Most adults have completely lost their sense of wonder and aren’t even aware of it. We are too busy to just relax and wonder at simple things such as the clouds rolling across the skies or the wind that brushes are cheeks. We struggle to feel connected to nature in this day and age.
Regaining our sense of wonder so that we can start living is going to be a lot of hard work. And while we are at it, we can help our children retain their sense of wonder and believe in it.
Losing Our Sense of Wonder – A Tragedy
Children who have lost their sense of wonder prematurely have a tough time finding things to do. Nature does not impress them anymore and they are constantly complaining of boredom. Children who have lost their sense of wonder no longer play outside.
A sense of wonder is a thing of beauty and helps us to stay alive and find meaning in life. It boosts our creativity and problem-solving ability. Wonder lies at the foundation of all scientific inquiries and experiments.
Moreover, our sense of wonder constantly reminds us that we have our roots in nature. In the absence of this sense of connection with nature, children are at risk of growing up into adults who consider nature as a thing to take advantage of, not something they form a part of. If this happens, children will never realize that their true role in life is to protect and preserve nature.
Factors that Destroy Children’s Sense of Wonder
Consider your sense of wonder as a muscle that you have to build. It becomes weak when you don’t use it much. So you must use it a lot to make it stronger.
The following are a bunch of factors that destroy a child’s sense of wonder:
- Very little time to play on the lap of nature
- Too much screen time
- Adults continuously disciplining children by giving them limited playtime
- Manufactured toys that destroy creativity
- Busy lifestyle of structured activities
If your children are spending too much time on your mobile phones or laptops and constantly complaining of boredom, you can help them to believe in wonder by taking the following steps:
- Create opportunities that give them unlimited time to explore nature.
- Don’t stick to a particular schedule or plan when you take them outside to play.
- Discover nature with your child and encourage them to wonder and ask questions.
- Play with things found in nature including nuts, water, seeds, leaves, sticks, stones, mud, and others.
- Develop a slow lifestyle in which there is ample time to be bored as children’s creativity blossoms only when they are bored.
When you work on developing your children’s sense of wonder, you awaken your own. You realize that there is more to life than just rushing off for work, getting things done, and being disciplined and successful.
We start living when we focus our attention on all those things we took for granted so far—a caterpillar turning into a beautiful butterfly, a flower blooming, the sun rising and setting, seeds sprouting into plants and growing into trees, the phases of the moon, the clouds floating gracefully across the skies, the stars shining brightly in the night sky, and many more.
These are beautiful natural events and you can observe, enjoy, and wonder at them as much as you please. They are freely available for all.
Teach your children the following so that they can start believing in wonder:
Notice Small Things – Call your eye for detail a skill or a gift, but once you learn the art of noticing the smallest things, it will remain with you forever. However, you have to first slow down to start observing small things. We cannot notice anything when we are always rushing around, trying to get things accomplished within deadlines.
You have to become a child just like your child. Here are some things you can do to improve your child’s ability to notice small things:
- Observe a flower daily just to see how it changes and why.
- Notice how the leaves on your favourite tree changing colour and shedding.
- Note the exact time at which the sun rises or sets.
- Observe the changing colours of the sunset.
- Watch the antics of the squirrels in your backyard.
Observe the tiniest things in nature and discuss them with your children as it helps them to develop a sense of awareness of the world around them, appreciate it deeply, and feel connected to it.
Learn With Your Children
You don’t have to be an expert just because you are an adult. In other words, it is perfectly alright not to know everything. We cannot possibly know everything, especially the answers to the questions our children ask.
When you take your children out, ask questions along with them, and try to find answers with them, you are educating them in the best way possible.
Remember that knowing the answers isn’t everything. The ability to ask the right question at the right time is more important, and this is the skill you are teaching your children by simply encouraging their sense of wonder.
Forget Schedules and Plans While Exploring the Outdoor
When you take your children out for exploration, leave your plans and schedules behind. While it is wonderful to stick to the activity or project you have in mind, you have to permit your child to stray away from the subject. You can always get back to the project some other time.
Allow children to freely explore, touch objects, listen to sounds, observe, compare, sketch, collect, and do anything they may feel like doing at the moment. Leave your investigation of nature as open-ended as possible.
Final Thoughts
We need our sense of wonder and joy to survive and thrive. The slightest feeling of wonder and the smallest moment of joy can give us a sense of meaning in an otherwise chaotic and bewildering world.
We cannot abandon our plans, busy schedules, and routines. After all, we need them to feel safe and secure and so do our children. But we do need to go beyond routines and schedules and incorporate beautiful rituals that keep our sense of wonder alive.
Take the time to do the small things that give you joy and keep your sense of wonder alive including listening to music, taking a nature walk, lighting scented candles, observing the stars, listening to the waves, admiring the sunset, and many more.
Rituals and traditions work differently for different people. The rituals you choose to follow depend on your preferences. Just make sure that they don’t feel like chores.