On an overcast morning in early October, a dozen third graders from Kerr Elementary School in Fox Chapel are crouched along the shore of a pond examining snails and other small creatures they've scooped from the cool water. .....Once their "catch" is transferred from nets to small yogurt cups, they crowd around Judy Stipanovich, a volunteer naturalist from the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, who helps this group of mostly 8-year-olds identify the various fly larva and worms.

After a conversation with Stipanovich about what lives in this man-made pond, the children dump their creatures back into the water and prepare to trek over to the next "habitat" on their four-hour journey at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, the forest where they will search for bugs and other land-loving critters.

The third-grade field trip to Beechwood Farms, located on Dorseyville Road, just a few miles from their school, is an annual event for the Kerr Elementary students.

Besides enhancing their classroom science studies, "It's great because some kids never get out for a nature walk," says Kim Guerrieri, a third-grade teacher who has made the trip for several years. "Once they come here, many of them ask their parents to bring them back."

In an era of time-pressed families in which both mom and dad work outside the house and children's extracurricular activities dominate after-school hours and weekends, it can be a rare treat for kids to just go outside and explore their surroundings.

When there is free time at home, many kids opt instead to plop in front of the TV or computer screen instead of playing at local parks or even in their own backyards.

Childhood experts as well as environmentalists say the issue of kids staying indoors is contributing to childhood obesity and depression and poses a threat to future conservation because it leaves children unfamiliar with the beauty and benefits of nature.

Richard Louv, co-founder of the Children and Nature Network, calls the phenomenon, "nature-deficit disorder."

Besides the proliferation of digital entertainment that keeps children indoors, Louv, who wrote "Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder" (Algonquin), blames parents who are scared off by reports of the alleged dangers of kids being outside without a strict regimen of supervised sports and activities.

Bundled in hooded sweatshirts and jackets and some even wearing boots to ward off the autumn chill in Beechwood's damp woods, the Kerr Elementary students clearly do not miss their warm classroom. Some acknowledge the field trip is even more fun than being at home.

"I'd rather do this than watch TV because you get to see more," says Abbe Cohen.

"I like being outside better than watching TV because you actually do stuff and see more nature, even though I know TV takes you places," says Drew Franks-Meinert.

Even pre-schoolers are not too young for exposure to the outdoors.

At Jennings Environmental Education Center in Slippery Rock, Butler County, a four-week program launched last week called Hide-N-Seeker is designed to encourage 4- and 5-year-olds to experience what goes on in nature during the fall.

For two hours each Thursday, the pre-schoolers will learn about leaves and how they change colors, hibernation, and how animals gather fall foods such as seeds and nuts to prepare for winter.

"We lean toward the unstructured, especially with the pre-schoolers," said Brandi Miller, environmental education specialist at Jennings. "It's about getting them outside and instilling in them the discovery of wanting to be outside. Pre-schoolers are just starting to form their own opinions, so if you can teach them at this age that nature is amazing and bugs are really cool, they're more likely to do it over and over again as they get older."

Stipanovich, the Audubon volunteer, has been helping with children's activities at Beechwood Farms since 2001. She believes there are several benefits of getting kids outdoors.

"The kids are happy to be outside," she says. "I truly think they seem to come alive and interact in a live environment. They're not so self-absorbed as when they're at a TV or playing video games." Her most satisfying experiences, she said, occur when children who arrive for field trips with trepidation about going into the woods leave Beechwood with those fears resolved.

"The natural world can be frightening especially to some kids from the city schools," she says. "But by the end of the day, they'll volunteer that they had a good day and they're not afraid."