p. 12 | Nature Teaching to Children by Mrs. E. H. Risley

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 5, 1916

Nature Teaching to Children

By Mrs. E. H. Risley

MRS. E. H. RISLEY

CHILDREN are busy observers of natural objects, and have many questions to ask about them. Their inquisitive observation should not be repressed, but encouraged and guided. Many of the facts of nature are especially adapted to teaching the children of God’s love and care, and these can be readily understood when they are properly explained. The baby reaches out his little hands for the bright-colored flowers and fruits before it can grasp anything, and shows its pleasure by its smiles and gurgles of delight. The child that can run about and talk is delighted as it runs up and down the garden, and says, “Pretty! Pretty!” to every flower.

The first way of awakening in the children an interest in nature is by bringing them in contact with nature. This can be accomplished by walks in the garden, fields, and woods. To the older children an occasional visit to a greenhouse or nursery will be very instructive.

Reading nature books, and listening to others read them, is another way in which the child’s interest in nature may be aroused. Various nature books with colored illustrations, may be obtained from bookstore and library. The nature stories in the Instructor and Little Friend, and the nature books of the Missionary Volunteer Reading Courses, are also a source of instruction that should not be overlooked.

In the study of plant life there are many points to be brought out; such as, how flowers are formed, their colors and perfume, their shapes and habits, their use, and what the Bible says about flowers.

A study of different kinds of seeds is very interesting,—what seeds are for, life in the seed, how seeds are scattered, etc.; so also a study of fruits,—their varieties, improvement, shape, color, etc.; or of leaves,—baby leaf buds, the sap in leaves, uses of leaves, leaves in autumn; of roots, stalks, and trunks; of the bark of trees and shrubs; of the sap and its circulation; of the sleep and death of plants.

Take the children out into the garden to help prepare the soil, sow the seeds, and care for the young plants. Adam and Eve were given just such work to do. Each child may have a small plot all his own, the little girl her flower garden, the boy his vegetable plot, or each may have both. Let the keeping of flowers on the dining table and in other parts of the house be one of the children’s home duties. Lessons of thoughtfulness for others may be taught by encouraging the little ones to share their flowers with others. The teacher at school will enjoy the simple bouquet, so will their older friends who are perhaps no longer able to raise flowers for themselves.

In the fall, or as the flowers go to seed, the children can save the seeds, and make a collection of the different kinds. Large-mouthed small bottles can be obtained at a small price, and are ideal containers for the seeds. Each bottle should be tightly corked, and plainly labeled. This care in gathering and saving the seeds will teach the children valuable lessons in system and classification.

The study of birds opens an interesting field to the children, and one that grows more absorbing as they gain in years and experience. They may first learn the most common birds, their color and habits, to distinguish their songs, to recognize their nests. Boys, and girls too, may be encouraged to build bird homes. The United States government has issued a booklet telling all about how to make a number of bird houses, from a tin-can house for wrens to an apartment house for martins. This booklet may be had for two cents. Why not send for one, and let the boys make some bird houses this winter, and be prepared to welcome the birds next spring? Government experts tell us that the birds need our hospitality, and that they richly reward it.

Mothers who have the gift of drawing have a good field in which to work. However, the less artistic drawings frequently

serve the purpose of gaining the child’s attention and impressing the thought desired. Colored crayons are excellent for this purpose, and the blackboard is a great help. A good-sized board painted black, and hung on the wall at a proper height, will serve the purpose as well as a more expensive board. One mother painted the four sides of a box black, thus giving a blackboard to each of her older children, while the baby amused himself in the box.

Nor should music be forgotten. Singing to the children, and with them, having them sing their childish songs over and over, is one way to awaken in their hearts a love for singing.

The love for beautiful pictures should also be cultivated. There are a number of companies which make a business of selling reproductions of the world’s best-known pictures in different sizes, some as low as one-half cent each, others for a penny apiece, and some at a higher price. These pictures are beautifully printed, and on each is the name of the artist, and some information concerning him.

In connection with all this study the mother should strive to instill lessons of truth and righteousness that will never be effaced from the minds of her children. The child who learns not only to see, but to think while he sees, will never lack entertainment, wherever he goes. He will not be obliged to go to a museum to find something to look at, but he will find things of interest all about him. To him the air and water, the sky above and the earth under his feet, will be full of wonders.