When we raise our children, we relive our childhood. Forgotten memories, painful and pleasurable, rise to the surface.... So each of us thinks, almost daily, of how our own childhood compares with our children's, and of what our children's future will hold.

Progress does not have to be patented to be worthwhile. Progress can also be measured by our interactions with nature and its preservation. Can we teach children to look at a flower and see all the things it represents: beauty, the health of an ecosystem, and the potential for healing?

By letting our children lead us to their own special places we can rediscover the joy and wonder of nature.

What if more and more parents, grandparents and kids around the country band together to create outdoor adventure clubs, family nature networks, family outdoor clubs, or green gyms? What if this approach becomes the norm in every community?

Natural playgrounds may decrease bullying.

If a child never sees the stars, never has meaningful encounters with other species, never experiences the richness of nature, what happens to that child?

There is a real world, beyond the glass, for children who look, for those whose parents encourage them to truly see.