Children who played outside every day, regrdless of weather, had better motor coordination and more ability to concentrate.

Passion is lifted from the earth itself by the muddy hands of the young; it travels along grass-stained sleeves to the heart. If we are going to save environmentalism and the environment, we must also save an endangered indicator species: the child in nature.

In our bones we need the natural curves of hills, the scent of chaparral, the whisper of pines, the possibility of wildness.

An indoor (or backseat) childhood does reduce some dangers to children; but other risks are heightened, including risks to physical and psychological health, risk to children's concept and perception of community, risk to self-confidence and the ability to discern true danger

There is another possibility: not the end of nature, but the rebirth of wonder and even joy.

Rather than accepting the drifting separation of the generations, we might begin to define a more complex and interesting set of life stages and parenting passages, each emphasizing the connections to the generations ahead and behind. As I grow older, for example, I might first see my role as a parent in need of older, mentoring parents, and then become a mentoring parent myself. When I become a grandparent, I might expect to seek out older mentoring grandparents, and then later become a mentoring grandparent.

Some kids don't want to be organized all the time. They want to let their imaginations run; they want to see where a stream of water takes them.