Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/making-wildlife-real-to-preschoolers/5022036/
Editor’s Note: The educators mentioned in this article were employed by these organizations at the time it was written; they may have changed employment since the article was written.Educators Help Children Overcome Their Fears of Wildlife
Adults who work to protect wildlife often trace their love to early nature explorations and creative play. They might have found slugs, worms, and millipedes under rocks or watched robins and squirrels dash around trees. Experiences like these help children imagine how wild animals live and learn to care for these creatures.
Why do children fear animals? Author and researcher Richard Louv (2005) reports that today’s children often live highly structured and protected lives that lack contact with nature. Television and cyberculture offer them facts about animals in distant places, but this information can be confusing to youngsters who do not encounter real wildlife. Some urban children in the United States believe that aggressive lions, anacondas, and crocodiles live near them, and these beliefs make a visit to wild places feel dangerous. Fearful children probably don’t care if wild creatures face extinction.
Wildlife education programs use a range of teaching strategies to make wild creatures real to children. Treefrog Treks in San Francisco offers hands-on science, nature ...