Many parents have had the incredible experience of taking a 2 or 3-year-old for a walk and rediscovering the riches of the natural world in your very own neighborhood – whether it be watching a trail of ants as they diligently go about their business, or the wonder of watching a Praying Mantis hunt, the pure delight in a garden filled with flowers of different sizes, shapes, textures and colors, or the unmitigated joy of hugging a puppy or kitten.
We really don’t need to do much of anything to encourage a children’s reverence for and joy in nature other than to let their joy rub off on us, and to remind them that God created everything, including them, and created everything for good. You won’t really be telling them, they know it on some deep instinctive level, and that gives them joy too.
-Carolyn Hayes
Director of Children & Young Family Ministries