A child finds and catches a glistening, green frog. It's a formative experience that may lead to a lifetime of curiosity, reverence and empathy for wild creatures - or a lifetime of fear and alienation from nature.

Much depends on the reaction and feedback of adults nearby. Did Mom or Dad scream, wince or smile?

Think back to your childhood: How much time did you play indoors? How did you answer the perennial essay question "What did you do over summer vacation?"

Not long ago, childhood was spent outdoors exploring woods, fields and ponds; climbing trees, building forts, swimming, riding our bikes, making mud pies, digging worms and catching snakes, frogs, fish and fireflies at dusk. Kids returned home itchy, dirty, tanned, tired and happy. Parents rarely worried about children's whereabouts and what they'd find or catch.

New dangers from sun exposure, plant allergies and tick and mosquito bites are keeping more children indoors. Some children emerge outdoors as if venturing into the atmosphere of an alien planet. Increasingly, it seems they are.

Air-conditioning, snacks, television, video games and high-speed internet access provide an attractive "safer" alternative to sweating or swatting outside.

Television documentaries and broadcast news reports often sensationalize bear, mountain lion, alligator and shark attacks. Dire warnings increasingly frighten parents and children to the point of keeping kids indoors, alienated from what is perceived as a wild, dangerous insect and germ-infested "great outdoors."

As nature becomes a place that is feared, a tragedy is unfolding. In his book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, journalist Richard Louv coins the term "nature deficit disorder" to describe the effects alienation from nature is having on the first generation of children raised indoors. He says children spend an average of 44 hours a week plugged in to electronic devices.

The advent of indoor play has rapidly replaced natural settings -ponds, creeks, farms, forests and parks, even back yards and vacant lots.

A growing wedge between people and nature is troubling to many parents and educators.

Without a meaningful connection to nature, how will children inherit the duty of care for the environment as adults?

We can reverse the trend. To the larger population of the Northeast, New Hampshire provides unparalleled opportunities to experience nature.

The best way to raise a new generation of ecologically literate citizens is to simply get our kids outdoors. Experience lets children safely explore a world they will soon inherit.

Kids are naturally curious and can show adults how to experience the world with imagination and innocence adults once possessed. Watching kids discover nature can reawaken the child within each of us.

Children ask remarkable questions that begin with the words "why" and "how" rather than "who" or "what." They notice little things, particularly insects. Kids make up imaginative games, descriptive names and can ascribe magical powers to nature. Have you ever tried to explain a rainbow to a child? The physical science pales in comparison to magic! Children sense that.

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