CONNECTING WITH NATURE

• Being surrounded by nature and natural materials provides infinite benefits for children. Nature instills a sense of beauty, order, and calmness. It exposes us to things that are alive and growing which sparks curiosity, exploration, and discovery. As an adult role model, you can instill in your child a sense of wonder in and healthy respect for nature.

IMPORTANCE OF READING WITH YOUR CHILD

• Words are essential to building thought connections in the brain. One of the most important things you can do with children is to read aloud with them every day. Reading together nurtures a love of the written word, develops the auditory skills necessary to learn the sounds and rhythms of language, and builds a foundation for literacy and later success in school.

BUILDING FORTS

• The desire to build forts is a fundamental experience of childhood – universal across cultures, gender and time. Children embrace the process of building up a small world from scratch, of transforming natural and found materials into systems.

SUPPORT CHILDREN BY…

…providing opportunities and materials with no predefined expectations and see where their curiosity takes them. If we give children opportunities to shape their own small worlds in childhood, then they will grow up knowing and feeling that they can participate in shaping the big world tomorrow.