The Nature Jams Misson
Fela Kuti once said that "Music is the weapon." He said that because music is a contagious form of carrying a message. Music has the remarkable ability to get stuck in our heads, transform our mindset, and elicit emotions of all kinds. Nature Jams uses original music as a powerful tool that engages and empowers children, helping them to become environmentally and socially conscious citizens within a growing global community.
Our mission is to help spread awareness and educate children around the world about critical issues such as:
- improved health through diet and exercise
- sustainable food production
- fostering a personal connection with nature
- positivity and creativity through music
- interpersonal relationships, and teaching tolerance
Our programs which focus on eating healthy, being kind to others and the earth, and being happy, all promote positive and memorable learning experiences for children. We intend to help prepare children for the challenges they will face as the future caretakers and community members of our planet.
- Rob and Zach (Nature Jams)
"Music is the weapon."
- Fela Kuti
About Nature Jams
Nature Jams is edutainment for children! By blending education and entertainment, Nature Jams is loved by both students and teachers. Created by a song-savvy ecologist and a school-age music teacher, Nature Jams is designed to get kids thinking positively about food, character development, the environment, and music. The duo, based out of Delaware, brings catchy music and a positive learning experience wherever they go. In concert, their highly interactive shows get kids singing, dancing, playing along, and reading. By creating an undeniably fun experience, Nature Jams hopes to foster a positive connection between its child audience and a healthy, environmentally conscious lifestyle.
Nature Jams has brought their show to schools, concert halls, classrooms, wildlife refuges, restaurants, and markets all across the eastern United States. In both a concert/assembly setting, and in more intimate classroom settings, Nature Jams' messages get through to children. The group currently has four different programs and is busy recording albums and writing classroom activities and lesson plans that correspond with each of their programs. Check back for updates, downloadable content, and great ideas to help bring positive learning to your child.
"I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning” - Plato
Meet Zach and Rob
Zach Ladin
Zach began playing violin and guitar at the age of six. While growing up, he and his brother used a 4-track recorder (remember those?) to write and record their own music. In addition to developing his love for music, as a child Zach was deeply fascinated by the natural world, and spent countless hours exploring the forest and coastal ecosystems of New England.
While living in Rhode Island, Zach started writing and recording nature songs for kids and performing at schools and summer camps. He also ran several after-school clubs called Nature Jams, which focused on music as well as creating instruments from materials found on nature walks. During this time he released two CDs (Songs of Nature and On the Right Track).
Zach is currently studying ornithology (birds) at the University of Delaware. His goal is to help empower future generations of environmentally conscious people by combining his love of nature and music into fun educational songs.
Several of his songs are currently being used by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs under the U.S. Department of State, to help teach English to students around the world, and are featured on the CDs: Sing Out Loud: American Rhythms and Sing Out Loud: Children's Songs. His song "Mud Pies" was a semi-finalist in the 2011 International Songwriting Competition.
Zach lives in Newark, DE with his wife Jess and their newborn son, Phoenix. If he'not writing a new song or spending time with his family, he's probably out looking for bird nests or chasing his color-banded population of wood thrush around northern Delaware.
Rob Young (aka Mr. Rob) has been around kids his whole life. As the oldest of seven, he's been entertaining young ones for as long as he can remember. His older cousins all played the drums growing up, and through many hours of basement jam sessions, Rob became a drummer himself.
After graduating New York University's Music Program in 2008, he moved to Delaware to join the local folk-rock group Mad-Sweet Pangs. With successes like opening for moe., Dark Star Orchestra, and Tea Leaf Green, Rob fell in love with life in Delaware. While performing at night, Rob began assistant teaching during the day. When the band sold its touring van and retired to the local circuit, Rob began teaching Music & Movement in the morning and running after-school programs in the afternoon.
Over the last four years, he has taught at St. Michael's in Wilmington, at the Early Learning Center in Newark, and for the Delaware MusIQ Club. He has run MusIQ Clubs in many of the Delaware Boys & Girls Clubs, and teaches private lessons out his studio, Little Elk Creek Studios. He also runs music therapy at the CERTS Adult Action Center in Newark, DE. He teaches music at several Wilmington Bright Horizon Centers and if you visit Gymboree North Wilmington on a Wednesday, you can find him singing, dancing, and playing with little ones of all ages.
His creativity and ability to connect with children has been noted by his directors, his students, their parents, and his peers. He has built several fine-motor and gross-motor instruments for children to make beginner piano and drum lessons much more rewarding for young learners.
Through Nature Jams, he has combined his passion for both music and teaching. Inspired by the success of bands like The Wiggles and The Imagination Movers, Rob wants Nature Jams and more importantly, Nature Jams' message, to be known to children everywhere. When he's not playing, writing, or recording music, he's probably playing a board game or swimming in Little Elk Creek with his fiance Sam and their dog Taylor.
Rob Young