Experiencing nature with your children is fun for all

Experiencing nature with your children is fun for all

By Lestari Danardana

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Nowadays, many young parents are
concerned about playing with their children at the weekends. Due
to their lack of time, they tend to take them to playgrounds at
malls or to other entertainment centers.

We can see their happy faces as they play on the various
attractions there, from the merry-go-round and go-carts to video
games and sophisticated virtual games.

Every parent cares about their children. All try to give their
best for their children. But are you sure that playing at malls
or entertainment centers is really the best thing for them?

Outdoor activities are actually better. They enrich a child's
experience and knowledge; they give them a challenge, with
mysteries to be solved and the beauties of nature to explore.

Many parents, however, have no idea where to take the children
and what to do there once they are there.

Start by taking children to a nearby park and introduce them
to caterpillars, dragon flies and other animals they only see in
books. Or go to a rice field and show them rice plants, buffaloes
and frogs. During long holidays, take them to national parks,
such as Ujung Kulon National Park where you can see rhinoceroses;
Gunung Halimun National Park, West Java, the habitat of Javan
Eagle and Javan Gibbon; or Pangumbahan in southern Sukabumi,
where green turtles lay eggs.

For most parents, exploring nature is a refreshing occasion
from dull routine activities, while there are thousands of
experiences for children. What can we do as parents to share the
experiences of nature with children? According to Joseph Cornell,
a naturalist who is interested in outdoor education, there are
five basic principles:

* Teach children less, and share with them more.

Ask them to share what they feel. Based on my own experience
in Pangumbahan, I let them see how the turtle lays its eggs at
night. In the morning, I asked them to watch the baby turtles
hatch, and come out from the sand. Fortunately, my children then
released the baby turtles into the sea. I told them those babies
have to struggle for life because sharks and other predators
might eat them. After 20 to 30 years, they will come back to the
same place where they to lay their eggs. I explained to them, "If
you want to meet those turtles you set free, you must come again
with your children in thirty years time."

* Be receptive.

We tend to "overload" information to children. Give them a
chance to express spontaneous feelings. We should also respond to
their mood and feelings to make them more sensitive. Expand their
interests by teaching around their grain of curiosity.

* Focus the child's attention without delay.

Find things that interest them, and lead them bit by bit into
the spirit of keen observation. Let them feel that their findings
are interesting to you, too.

When I took my 4-year-old daughter walking in the small garden
nearby our house, she shouted and enthusiastically showed us a
grasshopper. We asked her to count how many legs it had and how
many wings and eyes it had. We let her watch how it hopped and
play with it until she get bored, and then asked her to set it
free.

* Look and experience first, talk later.

Splashing in the river means a great time for most children.
But how we can we allow them to bathe in a foggy area such as the
Gunung Halimun National Park? After putting away their things in
the lodge beside Cikaniki river, my children were so excited and
forced me to let them plunge into the water. I let them do so
until I saw their lips were becoming blue. Hurriedly, I gave them
hot chocolate milk. Since that was their first time they had ever
seen clear water in the heart of a jungle, they asked to play in
the river two or three times a day.

* A sense of joy should permeate the experience, whether in
the form of gaiety or calm attentiveness. Parents are naturally a
good model for their children. If we can keep the spirit of the
occasion happy and enthusiastic, they will feel the same as we
do. We can share our enthusiasm, curiosity and happiness. Those
are our greatest assets as teachers.

Preparation

It is wise to start with short, easy trips first, then, paying
close attention to your children's interest and capabilities,
gradually increase their difficulty and complexity.

If you don't have any outdoor experience, it is advisable to
take a day trip. Choose a place that is familiar to you and easy
to reach. A place that children need not have a tiring long walk
after leaving the car, such as the Botanical Gardens in Bogor,
the Situ Gunung Resort and Camping Ground in Sukabumi or just a
stream or rice field in the country side. Make this trip a
starting experience for the whole family.

After doing this several times, try to have an overnight trip.
You may choose whether you want to stay in a lodge, hut or tent.
Be sure you take the appropriate equipment.

Instead of taking your children's favorite food, you might
take your binoculars to see birds or mammals and a magnifying
glass to examine small objects which you find there. A resource
book such as Birds of Java and Bali by John MacKinnon (1990) or
Alam Asli Indonesia by Kathy MacKinnon (1987) can help to answer
your curiosity.