Kids' ties to nature need not end with summer

The start of the school year doesn't have to mean the end of time outdoors.

Many parents, teachers and schools are finding ways to keep children connected to nature all year.

"It may be even more important for kids to be connected to nature during the school year than just in the summer," said Richard Louv, author of the new "Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life" and the best-selling "Last Child in the Woods."

"Amid all the focus on technology, we've been missing something quite elemental," Louv said.

Just a walk through an urban park, he said, can help children's performance in school.

In this undated photo provided by The New York Botanical Garden, kids take part in gardening inside the Family Garden at The New York Botanical Garden in New York. (The New York Botanical Garden via AP)

"I can't tell you how many times teachers who bring their classes into natural settings say that the troublemaker in class is the very one that turns out to have leadership qualities in the woods," he said.

Sarah Milligan-Toffler, executive director of the Children and Nature Network, a Minneapolis-based not-for-profit, said getting children connected to nature doesn't have to mean a major outing.

"There is something about natural environments that is really stress-reducing," she said, "even if it's just 10 minutes a day in a neighborhood park or planting a pollinator garden."

Many botanical gardens, parks and nature centers offer after-school and weekend programs and are helping schools bring environmental awareness into the classroom, too.

Schools in Mamaroneck, New York, for example, have worked with a local nature preserve in the last few years to get children from preschool to high school outside for science, said the district's assistant superintendent for curriculum, Annie Ward.

In this undated photo provided by The New York Botanical Garden, kids take part in gardening inside the Family Garden at The New York Botanical Garden in New York. (The New York Botanical Garden via AP)

"I know we're in a time of standards and so forth, but how do we help kids grow up with a sense of place, of regional identity?" she said. "Especially now, with all these issues being talked about -- the rise of technology, of kids being hyper-scheduled -- there's particular power in being outside, in being close, careful observers of the natural world. There's a sense of calm and a sense of being unplugged."

Naturalists come to school and prepare children and teachers for field trips, Ward said. Third-graders go to a nearby Long Island Sound beach to learn about tidal ecosystems. Fifth-graders take pond samples to study under microscopes. High-school students in an advanced-placement environment class help remove invasive plants from a meadow at the preserve.

Nationally, a federal program, Every Kid in the Park, offers free admission to national parks and other public lands to the families of all fourth-graders. And many schools are beginning to realize the value of green schoolyards or gardens.

"Schools are public lands accessible to children, and too often, the yards consist of a blacktop that's locked up at night," said Milligan-Toffler.

Louv's latest book outlines ways families can advocate for more green space in schools and form networks of families interested in getting outdoors.