There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)

by Linda Åkeson McGurk

He says that collecting natural objects can foster play and creativity as well as knowledge about the outdoors. In one study, he showed that over 80 percent of college students had collected items like rocks, shells, or insects, or foraged for food in nature when they were younger, and that the collectors in the group perceived themselves as more connected to nature than the noncollectors. Collecting is technically a violation of Leave No Trace, which says that you should “leave what you find” in nature, but Beery believes that it can be done responsibly and lead to a dialogue about environmental stewardship. “For example, when we collect tadpoles from the pond, what’s our responsibility to keep them alive and get them back where they belong after we learn a bit about them?”