Sunday evening was a particularly bad evening for my five year old, River. As dinner approached, she complained nonstop – that pot roasts is just too smelly and those carrots are just so crunchy and mashed potatoes are way too mushy and her little sister is oh so pushy and on and on and on. My husband and I were becoming stressed as we prepared for dinner with a side of whine. (Yes, I wrote whine. I make lame jokes like that. I just can’t help myself.)

As I was setting the table, I noticed an old beeswax candle that we used to light each night during supper. We had quit using it about a year ago, back when my younger daughter, Harbour, stopped sitting in her high chair where she was safely constrained away from the flame. I figured that this would be a good night to try the candle out again.

Add a Bit of Nature Each Day

As we sat down to eat, I lit the candle and set it in the middle of our kitchen table with our shiny silver snuffer beside it. River turned down the lights and we ate dinner in relative quiet as both girls were mesmerized by the flickering light.

It wasn’t perfect – I’m not a hundred percent sure that River actually ate any of her vegetables and at one point, Harbour used the cover of darkness to slip undetected into the bedroom with our iPad to watch Dora the Explorer, but it was easily one of the most peaceful dinners we’ve had in the last month or so.

At the end of dinner, I let River snuff out the candle, and she called good bye to the “smoke fairies” and I made some comment about the “breathing in the essence of 10,000 flowers captured for us by the bees” and my husband looked at us like we were both lunatics. This is part of our ritual and we do it every single time without fail. Even though it had been a year since we last lit the candle, we didn’t miss a beat.

It’s amazing how a small bit of nature can be so calming for children. Sunday’s candlelight adventure reminded me that I need to intentionally incorporate more nature into our days.

When my daughter was first born, I had dreams of a raising a little tomboy that loved making mudpies in the back yard and collecting treasures in the forest. Instead, I met a dainty princess that doesn’t really love either of those things. She hates to go for hikes and and has a short tolerance for being outside. And it’s not that I didn’t try!

I took her on walks and  planted gardens each year and all sorts of things. I even enrolled her in a preschool program that spends Thursday mornings outside hiking, regardless of the weather. I warned the teachers that she would resist going out, but they smiled patiently at me and said that the kids always enjoy themselves and that Thursdays are usually the children’s most favorite day of the week. After a couple months, they pulled me aside. “You need to switch her to another day. This isn’t working.” That kind of made me laugh. At least it’s not just me!

Fast forward to this winter. I haven’t been pushing my girls to go outside as much because it’s crazy cold and I know that as soon as we’re all bundled up, someone will need to go to the bathroom – I’m certain that’s one of the laws of parenting. Despite this, I know that exposure to nature is so important for everyone, especially children. Even finding little ways to bring natural materials in to the home can have such a positive effect on them – things like:

• using candles at dinner time
• crafting with natural materials, like twigs or fallen leaves or rocks
• creating sensory bins for toddlers with water, dried grains, or sand that they can play with
• making snacks and meals with whole foods and having them help with preparation

I want to be more intentional about exposing my girls to nature, whether that’s indoors or out. What about you – do you have any tips for bringing nature to your children?