Apparently it took me ages to say my first word, but when I did eventually decide to make myself heard I pronounced 'horse' with such clarity that it took my mum aback. I think the fact that I could look out on to a stable yard from my cot must have had something to do with it. Strange too that my first word really stuck with me - I am completely in love with anything equestrian to this day!
So I'm really pleased that amongst my little boy's first words has been a whole host of 'natural' nouns. Leaf, bug, bird and flower are some of his favourites. He also prefers nothing better than digging in the garden, going to visit the fish in the pond down the lane or lying below a big oak tree in the sun and laughing at the rustling of the leaves. I am equally pleased that the local nursery that my son goes too a couple of days a week are really in to getting the children in their care out and about and enjoying the outdoors as much as they can. But I fear that this kind of attitude, with outdoor learning awarded only a meagre government budget , is one that is dwindling. That is why it is so important that organisations like the RSPB can keep providing outdoor education opportunities and activities like they do.
One of the first things that I did when I first arrived as a new staff member at the RSPB in Norwich, was to head down to Whitlingham Country Park where the RSPB run a field teaching scheme in association with the Broads Authority. A big coach full of children from an urban primary school arrived and we spent the day with them searching for minibeasts in the woods, running through the meadow in search of ladybirds and dipping for water boatmen in the Broad. It was fantastic to see a class full of children devouring their sandwiches at lunch time, hungry after a morning spent with the sun on their backs and the freedom to play and run.
So let us keep pressing for every child to get time outdoors! The fact that the term Nature Deficit Disorder has even been termed is proof that this is something we need to act on. Long live grass stained knees, splashing in puddles and having the space to run free.
For more information about the RSPB's outdoor education opportunities visit www.rspb.org,uk/ourwork/teaching