When the author was a child 50 years ago, nobody planned her outdoor environment. Her home was close to flower-filled meadows that she could explore freely, and her preschool and elementary school classrooms opened onto beautiful woodlands that children used as an important part of their day-to-day learning. The last time she visited her old school, she noticed with dismay that the meadows and woods were gone, replaced by high-rise apartment buildings and other signs of "progress." How easy it would be to fall into the trap of thinking that "everything was better back then." However, over the past ten years, as the author has worked with people around the world who are interested in children's outdoor environments, she has come to understand that even the upsetting changes have pushed them in ways that have helped them discover new gifts. Children's growing disconnection from the wisdom of nature has been a wake-up call for them. If it has caused them to stop and remember to honor their relationship with the Earth and never take it for granted again, then that is a powerful, life-enhancing gift indeed.