40+ Quotes About Children and Nature That Will Inspire Outdoor Play

Here are 30 children and nature quotes that will inspire outdoor play. After reading through these inspirational quotes, you’ll be ready to get out into nature to climb trees, go rock hunting, and chase butterflies!

Outdoor play and exploration is an important part of childhood. When outdoors, children are given the chance to exercise, strengthen gross motor muscles, take risks, socialize, appreciate nature, and so much more!

I hope theses children and nature quotes below inspire you to get outside and give these outdoor activities a try!

RELATED: Inspiring Quotes For Homeschoolers

Getting Children in Nature Quotes 1-10

Some of you did not spend your childhoods making potions out of random leaves and berries and twigs and just throwing them all in a tub of water and stirring it with a big stick you found and it shows.

Welcome to parenthood. Your outdoor rocks are now indoor rocks.

-Paige Kellermen

This was an experiment by kindergarten children. They dropped seeds in the cracks of the sidewalk to see what would happen.

Somewhere in the world there is a tree that sprouted the day day you were born and had been growing along with you and I think that’s wonderful.

Instead of buying your children all the things you never had…

Maybe you should teach them all the things you were never taught.

You see gardening, but wee see: Connecting with nature, following directions, caring & harvesting, creative thinking, problem solving, healthy eating, measuring, counting, reading.

cThere’s nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend.

-Bob Ross

No matter how old you get, may you always stop to fill your pockets with smooth stones, empty snail shells & other little treasures.

-Nicolette Sowder

If we provide enough space and possibilities for moving freely, then the children will move as well as animals: skillfully, simply, securely, naturally.

-Dr. Emmi Pikler

When a child gives you a gift, even if it’s a rock they just picked up, exude gratitude. It may be the only thing they have to give, and they have chosen to give it to you.

-Dean Jackson

Getting Children in Nature Quotes 11-20

It’s a wondrous thing how the wild calms the child.

-Unknown

Your kids will remember the adventures you went on, not the stuff you bought them. Kids outgrow stuff they never outgrow adventures.

Every child needs nature. Not just the ones whose parents appreciate nature. Not only those of a certain economic class or culture or set of abilities. Every child.

-Richard Louv

You were wild once. Don’t let them tame you.

-Isadora Duncan

All around you are spirits, child. They live in the earth, the water, the sky. If you listen, they will guide you.

– Grandmother Willow

Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.

-John Muir

Children still need a childhood with dirt, mud, puddles, trees, sticks, and tadpoles.

– Brooke Hampton

Show the children every winged thing. The bees, dragonflies, queen ants, bluebirds, luna moths & swallowtails. Creatures that inspire them to defy gravity.

-Nicolette Sowder

May I grow so tall and bright, so free and wild, so brave and vibrant that when you see me standing you think I am a sunflower.

– Gaby Compres

Children deserve to grow and learn in a place & alongside a force that is as wild and alive as they are.

-Nicolette Sowder

Getting Children in Nature Quotes 21-30

How wild it was, to let it be.

– Cheryl Strayed

I am happy out here. Dirty feet, messy hair & wild water on my skin. Out here with the wild things; this is where I belong.

-Brooke Hampton

I like people who get excited about the change of seasons, the sound of the ocean, watching the sunset, the smell of rain and starry nights.

-Brooke Hampton

Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.

-Thomas Berry

Children cannot bounce off the walls if we take away the walls.

– Erin Kenny

There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where the colors are brighter, the air is softer and the morning more fragrant than ever.

-Elizabeth Lawrence

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.

-Margaret Atwood

If we want our children to move mountains, we first have to let them get out of their chairs.

-Nicolette Sowder

Nature is a tool to get children to experience not just the wider world, but themselves.

-Stephen Moss

Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful but because they are fleeting.

-Richard Paul Evans

Getting Children in Nature Quotes 31-40

Tell me and I’ll forget. Teach me and I’ll remember. Involve me and I’ll learn.

-Benjamin Franklin

Don’t just tell children about the world. Show them.

-Penny Whitehouse

Anything you teach in an indoor classroom can be taught outdoors, often in ways that are more enjoyable for children.

-Cathy James

When someone tells you, “It can’t be done.” Remember: Those are their limits, not yours.

Before we ever put a pencil in a child’s hands, those hands should dig, climb, press, pull, squish, twist, and pinch in a wide array of environments and with a variety of materials.

-Amanda Morgan

We could have never loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.

-George Eliot

Everyone needs a friend that will call and say, “Get dressed we are going on an adventure.”

Why try to explain miracle to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden.

-Robert Brault

Kids don’t remember their best day of television.

Keep your children wild- don’t make them grow up too fast. Let them spend their days in the sunshine using their imagination. They are the change! Those wild children daydreaming in the sunshine will grow into grounded adults with minds and spirits capable of creating a better future.

-Brooke Hampton

No, we don’t need more sleep. It’s our souls that are tired, not our bodies. We need nature. We need magic. We need adventure. We need freedom. We need truth. We need stillness. We don’t need more sleep, we need to wake up and live.

-Brooke Hampton