Activities

Focus on Fun

First and foremost, spending time outside should be fun — for you and for your child. Are you looking at it as one more chore on a to-do list that’s already too long, or one more duty you must fulfill to be a good parent? Don’t! This is a chance to take a break from chores, duties, schedules, and stress. Give yourself permission just to play… and the many benefits of Green Hour will follow.

Engage Your Curiosity

Any time of the day, at any time of the year, something amazing is happening outside your window. Step outside with an attitude of wonder and you’ll find it. Begin by exploring with each of your senses. Encourage your child to look closer at a flower or a rock, listen to a bird song, sniff the rich damp earth, touch a fuzzy leaf or a tree’s rough bark. Practice delighting in each discovery you make, and your sense of wonder will grow stronger and stronger.

Model Active Participation

Twenty years from now, your child may not remember every piano lesson or soccer practice you took them to. But you can bet they’ll remember climbing a tree with you! You have tremendous influence as a role model; if you are squeamish about worms or spiders or rain or mud, your child is likely to follow your example. On the other hand, if you’re the first one to fall over and make a snow angel or wade bravely into the pond to catch a bug, your child will probably be eager to try it too.

Discover Together

You absolutely do NOT need to be a nature expert to successfully enjoy nature with your child! Instead of the teacher with all the answers, be a partner in the game of discovery. You can observe and appreciate plants, birds, and bugs whether or not you know their names. If identification is important to you, take along a field guide or visit the library and look up answers to your questions together. Or make up your own names for the new friends you meet.

“I don’t know what kind of beetle that is. What do you think we should call it?” “It has spots and it runs fast. Let’s call it Speedy Spotty Beetle.”

Be Prepared

A little advance planning will help to ensure successful adventures. Often you won’t need any special equipment, but you and your child might enjoy putting together a backpack of supplies to hang beside the door so that you’re ready to head outside at a moment’s notice. See the box below for some ideas about items to include.

You might also want to gather up seasonally-appropriate clothing and keep it handy near the door: coats, hats, mittens, boots for winter; rain jacket and mud boots in the spring and fall; sun hat, sunglasses, and sneakers for summer.

Another thing to gather is information about local community resources. Where are the nearby parks and trails? How about nature centers with family-friendly programming? Share this information with teachers or day care providers, too, and let them know how important it is for children to go outside.

Guide the Exploration

Maybe you do have names or interesting facts about nature on the tip of your tongue. Knowledge can certainly add depth to your experience, but sometimes it’s best to wait until your child asks before imparting it. Instead, notice what interests your child and try asking open-ended questions that will encourage him or her to think more deeply or investigate further.

  • “Why do you think that bird has grass in its beak?”
  • “Do you hear that sound? Let’s see if we can find where it’s coming from.”

“You found an animal track! Where do you think the animal was going? Did it have big feet or small ones? Was it walking or hopping? What do your tracks look like when you walk and when you hop?”

Stay Flexible

Outdoor exploration doesn’t lead down a straight road to a single outcome. Follow whatever path sparks your interest, and if you end up doing something entirely different from the activity you set out to do, that’s quite all right. By staying open and flexible, you’ll be ready to take advantage of whatever spontaneous “teachable moments” come along. Maybe you’d planned to collect fall leaves, but if an unexpected guest — a bird, a squirrel, even a deer — appears and looks right at you, then by all means stop and watch and whisper your wonder to each other!

Adapt for Age

You’ll want to choose outdoor activities appropriate to the age of your child. Imagine a map with your home in the center. Draw ever-widening circles around it, each representing a successively older child’s realm of experience. For the youngest nature explorers, the backyard is the whole world. Keep it simple and fun, focusing on sensory explorations and joyful discovery. As children get older, they’ll be ready to explore farther and farther afield. They’ll want more strenuous physical challenges and new information to stretch their minds. Whenever possible, encourage some independent exploration as your child develops new skills and greater confidence.

Allow kids to discover and use found resources

Using objects available in nature, such as sticks and stones, to build hideouts for toys and landmarks for play will develop a child’s creativity, teach them to be resourceful, build their confidence and heighten their awareness of nature’s abundance. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden built collection boxes where children can collect pine cones, berries, etc. As you’re cleaning the garden or yard, designate a place to collect useful sticks and stones that your children can use in their play.

Activity list adapted from “Grow Outside, A Guide To Outdoor Play”: http://lncigc.org/

  • If you live in a house, create a child-friendly backyard.
  • Give children a place on the porch, deck or in the bedroom where they can display nature treasures that they find and want to keep.
  • Provide simple tools to aid discovery – kids love tools! Include a bug box, trowel, magnifier, etc.
  • When you take children to parks and other natural areas, allow them to explore. Let them decide which trails to take. Stay nearby for safety, but don’t interfere or help unless asked.
  • Encourage plenty of time outside. Consider taking a walk to the library, store or post office instead of driving.
  • If a child asks or remarks about a landmark or natural feature you drive past often, find out more about it and go for a visit.
  • Kids love water! There are many wonderful wetlands and streams throughout our valley. Take children canoeing, kayaking or fishing.
  • Take a few leaves from different trees while the children are not looking. Give them the leaves and ask them to find which trees they came from.
  • Provide a tree identification book to help kids learn about the trees in their own neighborhood.
  • In the fall, leave the fallen leaves down for awhile so kids can run around and shuffle through them.
  • Rake up a big leaf pile and let them demolish it. If they’re not pre-schoolers, leave the rake out so they can rebuild it if they want.
  • If you have an appropriate area, let older children build a campfire in the backyard. Set safety rules, then stay away while they and their friends discuss “hot” topics. Check for safety by looking out the window or wandering out to ask if they need more snacks.
  • Put out bird feeders that can be seen easily from windows. Let children help feed the birds. Keep a bird book by the window to help them identify what they see.
  • Make up challenges for children to do outside, similar to the Survivor television show. This is a guaranteed kid pleaser, especially if there is a reward (a “gift” of time with Mom or Dad, or perhaps a night off from helping with the dishes).
  • These activities are separated by season, but just because an activity is listed in one season, doesn’t mean you can’t do it any time. There are enough ideas to have fun trying a new one every week for over a year!