Paris - How to Learn Kids to Love Bugs
Tim Braun is currently a full-time dad living in Paris. He has been a Corporate Teambuilding Consultant and Director of Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Education in Portland, Oregon. Once the kids are in school Tim hopes to develop a career in journalism and photography.
My son squashes bugs. He's also been known to efficiently defoliate entire bushes with his wooden pirate sword. This anti-nature behavior completely horrifies me and I'm sure a psychologist would say that's why he does it. My mother claims I did the same when I was five years old (clearly she's delusional) and not to worry, it will pass. Be that as it may, my wife and I are determined to raise children who respect and value - and maybe even love - the natural world despite growing up in a very urban environment.
You might think that parents who consciously choose to raise their young children in a very large city would themselves be born and bred Urbanites, like lifetime New Yorker Woody Allen who once famously said "I am at two with nature." Not only did I make that choice, but I did so with great enthusiasm and I'll put my "Nature Lover" credentials up against anyone's.
In my early twenties I spent whole summers roaming the wildernesses of the American West without sleeping a single night under a roof. In my late twenties I led backpacking trips for a living and in my thirties my job title was Director of Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Education. So if I thought for a minute that growing up in the big city meant my kids would turn out to be little Woody Allens who begin to hyperventilate when they get too far from a Starbucks, I never ever would have gone along with the idea.
About a year ago my wife (Swedish) and I (American) moved to Paris with our two young children, five-year-old Jesper and one-year-old Sofia. Not only did we believe that this particular big city was going to be a great place to raise our kids, but also we were confident that we could raise children here who valued nature, were knowledgeable about it and who were comfortable in it. We decided that it might take a little more effort and intention than if we lived in a more rural environment but it was absolutely possible.
My son loves boats, preferably pirate ships, but if he has the chance an hour in a rowboat in Bois de Bologne will do just fine. He also loves to go "Wild Boar Hunting" in the woods. He brings along his plastic spear, a pirate sword and a rope to tie up the boar if we catch one (so far we haven't but maybe next time) and this game works quite well in any of the dozens of small forests in and around Paris. He can spend hours sailing the simple wooden boats with patchwork sails in the Jardin des Tuileries in the center of Paris, running from one side of the pond to the other to turn it around and set sail again using the bamboo pole that you rent along with the boat. His mother and I can sit on a bench and catch up on conversations missed during the blur of the workweek while he gets exercise, has fun and studies how the wind, water and boat work together.
My one-year old daughter can play in the sand for hours, filling buckets, dumping out buckets, digging holes, filling up holes. And of course, seeing what it tastes like. Some sand must taste better than others because she always samples a new location. She loves to touch all the plants to see which are soft and which prickly and she is full of wide-eyed fascination at the bugs, snails and birds we discover in the woods.
While these are hardly wilderness experiences, they are valuable contact with the outdoors that are opportunities to teach and even to inspire our kids about the natural world. When they are all grown up, we dearly want them to be both things: comfortable, competent and exhilarated in a big city and comfortable, confident and exhilarated on a big mountain. Now, if we can just work on this bug squashing thing, we'll be on our way.
Timothy Braun
Top 5 Ways to Connect Kids With Nature in Paris
Nature et Decouvert
With 64 stores in Europe and 7 in Paris, this is THE place to find accessories for exploring nature with kids: Telescopes, magnifying glasses, field guides and outdoor games are just the beginning. Website: www.natureetdecouvertes.com, Phone: 08 11 46 44 54 Open: most shops 10am-8pm M-F
Bois de Boulogne
A veritable smorgasbord of outdoor adventures for kids: Rowboats and bicycles to hire, forests and gardens to explore, and even a uniquely Parisian amusement park called Jardin d'Acclimatation if they are needing a little more action. Website: www.parisinfo.com Phone: 01 40 67 90 82 Address: Portes Maillot, Dauphine or d'Auteuil, 16th arrondissement, Paris. Open: All day, every day.
Jardin de Plantes
Wonderful gardens to explore, great playgrounds, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle and even the Dodo Manege a merry-go-round featuring extinct or endangered animals! Website: www.mnhn.fr Phone: 01 40 79 30 00 Address: 57 rue Cuvier, 5th arrondissement Open: 7:30-sunset.
Parc Andre Citroen
In a city known for its "Keep off the Grass" signs, Parc Citroen is refreshingly different. It has hectares of grass to play on, a large spray feature to cool off with and even a small "stream" running through the park. Don't miss a ride on the huge helium balloon for a view 150 meters above the city. Website: www.paris-france.org Phone: 01 45 58 35 40 Address: Quai André-Citroën, 15th Arrondissement. Open: daylight hours every day.
Jardin des Tuileries
Perhaps the most charming city park in the world, you can sip café au lait while the kids sail small model boats on the pond, ride ponies, bounce on trampolines and play in the sand. Website: www.v1.paris.fr/en/ Phone 01 40 20 90 43 Address: Rue de Rivoli 1st arrondissement, Paris Open: 7am-9pm in summer, 7am-7:30pm in winter.
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