My sister and I were lucky to spend our formative primary school years growing up in Golden Bay before we shifted to Whanganui, spending every weekend exploring a new fantastic beach, bush reserve, mountain top or scrubby gorse track (yes, there was some whingeing I recall).
While our parents were no hippies - a bank manager and a teacher - they embraced the beauty of the place and we had many outdoor adventures. That said, there was no shopping mall, movie theatre or brightly-coloured playground to compete with in Takaka, population about 1000.
Louv also asks: What happens if our children's experiences of nature become virtual? A disconnect from the natural world? We are already approaching a tipping point with biodiversity loss and climate change - what if our future leaders are not as deeply connected to the natural world?
My Mr Five loves the iPad and his favourite thing is viewing videos of dinosaurs, crocodiles and snakes on YouTube. And he's not alone a 2013 study by Common Sense Media showed that between 2011 and 2013, the average amount of time children spent using mobile devices tripled.
Technology is great but what if our love of getting information fast and furiously online is damaging our authentic connections to the world? How do we make sense of all this information if we're not outside experiencing it first-hand?
Luckily there are many still passionate about nature. This month is Save Kiwi Month (www.kiwisforkiwi.org) plus Forest & Bird is running a kereru sighting promotion, recorded via www.kererucount.org.nz I've reported one in my local reserve.
Getting out in nature doesn't have to be complex; it doesn't have to be the incredible national parks of my childhood. The beach, the river and the backyard are full of life.
Encouraging children's natural curiosity by following ants lugging their loads around or the more morbid fascination of watching a spider spin a fly for dinner or tracing the spirals of a fern frond or the veins of a skeleton leaf are easy ways to engage our kids.
Visiting the Whanganui Regional Museum will give another angle on nature, especially for the other dino-mad kids. There is a massive moa display on bones of ancient and now extinct creatures. Instead of them watching videos, get the kids to the museum this school holidays.
But if it's the genuine article your kids crave, Te Papa in Wellington has a phenomenal exhibition on tyrannosaurs even featuring a Night in the Museum experience with tours by torchlight and an overnight stay next weekend.
I am sorely tempted to travel down, even if Mr Five is probably a touch too young (ok, the truth is I'm too old to deal with the tired boy the next day, especially one day before school starts back).
I'm also going to take some advice from Albert Einstein: "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairytales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairytales." Maybe add a nature theme.
Nicola Young is a former Department of Conservation manager who now works for global consultancy AECOM. Educated at Wanganui Girls' College, she has a science degree and is the mother of two boys.
