Five pathways to nature connectedness

When you’re outdoors, encourage everyone to use all their senses – what can they see, hear, smell, feel and taste?

• Do trees or plants have a smell? What do they smell like?
• Are there things that they can touch? Make sure it’s safe to do so and won’t cause any harm.
• What do things feel like? Are they soft, hard, smooth, or prickly? Different things have different textures. Can people feel the difference between bark on a tree, a smooth blade of grass, and a cool pebble?

Get everyone to pause what they’re doing for a minute, and just take in what’s around them. They may want to close their eyes to help them tune into their other senses.

• Can they hear any birds singing?
• Can they feel any breeze on their skin?

You might not be able to taste things, unless you’ve got an adult who knows their stuff with foraging who can identify safe things to eat, like blackberries and wild garlic. Even if you don’t have a foraging expert, you could try to help everyone to tune into this sense in other, safe ways.

• Can they taste the air outdoors, or does it have no taste?
• Does the air feel different to breathe?

Make it accessible:

• If you or anyone in your group can’t use (or has difficulty using) any of their senses, for example, if they have hearing loss or sight loss, think about how you can make sure they’re included and comfortable. How do they experience nature?
• Some people might not be comfortable touching or smelling new or different things, and that’s OK. Everyone can go at their own pace – they don’t have to do anything they’re not comfortable with.

Talk about what it feels like being outdoors in nature. Everyone will be different, but it might make them feel joy, calm, wonder, or awe. How does it affect people’s energy levels?

• How did people feel before going outside? How do they feel now? Did they notice a change?
• Ask people to imagine a calm, wonderful, or awe-inspiring place – was it somewhere in nature?
• What does it feel like to watch wildlife? Did people enjoy watching anything in particular? Do some plants and animals bring more joy than others?

Talk about how everyone feels about damage to the environment.

• How do people feel when they see litter or learn about ways humans are damaging the planet?
• What does it feel like to take action to help?

Encourage everyone to take their time when they’re spotting and identifying nature. Can they notice different colours and shapes? Can they spot any patterns? People could notice the pattern of veins on a leaf or the different colours on an insect, for example.

Photos can be a great way to capture the beauty of nature. The group could take some photos while they’re exploring. They could try to capture something from a new angle, or do some close-up photography that brings out hidden details.

Talk about what nature means to everyone.

• Do they have a favourite place or a favourite view? Does anyone have a favourite memory of time they’ve spent in nature? If people haven’t spent much time in nature before, they may be making their favourite memory right now!
• Think of a famous painting or poem – is it about nature?

Talk about the seasons when you’re doing your activities. 

• What season is it now? Look around – what clues does nature give people?

A lot of the activities in the Green Champions programme are about how people can care for the natural world and take action to help nature.

• Make sure everyone is involved with your project and understands what they’re doing and why.
• Talk about how a big part of being a Scout is being kind and helpful – this goes for the planet as well as people.
• When you’ve finished the programme, help everyone to think about the difference they’ve made. How they can continue to care for nature?