Duchess of Cambridge urges children to 'sit and feel' real nature in Instagram age

The Duchess of Cambridge has urged families to escape the on-screen visuals of Instagram to make time to "sit and feel" the natural world.

The Duchess, who showed a group of schoolchildren around her Chelsea Flower Show "Back to Nature" garden, said she considered it " really important the kids start to understand nature, and care for it, so they can protect it as well".

Last night, she had brought her own three children along to the garden to show them the moss, pine cones and sticks they had collected from the Norfolk countryside to help her, letting them play on a rope swing and paddle in the stream.

As she visited the garden today to put in the finishing touches before the Queen arrives this afternoon, she encouraged local London schoolchildren to do the same: toasting marshmallows, making boats out of reeds, and climbing a ladder to show them the view from a treehouse.

Speaking to teachers, the Duchess was heard to say: "It's really important the kids start to understand nature, and care for it, so they can protect it as well.

"With Instagram everything is so visual. It's nice to sit and feel."

Her words echo those of her husband and brother-in-law Prince Harry, who has regularly spoken about the downside of social media and the all-encompassing effect it has on children's lives.

The Royal Family have recently expanded their own use of Instagram, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex regularly sharing surprise announcements and behind-the-scenes photo reels for their 8.1m fans.

Today, the Duchess of Cambridge spoke with mother Alison Shockledge during a tour of the Back to Nature Garden, designed in collaboration with landscape architects Andree Davies and Adam White.

Ms Shockledge said: "She's a mum. She was talking about it from a mum's perspective: put your devices down, let's go out.

"Be relaxed with your children, let them get muddy."

Kate urged children to smell flowers, and enjoy the scent of the open campfire. She said: "Have a smell, they smell amazing."

The mother-of-three finished her time in the garden by writing a note with one of her memories of enjoying the natural world. Her note read: "Boulder hopping in the Lake District."

Rebecca Beale, who also spoke with the Duchess, said: "Children are often sat still looking at screens. She said it was important to be multi-sensory."

Speaking of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis and their reaction to the garden, their mother disclosed: “The children played last night in a way I hadn’t imagined.

“They were throwing stones. I hadn’t actually thought that that was what they would be doing. They kicked their shoes off, and wanted to paddle in the stream… using it in a way that I hadn’t anticipated.”

The garden is designed to encourage families to get "back to nature", and is intended in part to underline the Duchess’s message about the benefits of outdoor play in early years’ development.

One little girl, Maya Bell-Springer, six, from Christ Church primary school in Battersea, who was sitting in a mini-den made of hazel sticks, had a rapturous expression on her face as she said: “It is lovely and relaxing.”

She said afterwards: “She helped me cook my marshmallows. It was awesome.”

Amina Hawa, seven, from Ashburnham Community School in Chelsea, said the duchess asked her what they grew in the school allotment. “I said we’ve grown sunflowers, onions, pumpkins, garlic and potatoes.”

She said it was the first time she had eaten a toasted marshmallow, proclaiming them "delicious”.

The duchess was keen to encourage the children to smell things such as the pine needles, to a mixed response. As she offered a handful of moss for one boy to smell, she asked him: “Does that smell nice?” No, he said, it didn’t.

As she toured the garden, the duchess was helped by George Hassall, 13, from Manchester, an RHS young ambassador who worked on the garden with her last week.

He said: “I was doing some planting, some periwinkle and some ferns. She was really nice, really down to earth. She really got into it - she did not point, she got her hands dirty. She got stuck in.”

As she met the children today, he said, “you could tell that she was really enjoying the interaction with the kids, seeing the passion and the enthusiasm.”

He said his reed boat had not fared well. “Mine was called the Titanic, for obvious reasons. It did not make it to the end.”