You don’t have to go to the middle of the woods to get back to nature.

“You can find the most amazing things in your everyday backyard,” says Cindy Newton, a former field biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Newton will lead “Last Child Outside,” a three-hour class for children, ages eight to 12, at Columbus State University in October and November.

Newton, who is now pursuing her middle grades teaching certification for science and social studies at CSU, will show the kids aspects of the natural world around the CSU campus to teach them how humans affect the environment. She’ll also use animals, like her 9-year-old ball python, Squishy, to teach the kids about wildlife and safety.

“Squishy loves children, she’s been held so many times,” she said.

Newton said she first got the idea for the class when she was a field biologist. She’d meet people in the field who didn’t know much about the environment, she said.

“Adults and children are spending more time inside,” she said. “We’re losing our connection to nature.”

That connection is important, she said, because humans can affect and change the environment.

“If we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves,” she said.

This is the first time Newton has taught the class at CSU, but she’s led similar classes before for school groups. Kids usually start off unenthusiastic about the outdoors, she said -- until she shows them something cool that catches their interest.

“I show them things they’ve never seen before and give them information they’ve never heard before,” she said. “All they need is someone to show them.”

The class also gets kids interested in science -- an area Newton said not all kids are strong in -- and lets them run off excess energy. Newton mentioned Richard Louv’s book, “Last Child in the Woods,” which describes “nature-defecit disorder” -- an alleged trend that children are spending less time outdoors, leading to a host of behavioral problems.

“They’re not getting out and running around,” she said. “When I was a kid, we’d go out and just play and look for bugs.”

But bugs are one thing Newton finds children are often afraid of.

“I meet children that are terrified of caterpillars,” she said. “Fear turns into a phobia and that’s a killer.”

Snakes prompt similar terrified responses, she said, because kids don’t know about them. She’ll ask a class of kids what happens if a snake bites her. “You’ll die,” is a common response, she said, even though there are many kinds of nonvenomous snakes. So she introduces them to Squishy.

“There are kids crying when I pull out a snake, and by the end, they’re asking if they can hold it again.” she said.

Newton also encouraged parents and children to read about things in nature they are unfamiliar with.

“The more that you know, the less you are afraid of,” she said.

Children who attend one of the classes should bring a water bottle, wear tennis shoes and be prepared to go outside.

“We’re going to get dirty,” Newton said. Kids can also bring a camera to take pictures if they want.

If you can’t make it to the class, and want to explore nature outside of your own backyard, Newton recommended local parks,

“Take them to places like Callaway Gardens and F.D.R. State Park,” she said. “There are a lot of things you can do.”

Sara Pauff, 706-320-4469