Little Wild Tales – On the Importance of Re-Wilding Childhood
by Jenny Bailey
It was a pleasure to write on this subject and be a guest blogger for Little Wild Tales.
Here’s a sneak preview for you on the importance of storytelling and why its so vital to re-wild childhood – something we hold dear and love to do! As a mum there’s nothing better than showing my children the wonders of the natural world. I relish every opportunity and love to watch their faces take in the ‘magic’ of what they are seeing. For that is how children view nature and animals in their early days of development, all around them is magical and let’s face it nature and the natural world never disappoints!!
Many times, as a parent I’ve made up stories with my children. Invariably all of mine have been about animals, where we’ve helped them, or where they’ve started talking to us and magically allowed us to enter their world. The best stories are the ones that have the power to connect with our emotions – and they’re the ones we tend to remember. I believe there is something magical in the process of storytelling, especially to children. If you’ve chosen a wonderful topic that piques their curiosity, a child will literally lean in closer to listen more intently to your every word and I believe, right there in that moment, you have the potential power to change the world!
When we connect with nature..
When we connect with nature there are a multitude of benefits for us both physically and mentally. For children these benefits increase even further as their levels of confidence, creativity, wellbeing, curiosity and happiness rise dramatically. Through engaging with nature, and exploring its colours, sounds, tones and textures, a life-long love of learning can be sparked into action and amazing things can develop.
Please link to the full article here.
Also if you wish to purchase any of our storybooks, please link through to our shop here.
Our thanks to Ivelina Borislavova who runs Mother Nature Loves You, a lifestyle and food blog for the opportunity for our co-founder and author Jenny, to write a guest blog for her website.
“Many times, as a parent I’ve made up stories with my children, as I’m sure we all have. Invariably, all of mine have featured animals.
Here I share the importance of storytelling and how I believe this simple act can transform lives.”
Recently we joined Aaron Moskowitz on his ‘Get In my Garden’ podcast to share our thoughts
on how connecting with nature greatly benefits us all ….especially children.
We hope you enjoy listening to our discussion here.
Jamie Sneddon, Experienced Field Biologist/Ecologist, Munlochy, Scotland
My earliest memories of being obsessed with animals involve watching the Lion King. I still
have the VHS, but you would see mostly static if you tried to watch it, thanks to countless
hours of watching and rewinding. As I grew up, I would get myself into trouble in primary
school by collecting ladybirds, slaters and worms in my pencil case and taking them with me
into the classroom. I was clearly a biologist at heart from a young age, obsessed with animals
and desperate to learn everything I could about them. David Attenborough documentaries
highlighted the incredible animals around the globe and fed my obsession for wildlife
knowledge. As an adult, little has changed. I now radio collar red squirrels and track the
activities of Scottish wildcats for a living. David Attenborough is still my hero and the Lion
King has never lost its appeal. I’ve managed to stop collecting insects in pencil cases but that
was probably for the best…
Where I am now is a culmination of all the inspirations I had growing up. I loved animals but
without a constant stream of information from books, documentaries, and inspirational people
I likely wouldn’t be where I am today. The same applies to children today. However, they
have new challenges to contend with. The rise of technology has led to a greater disconnect
with the natural world. While more disconnected, children must also deal with the doom and
gloom of modern science. When I was a child recycling wasn’t common, having a massive
collection of plastic bags under the kitchen sink was normal. People liked bees but didn’t
fully understand their real value. In general, the average person didn’t have a full
understanding of their impact on the natural world. Things are different now. Children are
being taught to recycle, plant bee-friendly flowers in their gardens and raise money for
rainforest conservation. The next generation is primed to make up for all the mistakes of
previous generations but it’s a heavy burden to bear.
A lot of my wildlife-friendly choices have only been learned as an adult. Through education
at a young age, children are now growing up with the knowledge I acquired in my early
twenties. Books like ‘Phoebe the bee’ could lead to a generation of children that all grow up
to have bee-friendly gardens. Further than that, it could ignite a passion that then grows and
spreads into different disciplines. Children that grow up to become engineers, doctors, and
chefs that all have a deep appreciation for the natural world are what we need to promote
change on a global scale. The possibilities are endless and they can all start with one
inspirational book.
Connect to Jamie via LinkedIn.
Little Jamie, during his Primary School trouble making days.
Our huge thanks to Jamie, for taking the time to be our first guest blogger. Keep up the amazing work you’re doing.
Kabloom
Did you know it was National Children’s Gardening week and we celebrated by linking up with Kabloom?
Click on the image above to find out more and let’s get outside!
Our thanks to Kabloom for collaborating and allowing us to write a guest blog.
Keep safe everyone.
Although the country is in lockdown, we are still taking enquiries about our fun primary school Story Workshop Assemblies once schools are open again. Meet Phoebe the Bee and learn all about why bees are so vital to our existence. It’s interactive and educational, please see the comments below.
We combine musical interactive games, the full story of Phoebe the Bee, a history and nature lesson in each and every assembly all packed into a time period of your choice. For further details email hello@talesfrommotherearth.co.uk, we would love to hear from you.
Stay safe and keep well.
Recently we had a great chat with Fatimah Abbouchi from Agile Ideas in Australia about the journey Tales from Mother Earth has been on.
Grab a cup of tea, click on the image above and listen in.
Stay safe and keep well.
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