Wild Play: Parenting Adventures in the Great Outdoors

About this book

When David Sobels children were toddlers he set out to integrate a wide range of nature experiences into their family life play and storytelling. Blending his passion as a parent with his professional expertise he created adventures tailored to their developmental stages: cultivating empathy with animals in early childhood exploring the woods in middle childhood and devising rites of passage in adolescence. This book is Sobels vivid and moving memoir of their journey and an inspiring guide for other parents who seek to help their children bond with the natural world. As we share this familys experiences we observe how wild play in nature hones a sense of wonder provides healthy challenges and nurtures Earth stewardshipand we share Sobels joy as his children Eli and Tara grow into earthbound grounded young adults. Richard Louvs Last Child in the Woods identified the urgent problem of nature deficit in todays children sounding the alarm for parents educators and policy makers. Wild Play is a hopeful response offering families myriad ways to blaze their own trails; it should become another classic in this field.