Perhaps Miss Charlotte Mason and Mr. John Muir understood the importance of being outdoors, but modern people seem to be lacking in this knowledge.
Nature isn't just for naturalists. It's for everyone.
Nature was created for us. Therefore, we benefit from it. In fact, we need it. Nature is the key to good physical and mental health.
Just google "children, outdoors, important" and you'll find a wealth of information on the social, cognitive, and health benefits of being outdoors.
So how can we get out kids outdoors more often?
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Here are some easy ways to add outdoor time to your day.
- Take a walk through your neighborhood. Make it a creative nature walk!
- Have a nature scavenger hunt.
- Identify trees.
- Create outdoor missions for your children.
- Visit a farm. (U-Pick farms are doubly rewarding!)
- Make a nature shadow box or nature table.
- Look for traces of animals (tracks and scat).
- Sketch in your nature journal.
- Collect items for your nature journal.
- Listen for sounds in nature.
- Eat outside. Always fun!
- Observe spiders and their webs.
- Take photos. Macro photos of flowers, spiders, icicles, or any other thing in nature, make for a great scrapbook or addition to your nature journal.
- Climb trees.
- Build a fort!
- Play in the rain!
- Play in the dirt. It's good for them.
- Blow bubbles.
- Paint outdoors like Monet.
- Chalk art.
- Play in the sprinklers.
- Make bird feeders.
- Wash your car.
- Make a nature collage.
- Start or work in your garden.
- Play outdoor games.
- Go for a bike ride.
- Explore shells and rocks at the beach.
- Fly a kite.
- Hike in a nearby state park.
What ideas would you add to the list?
More useful tasks that take little time! |
The weather is finally turn nice here in MN and Spring is in the air. I am GIDDY to get outside and explore nature! (popping by from the Squishable Baby linkup)
ReplyDeleteI'm in Florida, so we pretty much enjoy outside all year. Glad spring is finally in the air in MN!
DeleteWe are making our spring nature table...inspired by the warming weather!
ReplyDeleteI keep telling myself I'm going to make a nature table. I just never seem to get around to it. :/
DeleteLovely ideas! We love spending lots of time outside.
ReplyDeleteSo do we. I'm big on outdoors and art!
DeleteLove these ideas. We enjoy all of them! Living in New England, we're even used to getting out in the snow and having fun with winter nature studies. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up at the Homeschool Blog & Tell! I pinned this post.