Op here. I love nature, but I hate all exercises including hiking. I like the smell of grass, soil, wood and I don't mind smell of animals. We don't have pet at home but I am used to having pet growing up like hamster, rabbit, chicken, turtle, bird etc but no cats or dogs.

I am not a big fan of all sorts of flower, and my kids have pollen allergy anyways. I am interested in leaf but I hate all kinds of bugs or insects. I live star gazing, study weather pattern, reading map etc growing up. I am a hobby artists so I love painting landscape.

Life has been hectic, I am exhausted and have not done much with my kids with the things I mention above. I still have passion, but busy work and housework and taking care of 2 kids under 6 are exhausting. I remember my dream job was to work at zoo or aquarium or study soil when I was little. I thought my kids would be like me, just a bit disappointed. DH only wants to stay home every weekend.

Anonymous wrote:My son is like this. He has Asperger's. My daughter wants to become an animal biologist like me!

I wonder if you might be on to something; not suggesting the OP’s child has a diagnosis but some kids are much more sensitive to textures smells and other sensory experiences than others. To this day I can’t sit on grass in shorts, it’s horrible to me. One of my kids is the same. We do like hiking and doing fun stuff outdoors but it has to be relatively tame. Try letting your kids take pictures or use binoculars or those sorts of things and listen when they tell you what they don’t like. I have a niece who hates sand with a passion. It’s fine, she does lots of other things. People are allowed to have preferences.

The question is, why do they feel separate from nature? My kids were exposed to the outdoors, animals, water, bugs, trees, birds, fish, dirt, rocks, …. starting as infants. They were at the beach before they were even a week old. (We were living in Hawaii at the time.). They spent many summers on our family farm. People have become completely disconnected from nature. I think it’s one of the reasons we see so much anxiety and depression. We are supposed to be outside.

My girls were like that in preschool. I remember we went camping with some of their school friends and my daughters were the only two kids who would not put their hands in the puddles to catch insects and salamanders. A few years later and my oldest has not changed (though she is not as dramatic as OP’s kids). My middle loves any animals and has had insects as pets. She will hold hurt insects (bumble bees, cockroaches, butterflies, ladybugs, etc) in her hands and make a home for them. She now wants to touch everything (jellyfish, fishes, dogs, cats, etc.) and is not bothered by the smell.

My third is still little (3) and loves animals, but not to the level of his older sister…


Kids change.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They think animals are smelly & stinky, especially the ones that we visited at the zoo indoors. They refuse to get closer and cover the mouth with cloth the whole time nagging nonstop. They think dirt and bugs are nasty and dirty. They hate the sight of bees because they are afraid that they might get stuck.

How do you nurture the love of nature and natures if kids hate it.

That's strange! My kids always loved all animals.
I'm guessing you don't have a dog?

DP. Its no different than families who don't play/understand sports. We are not a nature family- no thanks! Camping is our worst nightmare. A road trip to visit northeast baseball stadiums- bucket list. Everyone has different interests. An interest in nature is not inherent.

Anonymous wrote:They think animals are smelly & stinky, especially the ones that we visited at the zoo indoors. They refuse to get closer and cover the mouth with cloth the whole time nagging nonstop. They think dirt and bugs are nasty and dirty. They hate the sight of bees because they are afraid that they might get stuck.

How do you nurture the love of nature and natures if kids hate it.

That's strange! My kids always loved all animals.
I'm guessing you don't have a dog?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What have you done to make them enjoy nature? Do you take them outside to play or do they sit inside playing video games all day? Do you lay in the grass and watch the clouds? Rake leaves and jump in them? Catch lightning bugs? Go hunting for edible fruit? Expose them to the outdoors more and they’ll learn to like it. Make fun scavenger hunts or have lessons on specific animals, start a leaf collection. So much you can do to encourage outdoor play. The more you expose them to it the more they’ll enjoy it.

This.

Really? I mean, one of my kids LOVES the natural world and has ever since he was a little toddler. We didn't do anything special.... just the way he was born.

Anonymous wrote:What have you done to make them enjoy nature? Do you take them outside to play or do they sit inside playing video games all day? Do you lay in the grass and watch the clouds? Rake leaves and jump in them? Catch lightning bugs? Go hunting for edible fruit? Expose them to the outdoors more and they’ll learn to like it. Make fun scavenger hunts or have lessons on specific animals, start a leaf collection. So much you can do to encourage outdoor play. The more you expose them to it the more they’ll enjoy it.

My dad could, and did, identify birds and wild animals while driving at 70 mph on the mountain roads. He'd take us outside at night to see the beauty of the moon. My mom told us about Japanese customs of cherry blossom viewing and going to watch the sunset. We learned kindness, appreciation of beauty, and respect for living things through nature.

And even though my mom grew up being afraid of cats, we got kittens as soon as we were old enough to take care of them.

Zoos to me are tragic. I know that they do tons of work to help animals, but I understand why your kids didn't enjoy the zoo.

Expose them to real life.

My son is like this. He has Asperger's. My daughter wants to become an animal biologist like me!

Mine hate all that too. They hold their nose at the zoo. A drive through zoofari is their nightmare. We have been in scouts, gone on hikes, nature centers, etc. Zero interest. We have a dog that they absolutely adore, yet they are not interested in anyone elses pets. Its just who they are.

Anonymous wrote:Is it just zoo animals, or is it all animals? Like, would they go up and pet a puppy?

OMG, do not get these children a helpless animal.

Anonymous wrote:They think animals are smelly & stinky, especially the ones that we visited at the zoo indoors. They refuse to get closer and cover the mouth with cloth the whole time nagging nonstop. They think dirt and bugs are nasty and dirty. They hate the sight of bees because they are afraid that they might get stuck.

How do you nurture the love of nature and natures if kids hate it.

Take them to the beach

I can empathize with OP. We have a 7-year-old that complains every time we go to do something in nature. We'll go on a walk or hike and it is the cliche "are we there yet" every few minutes. She overreacts to any bugs and doesn't seem to appreciate anything in nature. We want to do some bigger National Parks with her eventually, and I really hope she at least turns neutral towards being outside.

My kids love going on hikes where we find swimming holes. They take off their shoes, put on swim trunks and splash around.

I can't say that I disagree with your kids. Indoor zoo animals do smell and bugs are disgusting. DH and I are not pet people (DH is actually allergic, I'm just too lazy) and our kid asks us for a dog at least once a day.