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...]
Fun Friday: Grow a Sweet Potato Plant
Fun Friday activities are quick-and-simple ways to explore nature in your own backyard. How excited was I this week when the big explorer came home with a sweet potato he’d been given at school with an assignment: eat it or plant it. He opted to plant it.But not in the ground. In a jar – so he could watch the sweet potato grow into a plant.A quick Google search later and I had … [Read more...]
30 Ideas for Winter Backyard Nature Fun
This blog’s most popular post by far remains one of its simplest: 50 Ways to Explore Nature in Your Own Backyard. I’m glad to know that so many people are looking for ways to spend time in nature right outside their own homes.Since that post remains a hit, I thought it might be helpful to compile a list of ideas for backyard fun for every season – starting with winter.This list … [Read more...]
Fun Friday: Fly a Kite
Fun Friday activities are quick-and-simple ways to explore nature in your own backyard. During our December stay in Oxnard, the beach was our backyard. Add to that some brief periods with the perfect wind conditions – not too gusty, not too calm – and we had just the right ingredients for kite flying.The big explorer has been kite flying every winter for three years’ running, … [Read more...]
Fun Friday: Photo Safari
Fun Friday activities are quick-and-simple ways to explore nature in your own backyard. My friend Brian is uber creative. He came up with my first ever Fun Friday idea, a peanut hunt. Whenever we spend time with him, his wife and their twin girls (who were coincidentally born just a day before the big explorer), adventures are sure to be had.During our recent stay in Oxnard, … [Read more...]