that snow can be made from boiling water in freezing tempera-


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tures, and the amazing various forms of water, its cycle, and its importance. We got the details by asking local experts (including my dad) and going to the library. We sought after the details because we were inspired and questions came up as we explored. As my parents were all for simplicity and recycling, the


tools we used during our explorations were thoroughly reused and simple: a well-repaired fishing net, an old bucket, our hands, and whatever lay on the forest floor that seemed useful (fallen leaves and sticks for example). The value of reducing, reusing and recycling was instilled in us from an early age. Along with a distinctly stimulating and educational con-


nection with the natural world around me, my childhood explorations of nature and learned environmental ethics encouraged the development of environmentally conscious habits within me. As my curiosity and love for the mosaic of life found at my fingertips grew, I became aware of how my presence may affect other life forms. My friends and I learned to be gentle giants. Our expeditions always had an ingrained plan that seemed more like reflexive manners: wash sunscreen/bug repellant from hands, walk gently and quietly, use learned no-harm techniques for catching speci-


GREEN TEACHER 109


Jane Frances Powell


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