Connecting Children and Nature: What Benefits Do Kids Get From the Great Outdoors?

How does connecting with nature help children’s learning, development and well-being? And is ‘nature deficit disorder’ a problem among young people in Maine?

David Covell, author of children's book "Run Wild," whose focus is on inspiring kids to get outside

Anne Stires, founder and director of Juniper Hill School, which promotes "place-based education" and nature immersion for children

Sharon Lovejoy, author and educator centered on children and nature

Richard Louv, author of the landmark book "Last Child in the Woods" and other best-selling books emphasizing the need for children to connect with nature, and founder of the Children and Nature Network

• Child Mind Institute: Why Kids Need to Spend Time in Nature
• NPR: Suffering From Nature Deficit Disorder? Try Forest Bathing
• Collective Evolution: Are You Getting Enough Vitamin N?
• The Solutions Journal: What Studying Nature Has Taught Us
• UMaine Cooperative Extension 4H camps
• Antioch University: Certificate in Nature-Based Early Childhood Education

• Elvis Presley - Wild in the Country
• Paul McCartney - Mother Nature's Son
• Explosions in the Sky - Wilderness