Israel’s first outdoor preschool incorporates switchblades and scorpions | Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Israel’s first outdoor preschool incorporates switchblades and scorpions | Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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"It sounds like a Jewish mother’s nightmare: a preschool class held outdoors in the desert. But parents in this remote Israeli town drop off their children at Gan Keshet every weekday during the school year, setting them free to cook on a campfire, whittle sticks with switchblades and search for scorpions. Class goes on rain (rare) or shine (intense).

“The kids meet real life when they come here,” said Ron Meltzer, the school’s soft-spoken principal and visionary. “Spending time in nature — without an iPhone or computer — gives them many important gifts. I think it’s a solution for a major problem in our culture today.”

UN links child-friendliness to environment | Child in the City

UN links child-friendliness to environment | Child in the City

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"In its report of the DGD the UNCRC says ‘the impact of environmental damage on children’s rights is not a new issue. Yet, despite data explicitly linking environmental harm to child rights violations, increased awareness of environmental crises and numerous international agreements, the understanding of the relationship between children’s rights and the environment is still in its infancy’.


The report finds that ‘the parallel development of environmental law and human rights law has contributed to a lack of coordination between institutions dealing with child rights and environmental issues within both governments and the United Nations. This coordination gap is one of the reasons for inadequate monitoring and accountability for child rights violations that relate to the environment’."

Back to nature: Getting dirty boosts child development, say experts - The Mainichi

Back to nature: Getting dirty boosts child development, say experts - The Mainichi

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Playing in nature while coming into contact with dirt and insects has an impact on child development. "By using all five senses to experience the outdoors, children are able to feel that they are a part of nature," says Michio Kawasaki, specially appointed professor of developmental psychology at Takada Junior College. Different from standardized man-made things that are sold as products, nature and living things that are a part of it have a form and a shape -- they move, they have a smell and a certain feeling when you touch them with your hands and even have a taste as well. Surrounded by the diversity of nature, children keep developing daily. "Humans are a part of nature. I think through being connected to nature, we can be surprised or moved, comforted or soothed," Kawasaki explains.