Before I started blogging, I’d never heard the term “green hour.” The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) defines it as time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world. You don’t need to convince me that a green hour is a good idea. I know our kids need more time to play outside and connect with nature – and to do so without parents controlling how it’s … [Read more...]
Fun Friday: Join the Great Backyard Bird Count
Fun Friday activities are quick-and-simple ways to explore nature in your own backyard. If you haven’t heard by now, let me be the first to share with you a simple way you can spend time exploring nature with the kids this weekend. The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) starts today, February 18 and runs through Monday, February 21. Your task is simple: Count the birds you … [Read more...]
How to Plan a Backyard Garden With Kids
The close-to-the-end-of-winter days are the best ones for dreaming of spring. One of the things we’ve been talking about a lot lately is how we’d like to enjoy our backyard come spring and beyond. Our backyard space is somewhat … unfinished. We inherited a couple of trees and some grass from the previous owners – and that’s about it. The upside to having a somewhat blank … [Read more...]
Show Nature Some Love
With talk of Valentines, love and candy hearts in the air, I thought it might be the right time for this post. It’s sort of a love story – with a nature twist, of course.Last summer, we planted a camellia from my childhood garden in our front yard. This wasn’t just any camellia; it was one my dad had planted from seed in his own garden more than 10 years prior – specifically … [Read more...]
Fun Friday: Dinosaur Hide-and-Seek
Fun Friday activities are quick-and-simple ways to explore nature in your own backyard. I know what you’re thinking – what could a game of hide-and-seek possibly have to do with exploring nature? A lot, actually, when you take the game outside, play it with a favorite animal and hide said animal in natural settings. The rules were simple: Hide one of our toy dinosaurs … [Read more...]