How Can I Help My Child Grow Up to Be an Adult Who Wants to Save the Planet?

People who have positive experiences with nature in childhood care more about the environment as adults.

• Many researchers have reported that childhood experiences with nature were a key formative influence on today’s environmentalists.
• Time spent in natural environments during childhood was a common factor in the lives of individuals with a strong commitment to nature and the environment as adults.
• Research is clearly substantiating that an affinity to and love of nature, along with a positive environmental ethic, grow out of children’s regular contact with and play in the natural world.¹

Build a love for the environment by helping your child become a citizen scientist.

• Citizen scientists are predominately involved in monitoring environmental indicators and the biodiversity of species related to regional climate change, which range in scope from the micrometer to the cosmos.
• There are now over 200 citizen science projects available worldwide, allowing for ordinary adults and their children to collect data that supports scientific studies and local policymaking.
• While youth are engaged as citizen scientists they are also being engaged as participants in the democratic process of decision-making in their local communities.²

References:

1. The Children's Nature Institute. Why Nature is Important
2. Mike Mueller. Citizen Science Can Renew A Child's Love of Nature