Los Angeles-based nonprofit, The Children’s Nature Institute, introduces Nature to many children for the first time.

Imagine living less than an hour from the Pacific Ocean for the first five to eight years of your life and never seeing it, let alone stepping foot on the beach. Imagine a playground with no trees or vegetation whatsoever. How will that impact a child’s worldview? How will it shape their values? The Children’s Nature Institute (CNI) seeks to make these fundamental connections between children and the natural world.

According to Meredith Arnold of EcoPerks.com, CNI is “working on a project to plant trees in inner city school yards with the agreement by the teachers and administrators that they will help to keep the tree alive after planting,” she says. “These kids play in areas that are completely devoid of vegetation - they’re all asphalt. The kids have little appreciation for nature as they don’t really see it near them and what little they see they’ve not been taught to respect or even notice it.”

CNI’s mission is “to educate young children through interactive experiences with nature, and to inspire a sense of respect and responsibility for the natural environment.”

It’s clear that interaction with the natural world is essential to a child’s physical as well as emotional health. Otherwise it’s no different from going to school in prison, which is exactly what we’re preparing them for if not for organizations like CNI.