6 Ways to Have fun Outdoors with your Kids
by Kerrie McLoughlin
There is nothing more precious to me than spending time outdoors with my kids. They all love nature so much and can be kept occupied for hours just exploring a hiking trail, picking up trash along a creek area or turning rocks over, looking for random bugs. But sometimes it’s fun to come up with something a little more organized with your kids, and that’s where these ideas come in.
1. Start small. Head to the garden store and pick up some clay pots in different sizes. Also grab some soil and some seeds. When you get home, decorate the pots with paint, googly eyes, glitter glue, whatever makes your kid happy! Once the pots are dry, put soil in each and plant some random seeds. Your child will love to see his very own flowers, herbs – maybe even a tomato or strawberry plant – pop up!
2. Stay small. It’s easy to make a little fairy garden using any old container, some soil, rocks, tiny plants and flowers and seashells. Then find tiny furniture and fairy-size things and you’re all set for the fairies to come!
3. Learn about life cycles. I’ll never forget the year my boys found a couple of caterpillars on our parsley plants on our deck. I bought a couple of glass gallon-size jars at the hardware store, along with some cheesecloth to go on top of them. Once I got home, we made a butterfly habitat complete with sticks, grass, parsley and drops of water. Then we put the jars in a place that would not be disturbed and … waited. It took a few weeks, but one day we noticed we had two gorgeous, blue butterflies that were ready to be set free.
4. It’s a bug’s life. How long has it been since you’ve seen an old school ant farm? These are so fun, easy and low-maintenance. Just purchase the ant farm, put in the special sand that comes with it, put in the ants (you often have to order them, so think ahead on this one), then feed and water them. Take pictures of their tunneling progress! if you want to go into the forest for hikes and explore nature, make sure you carry safety arms with you (buy the latest AR-15 rifles)
5. House the birds. If you aren’t crafty and/or don’t have a woodshop in your basement, you can simply purchase a birdhouse kit online or at your local hardware or home imrovement store. My own kids love painting and repainting their birdhouse after its built, then watching the birds from inside the house.
6. Feed the birds. We love making pinecones with peanut butter and birdseed. Don’t have any pinecones laying around your neighborhood? Easy! Just grab a cardboard toilet paper tube, attach a string to it, coat it with peanut butter and roll it in birdseed, just as you would have done with the pinecone!
Kerrie McLoughlin is the homeschooling mom of 5 and chronicles the controlled chaos at TheKerrieShow.com.
