For the love of Nature
For the love of nature.
We haven't written a blog post about the bigger picture purpose of Elevate Youth for a while now, and though it is deeply ingrained into all of our programming and is a passion for all of our instructors, it's always good to take some time and reflect on why we do what we do and then share those ideas with anyone who will listen.
The purpose of Elevate Youth at its core is to give kids as many amazing experiences in nature as possible. There are essentially endless reasons we believe that experiences in nature are important, so in this post we’ll just focus on a few of the big ones.
People are happier when they are connected to nature.
This is a fundamental human truth. We do not need to try to convince everyone or cite sources to prove that this is true. We all know that nature is good for our happiness, and if you don't believe us yet - go take a walk outside, preferably somewhere surrounded by lots of plants or water.
The more time kids spend in nature, the more they want to learn.
The craziest things that exist on earth are a result of nature. There are some seriously incredible things that humans have done and created, but all the crazy things nature has done and created are even more fascinating. When kids (and adults) get outside, their curiosity is stoked and they have lots of questions. We can answer all of them but we can definitely encourage learning as much as possible about anything that interests them!
Nature can provide peace and calm.
In our very busy, hectic, fast paced world, it makes sense that so many people suffer from anxiety and so many other mental health related problems. Spending time in nature can really reduce feelings of anxiety and can often provide much needed time for reflection and deep thinking.
Nature is the best teacher.
As mentioned above, there are so many lessons people can learn from spending time outside. From self-reliance and trust, to interconnection, to confidence and respect; people can learn it all outside.
Nature strengthens human connection and feelings of belonging.
Kids (and adults) who spend time together outside form deeper connections with each other through learning, exploring, making mistakes, and having fun. Kids are able to learn new skills and build their confidence while finding passions and other people who share those passions.
All of these reasons listed above are ones that have been mentioned and discussed by kids on our programs. We love hearing kids talk about the benefits they're feeling and seeing while being outside. And because of that we truly love what we do here at Elevate Youth so we’re going to continue providing as many formative experiences for students each season as possible.