British wildlife presenter and father-of-three Steve Backshall encourages parents to nurture their children’s innate curiosity for the natural world, as he has seen firsthand how it can ignite “a fire in their eyes”.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work with kids for a long time now and I find that it is something pretty much universal, that kids do click into the natural world,” says the 52-year-old TV presenter, best known for presenting popular BBC children’s wildlife show Deadly 60. “Kids have an immediate visceral response to seeing a sparrowhawk take a small bird for the first time. They have an immediate response to seeing a sand lizard, which is one of the most beautiful kinds of reptile you’ll find in the entire world.”
Backshall says his own passion for the great outdoors was evident from the moment he started crawling.
“My mum and dad have always said that this is something that was innate in me,” shares the broadcaster. “From the first minute I could crawl, I was instantly out in the back garden turning over stones, looking for beetles, looking for worms and picking them up. I would also go through the compost heap looking for snake eggs.”
Father to seven-year-old Logan and five-year-old twins Willow and Kit, Backshall has seen firsthand the positive effects that spending time in nature has on his children. He’s observed that outdoor adventures not only help them sleep more soundly, but also promote “a far greater sense of wellbeing” and ignite “a fire in their eyes and a kind of excitement they may not necessarily have otherwise.”
One approach Backshall and his wife, British rower and two-time Olympic champion Helen Glover, have taken to encourage their kids to spend more time outside is setting limits on screen use.
“I think the thing that I’m proudest about in our parenting is how we’ve managed screen time,” says Backshall. “We’ve made it a real luxury. A luxury that is available rarely, and because of that, we managed to cram so many other productive things into our day.”
However, he acknowledges that this may become more difficult as they get older.
“I know it’s going to be an awful lot harder in a couple of years time,” recognises the wildlife presenter. “So, all the things that I’m doing now will hopefully pay dividends in four or five years time, as they’re starting to approach those harder stages in in life. Hopefully they will still have kernels of memory in the back of their brain, remembering the day that they went out catching butterflies with Daddy.”
The father-of-three admits that one part of his family’s frequent wildlife adventures which often isn’t as fun is the hot and sweaty car journeys during the summer months.
“The second they get in the car and they’re about to do a big journey, they turn from being rational little people to screaming psychopaths,” jokes Backshall. “One of the reasons for that is that we’ve got three small children all wedged shoulder to shoulder in the back of the car, and it is probably a bit hot and sweaty. They’re not moving around as they need to to orientate themselves and to make themselves feel full of vim and vigor.”
New research suggests Backshall is far from alone in facing this challenge. A survey of 500 children aged 6-11 and 500 parents, conducted by OnePoll, found that the top sources of in-car stress were sibling arguments (44 percent), screaming (39 percent) and an endless barrage of questions (37 percent).
To manage these tensions, nearly a third of parents (32 percent) reported that their go-to solution is to hand over a tablet or smartphone.
In an effort to tackle this common struggle, Backshall has teamed up with Volvo Car UK for the Roadside Nature campaign. Together, in partnership with the Eden Project, they’ve launched a new activity pack designed to keep kids engaged with the natural world outside their windows – allowing parents to focus on the road.
“You can 100% put your kid on a laptop or an iPad for that journey and it will be a breeze…but at the same time, they haven’t learned anything. They haven’t exercised their mind,” says the broadcaster. “Would it not be so much better if, let’s say we are heading to the New Forest, if beforehand, they were going through flashcards and finding out about the kind of butterflies they might see. The cards might prompt them to already start to engage with the kestrel that’s hovering over the roadside verge alongside the car.”
Backshall also reminds parents that they are not alone and encourages them to seek out resources to help.
“Take advantage of every resource that’s available to you,” advises the TV presenter. “Plan, prepare and think it through. Make the car journey all a big learning experience, so that it’s not just a way of diverting and knackering out your child, but gives your children a better understanding of our planet.”
Steve Backshall is the official ambassador of Volvo Car UK’s Roadside Nature campaign, in conjunction with the Eden Project. Download the nature-inspired activity pack at volvocars.com
