To take nature and natural play away from children may be tantamount to withholding oxygen. — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
The woods were my Ritalin. Nature calmed me, focused me, and yet excited my senses. — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
All spiritual life begins with a sense of wonder, and nature is a window into that wonder. — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Being close to nature, in general, helps boost a child's attention span. — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
What would our lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology? — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
In our bones we need the natural curves of hills, the scent of chaparral, the whisper of pines, the possibility of wildness. — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Numerous studies document the benefits to students from school grounds that are ecologically diverse and include free play areas, habitats for wildlife,… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
We can conserve energy and tread more lightly on the Earth while we expand our culture's capacity for joy. — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
There is a real world, beyond the glass, for children who look, for those whose parents encourage them to truly see. — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
When you're sitting in front of a screen, you're not using all of your senses at the same time. Nowhere than in… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Natural play strengthens children's self-confidence and arouses their senses-their awareness of the world and all that moves in it, seen and unseen. — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Nature is imperfectly perfect, filled with loose parts and possibilities, with mud and dust, nettles and sky, transcendent hands-on moments and skinned… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Progress does not have to be patented to be worthwhile. Progress can also be measured by our interactions with nature and its… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
A widening circle of researchers believes that the loss of natural habitat, or the disconnection from nature even when it is available,… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Stress reduction, greater physical health, a deeper sense of spirit, more creativity, a sense of play, even a safer life-these are the… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
It takes time--loose, unstructured dreamtime-- to experience nature in a meaningful way. Unless parents are vigilant, such time becomes a scarce resource,… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
“There is a canyon within a reasonable distance of nearly every school in the city," [Elaine Brooks] pointed out. What an exciting… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Now, my tree-climbing days long behind me, I often think about the lasting value of those early, deliciously idle days. I have… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
The future will belong to the nature-smart-those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Nature-the sublime, the harsh, and the beautiful-offers something that the street or gated community or computer game cannot. Nature presents the young… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
In every bio-region, one of the most urgent tasks is to rebuild the community of naturalists - so radically depleted in recent… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
“She was one of those exceptional children who do still spend time outside, in solitude. In her case nature represented beauty -… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
“If a geographic place rapidly changes in a way that demeans its natural integrity, then children’s early attachment to land is at… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
As the nature deficit grows, another emerging body of scientific evidence indicates that direct exposure to nature is essential for physical and… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
“As a powerful deterrent to natural play, fear of liability ranks right behind the bogeyman. One goal in the fourth frontier should… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
What happens when all the parts of childhood are soldered down, when the young no longer have the time or space to… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Nature has been taken over by thugs who care absolutely nothing about it. We need to take nature back. — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Nature introduces children to the idea—to the knowing—that they are not alone in this world, and that realities and dimensions exist alongside… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Each of us-adult or child-must earn nature's gift by knowing nature directly, however difficult it may be to glean that knowledge in… — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
Children who played outside every day, regrdless of weather, had better motor coordination and more ability to concentrate. — Richard Louv Copy Share Image
“She was one of those exceptional children who do still spend time outside, in solitude. In her case nature represented beauty - and refuge.… — Richard Louv Copy Share
Children need nature for the healthy development of their senses, and therefore, for learning and creativity. — Richard Louv Copy Share
As the young spend less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, physiologically and psychologically and this reduces the richness of human… — Richard Louv Copy Share
No other youth group like the Scouts has trained so many future leaders while at the same time being a nature organization with its… — Richard Louv Copy Share
In medieval times, if someone displayed the symptoms we now identify as boredom, that person was thought to be committing something called acedia, a… — Richard Louv Copy Share
Rather than accepting the drifting separation of the generations, we might begin to define a more complex and interesting set of life stages and… — Richard Louv Copy Share
This seems clear enough: When truly present in nature, we do use all our senses at the same time, which is the optimum state… — Richard Louv Copy Share
Reconnection to the natural world is fundamental to human health, well-being, spirit, and survival. — Richard Louv Copy Share
“Most scientists who study human perception no longer assume that we have five senses: taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing. The current number ranges… — Richard Louv Copy Share
Nature is often overlooked as a healing balm for the emotional hardships in a child's life. You'll likely never see a slick commercial for… — Richard Louv Copy Share
In nature, a child finds freedom, fantasy, and privacy: a place distant from the adult world, a separate peace. — Richard Louv Copy Share
Something else was different when we were young: our parents were outdoors. I’m not saying they were joining health clubs and things of that… — Richard Louv Copy Share