David Attenborough Reveals the ‘Single Most Important’ Way to Connect Children With Nature

As adults we often think we know it all, but Sir David Attenborough wants us to take a step back and notice what we can learn from our children, too.

The 97-year-old will return to TV screens this Sunday with a new series of Planet Earth.

Instead of its previous time slot of 8pm, the naturalist said the show will air at 6.15pm to give children a chance to tune in.

Discussing why this is important, he said: “The reality is that there are worlds outside the playground and outside human society. There is another world out there which operates under a whole different set of rules and at a different pace.”

The broadcaster added that children have an “instinctive understanding” about the way the world operates – and gave the example of a five- or six-year-old watching how insects behave, or how bees collect pollen.

It’s something we could all learn from. Kids pay great attention to certain things and the 97-year-old called on parents to “give children that opportunity to find those particular moments in which they understand the natural world”.

The father-of-two continued: “By and large, children are better at understanding the natural world and as adults we should be making more opportunities for them to do that.”

The new eight-part series will follow some of the world’s most amazing species and aims to “look at the world through a new lens”.