How To Get Reluctant Kids Outside
One of our readers here at Nature For Kids emailed me a question that I think many parents have, “How do you get reluctant kids excited about the outdoors?”
#1 Make them think it’s their idea. Give them a choice. Say, “We’re going outside today. Do you want to go to the park to play or go to the lake to throw rocks? This way it becomes a question of WHAT you’ll be doing outside, rather than IF you’ll be going outside.
#2 Everyone enjoys getting new things.Take them to the store with you and have them pick out their own bike helmet or climbing harness. It’s like when you take them school clothes shopping, it gets them excited for the first day of scool.
#3 Go out with them. Don’t just say, “go outside and play”. Go with them and make outdoor time a family bonding time. After the outdoor experience you can talk and laugh about it helping each other keep it to memory.
Our family is active in the outdoors but that doesn’t mean my kids are never reluctant to go outside. We battle the same electronic entertainment battle that everyone else seems to be fighting these days. But these are some of the things that seem to work for us. Have a great day everyone. Spring is almost here!
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Filed under Education | Comments (4)5 Dangerous Things For Kids
We just had to share this great presentation by Gever Tulley, “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do”. You can tell by the title that this won’t sink with everyone but Nature For Kids thinks Tulley is right on! He encourages playful and experiential learning. Take a look and then let us know what you think.
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Filed under Education | Comments (9)Postpartum Depression
Since recently having a new baby I’ve been trying to be very mindful of the signs of postpartum depression.
From my three previous postpartum experiences I believe going outside regularly played a huge role in keeping depression at bay. There seems to be more and more research emerging to back that up as well.
After having my first child I distinctly remember going out for a walk by the river on a beautiful snowy day. I was overwhelmed by how refreshed and happy I felt.
That experience has stuck with me all these years and I often reflect on it when I’m feeling down, overwhelmed and reluctant to get up and out.
The healing powers of nature are only limited by man’s idleness.
With a three week old and a three year old my nights are sleepless and my days are frustratingly long. So today we put on our fall weather attire (I LOVE hoodies and sweats) and we went for a walk to the park. By the time we returned home the crisp air and falling leaves had us smiling and sane again.
Being outside helps mom but Nature For Kids is also vital. “A widening circle of researchers believes that the loss of natural habitat, or the disconnection from nature even when it is available, has enormous implications for human health and child development. They say the quality of exposure to nature affects our health at an almost cellular level.” - Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods. Here’s more related research.
In closing I encourage any new moms out there or anyone else having a rough go lately to incorporate a dose of the outdoors in your daily routine and let Mother Nature work her magic.
If you liked this post about postpartum depression you may also be interested in these Nature For Kids posts:
Recharge Your Batteries, Mother’s Day
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Filed under Education | Comments (3)Mosquito Heaven
I failed to pass on this valuable piece of advice I learned this summer. I posted it on my personal blog but hadn’t yet here at Nature For Kids.
Overall I learned that a tent next to the river, with a small opening in the door equals mosquito heaven. Unfortunately my son Corbin was the topic of conversation at the mosquito dinner table the night we slept by the Colorado River in mid June.
He and his friends slept in their own tent and after several potty breaks didn’t close their tent completely. The result was a thanksgiving feast for any mosquito that made it in. Corbin woke up looking like he was in junior high school going through puberty at the ripe age of 5.
Although it was somewhat humorous it also brought to my attention how easily he could have gotten very sick, specifically speaking of the Westnile Virus.
Luckily the bites quickly turned into small scabs and he didn’t show any signs of the virus.
- Back pain
- Abdominal Pain
- Diarrhea
- Fever
- Headache
- Lack of appetite
- Muscle aches
- Nausea
- Sore throat
- Vomiting
Although the West Nile virus is somewhat rare it still occurs. Here are the statistical results for the West Nile virus thus far in 2009. These results were posted September 1st for the United States.
Overall, I would hope that you learn from my mistake. I would hate to hear of any small child getting severely sick from accidently creating a mosquito heaven by leaving the tent door open during the night.
nature for kids, mosquitoes, West Nile virus, West Nile, camping
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Filed under Camping, Education | Comments (4)Framing Nature
Here’s another outdoor activity for you to try with the kiddos! It’s called Framing Nature. We did this at our last Nature For Kids outdoor playgroup.
I started by asking: Have you ever taken a picture with a camera?
If you have a camera let each child take a turn looking through the lens.
Tell the kids: When you look through the lens there is a square around the item you are taking a picture of. This square is called a frame.
Make frames out of popsicle sticks or tongue depressors by gluing the ends of four in a square…like this.
With your frames go for a hike and have the kids pretend to be taking pictures of the things they see with their frames.
Discuss with the kids that when we go hiking outdoors we should, “Take only pictures and leave only footprints”.
For the next part of the activity take a large rope (about 6 ft. long) and tie the ends together. Stretch it out over the trail in which you are hiking on so that it looks like a frame. Have the kids look inside the frame and tell you if they see anything living or moving inside of it. If it’s a well established trail there should just be rocks and dirt.
Next move the rope frame off to the side of the trail where there is lots of vegetation. Again ask the kids to look for anything living or moving inside the frame. YES! …Inside our circle there were ants scrambling about and different kinds of plants growing.
After this activity I pointed out that we should always stay on trails when hiking. If we find ourselves hiking on living things we should return to the trail so we won’t hurt them.
Nature For Kids thinks this Framing Nature activity is a fun, simple and interactive way to teach Leave No Trace principles.
If you’d like some more activities to try out click on our Education or Crafts For Kids categories.
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Filed under Crafts For Kids, Education, Hiking, Uncategorized | Comments (3)Exploring Colors In Nature
Nature For Kids held another outdoor playgroup this week. We focused on exploring colors in nature.
We started the fun event off with a magic trick! Check out the video below to see how to do it…
After the magic trick I asked the kids to point out the colors they could see outside. They listed every color in the rainbow including everything in between. Then I pointed out how the colors in nature magically change when it rains. Simply adding water can add depth and vibrancy to already beautiful colors.
ACTIVITY: Take a cup of water and a paintbrush on a hike with you. Let the kids paint rocks, leaves and anything else in nature with water. No paint is required to make the colors change. This is especially fun for younger kids.
The remainder of the time was spent doing unstructured playtime outside. We let the kids rummage over small boulders, plan their own races, climb to the top of hills and simply get up close with nature.
Each week I will be sharing our outdoor playgroup activities. Our hope here at Nature For Kids is that it will encourage you and others to easily start your own outdoor playgroup. Also if you have any playgroup ideas of your own to share I’d be more than happy to hear about them at shawna@natureforkids.net.
playgroup, nature, colors, nature for kids, magic trick, unstructured play, outdoors
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Filed under Crafts For Kids, Education | Comments (4)Similar Nature Sites
Here at Nature For Kids I’ve been meaning to share some awesome sites with you. They are blogs that fit right along with the main focus of Nature For Kids. I’m always excited to come across sites like these and people who care enough about the subject to share it with others. Take a look.
Wild About Nature
This blog is written by Kenton and Rebecca Whitman from Wisconsin. And they are truly wild about nature. They get right in there close to it and write about some fun experiences. There’s gobs of informative things about nature on their blog. Visit their site to catch a bit of their enthusiasm for nature.
Camping Blogger
This blog has become a favorite of mine. Although it is more directed towards adults it teaches such valuable things about camping that will directly affect kids. It’s a very clean and well set up blog and the posts aren’t too long. Roy does a lot of reviews on equipment to help you decide for or against items before you even have to purchase them. It’s a great resource.
Bring The Family
This blog goes right along with our Family Outing series. Toni is the writer and she has three boys that keep her hoppin. She writes about their family outings and gives tips and tricks on traveling and exploring with kids. This blog also has some great pictures!
Double The Adventure
Sharlene is the busy mom blogger at Double The Adventure. She encourages parents to help their kids explore the world around them. She is California based and has personally helped me set up a coast trip this summer. Thanks Sharlene! She’s a great resource for what’s fun for families in California.
I have links to all of these sites on the right under “Correlating Material” but I thought I’d bring them to your attention.
Thanks for stopping in at Nature For Kids. Later I will be sharing three more nature-focused websites from my blogging associates. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend. We’re taking off for a family vacation so I’ll be back in about a week to tell you all about what we did with the kids.
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Filed under Education | Comments (4)Summer Outdoor Playgroup
As parents we are faced with a lot of decisions on how to raise our children. Most parents, myself included, want to give their kids every opportunity to become successful and find what they truly enjoy in life. But does this mean we should enroll them in every activity that comes along?
There are so many activities available that it’s difficult to decide which would be most beneficial to our kids; language lessons, music lessons, tumbling, baseball, swimming…the list goes on and on.
Fortunately one thing has been studied and proven to be priceless to children and their healthy development. It’s free outdoor playtime! It’s simply a natural thing for a child to experience and disappointingly is becoming a rarity among kids these days.
This summer Nature For Kids encourages you to make free outdoor playtime a priority. Do it on your own or join an outdoor playgroup. If there isn’t an outdoor playgroup in your area think about creating one yourself. Active Kids Club has some great tips on how to go about doing this.
Nature For Kids will be hosting an outdoor playgroup this summer starting June 8th in Helper, Utah. It will be held every Monday from 9 to 11. The first meeting will be held 4 miles up Spring Canyon at the parking lot near the bathrooms and trailhead. Activities will be based on kids’ ages 2- 8 but others are welcome to attend. The first hour will be a structured activity that will be nature based. The second hour is open for free play. Each activity will be talked about here at Nature For Kids to help you get more ideas for the fun summer ahead.
When I say “free outdoor play” I’m sure many of you can remember the trees you climbed the forts your built or the sandcastles you created. Free outdoor play is different than organized outdoor sports such as baseball or soccer. The word “Free” reflects the agency that a child has when playing outside. They can choose what, where and when. They also can create their own games by letting their imagination drive their experience.
Free Outdoor Play has been show to:
- Calm kids down (showing significant results in those with ADHD)
- Foster creativity
- Provide recommended doses of Vitamin D
- Teach kids to love and take care of their world around them
- Strengthen immune systems
- Improve motor skills, balance and coordination
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of outdoor play Nature For Kids recommends two reads,
Here’s hoping for a fun-filled summer at your very own outdoor playgroup. Join Nature For Kids at their Facebook location for quick updates, videos, pictures and ideas.
Photos By Damon Andreasen
nature for kids, outdoors, playgroup, parents, parenting, summer, activities for children, activities for kids
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Filed under Crafts For Kids, Education | Comments (3)Super Natural Adventures
How was Easter everyone? I hope you all planned a little outside time for an Easter egg hunt. We spent the holiday at my parents’ farm. They live on a mesa surrounded by 650 acres. Needless to say their internet connection isn’t quite as fast as others, therefore I haven’t posted anything for a while.
So let’s get started shall we. Today Nature For Kids is so excited to share with you the experiences and talents of Ryan, Will and Michael over at Super Natural Adventures.
These boys, along with the help of their parents, create videos about stuff they learn in nature. They are the experts as they explain about things like hunting for frogs, studying bats, and how volcanoes work. Here’s a sample of what you’ll find at Super Natural Adventures.
Most of the information covered is about the Costa Rica area in which they live. But they emphasize that, “whether we live in a tropical rainforest or a concrete jungle…bring nature back into the lives of our children and ourselves”. The website is extremely kid friendly and they even encourage kids just like them to send in their own nature videos. So head over to Super Natural Adventures and explore what they have to offer parents and kids alike.
Ryan, Will and Michael’s mom Maggie filled out our family outing questionnaire, which we posted last week. She shared with us helpful hints about taking kids outdoors, hints that surely can only be learned through experience. To catch up on what you missed go to Family Outing - Jacobus Family.
nature for kids, Super Natural Adventures, family outing, outside, nature, Costa Rica, rain forest
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Filed under Education, Uncategorized | Comment (1)Family Outing - Jacobus Family
Have you ever wanted to totally immerse yourself and your kids in nature for a long period of time? How about make nature a key element of your lifestyle? …Yeah, me too. Well here is one family that decided to actually do it!
Introducing the Jacobus Family, Mother Maggie, Father Steve and sons Will, Michael and Ryan. They are an inspiration! Together they decided to leave their familiar and comfortable surroundings in Milwaukee, WI and moved to Costa Rica. Their goal was to be absorbed in another culture and language while experiencing nature to it’s fullest. The result is an amazingly strong family bound by their learning experiences in nature.
Here at Nature For Kids we will first hear the answers Maggie Jacobus has for our Family Outing questions and then later on this week look for a highlight of the educational and interactive website, Super Natural Adventures, they’ve created to encourage kids everywhere to take part in the nature around them. As usual I’ve highlighted the portions I found particularly inspiring.
1.) What is your favorite family outing activity? Why?
My favorite family outing activity is anything in which we are learning and exploring something new together as a family. It could be surfing, searching for frogs in the dark, rafting, rappelling down waterfalls or feeding the homeless. It almost doesn’t matter what the specific activity is.
What creates the magic is the aspect of all of us doing something together in which we are all learning, trying, making mistakes, stretching our limits, achieving something new. This creates a “team spirit” atmosphere-we are cheering each other on, helping each other, working together, accomplishing together. It creates a shared experience, memories and a bond that deepens our family relationships.
Sometimes the activity is something that one of the boys has more expertise in than the rest of us. This is also a positive experience, because that child gets to lead us, adults included, and be the expert. I think kids need the opportunity to be the experts, to share what they know and to teach adults. It gives them a tremendous sense of self-worth and self-esteem and also teaches them that they don’t have to wait to be adults to contribute to the world.
2.) How has recreating in the outdoors benefited you and your children?
Recreating together in the outdoors has strengthened our family relationships, has kept us close as a family and has set a precedent for life-long learning and exploring together.
I have learned so much while enjoying the outdoors with my children. For instance, starting with our very first trip to Costa Rica in 2002 when the boys were four-, five- and seven-years-old, I learned that when I step back and don’t try to be in charge, don’t try to be Mom, the experience is so much richer. Why? Because a child’s sense of wonder and excitement and love of discovery–of even the simplest things–is so powerful and contagious. Somewhere along the way, adults seem to loose that ability for child-like wonder. Recreating outdoors with my children has given me the gift of once again looking at the world with wonder and excitement and never-ending curiosity.
Conversely, stepping back from my role as In-Charge Mom while we’re recreating outdoors together has allowed my boys to step forward as thinking, questioning, questing individuals. They trust themselves outdoors, they have learned to take care of themselves outdoors and they feel comfortable outdoors.
Recreating together outdoors has also introduced us to new activities: our oldest son fell in love with surfing, so I decided to try it (something I never would have attempted before) just to have some understanding about his passion. The best part was receiving tips from him as we paddled out together. Our two oldest boys have become certified in scuba diving, joining my husband and me in one of our passions. The youngest is anxious to get his certification when he’s old enough. We’ve all just started experiencing rafting together and since we’re all novice, it’s fun learning it together.
3.) What outdoor destination would you recommend to other families to visit?
I have all kinds of outdoor destination recommendations!
I’d say that my happiest times with my children are when we are exploring the rain forest together. There is something so tranquil, so primordial and so profound about an old forest and of course there’s always so much to learn in it and from it. It makes for a great family adventure.
4.) What advice would you give others when it comes to recreating outdoors as a family?
I’m a big fan of eliciting opinion and getting buy-in to family activities. I believe it eliminates (or at least minimizes!) complaining and resistance. Our move to Costa Rica may have been a total disaster if we hadn’t asked the kids if they wanted to or not. We actually took a family vote. And it was unanimous. That way, when the going got tough, the kids couldn’t blame us and say we dragged them here against their will!
I believe the same is true for outdoor recreation. This is supposed to fun, not drudgery or mandatory. Get family buy-in to the activity and it will be much more enjoyable. To get started:
- I suggest that each family talk together about where they want to go for an outdoor activity, what they want to do, what they want to learn. The adventure starts with this conversation. Everyone in the family gets the opportunity to equally express their opinion and desires. Kids are really impressed when they get an equal say with their parents. And they complain less about doing someone else’s idea if they also get to do their idea at some point.
- Make a list and then set a plan for accomplishing each family member’s suggestion. If the ideas are too far out (”I want to go to Africa!”) use that desire as a jumping off point for a discussion on a more feasible activity. (i.e., “What interests you about going to Africa?” “I want to see exotic animals.” Perhaps that interest could be parlayed into a trip to the zoo in another city that has a special exhibit on African animals.) You could also set some parameters at the outset of the conversation, such as, “The activity needs to be within a half-day’s driving distance” to avoid having to say “no” to every suggestion.
- Allow the conversation to flow and each member to share several ideas (so that you hopefully get to do-able ones!). Try not to be critical of ideas or put limits on them. Instead of saying, “That’s ridiculous. We could never afford that!” how about, “That’s not financially possible right now, but let’s put it on The List! What else would you like to do?” (Our family has a dream list of destinations. We may not go to some of those places for another 20 years, but how wonderful to have the vision of still recreating outdoors together in 20 years!)
- I also suggest that parents try to step out of the way when recreating outdoors together as a family. By that I mean: don’t try to be in charge, to direct the action, to tell everyone what to do. I’ve found that it’s easiest to let go if you are with someone else who is the expert, such as a guide, an instructor or a naturalist. You can model asking interesting questions. Then be quiet and listen to the guide…and to your kids.
- Finally, I highly recommend trying new activities so that everyone is learning together.
5.) What is something new you’d like to try as a family in the outdoors?
I’d like to hike a mountain or go on a trek with my family, like to Machu Pichu or Mount Kilimanjaro. We’re probably a few years away from that yet, but it’s been a dream for my oldest son and me since he was about seven years old.
Maggie we send you a big thank you down in Costa Rica for sharing the priceless lessons you have learned through your outdoor experiences with your family. You have inspired our family and I’m sure many of our readers here at Nature For Kids.
You can follow Maggie’s personal experiences in Costa Rica at her blog Gypsy Journalist. To read more about other families and their adventures go to our Family Outing page.
nature for kids, family outing, Super Natural Adventures, nature, Costa Rica, rain forest, outdoors
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Filed under Education, Uncategorized | Comments (3)
