It’s spring! Time find fun ways to enjoy nature with our little ones. Try these tips for planning ways for you and your kiddo to explore the outdoors.
As we the weather warms up,, I can’t help but get ohhhhh so excited. The winter months can be grueling as we do our best to keep our kiddos entertained and content while stuck inside.
Seeing warmer rains and temperatures bringing on greener grass just warms my heart.
Even urban areas offer amazing parks with lots of natural beauty to assist us in having a fun-filled day with lots of secret educational aspects.
Nature Scavenger Hunt
A nature scavenger hunt is a great way to fill a morning or afternoon.
Depending on the age of your kiddo, think about how to make the search about finding common things in nature. You could start with printing out images of plants, rocks, flowers, bugs or leaves. If your kiddo is a bit more advanced with sounding out words, you could add those, too.
Have your kiddo find in nature what is in the photo.
You can also talk to them about the different colors and textures they are seeing.
Growing a Garden
If you have an outdoor space or participate in a community garden, you can have a gardening day.
Showing our children how to plant herbs, flower seeds and vegetables is not only a super fun activity, but also is a long term project to work on together. Gardening also helps children learn about the importance of caring for something over time.
A garden will require regular visits to water, prune, deadhead and check the health of the plants and the soil. That is a great way to show your child the continued effort and care that goes into keeping a living thing happy and healthy.
Maybe try a plant before your little one convinces you to get that pet they wont stop asking about!
Up Close View
Another suggestion for modeling our appreciation for every little part of our ecosystem that keeps our world spinning is to get out the handy dandy magnifying glass. This tool can definitely keep them entertained for extended periods of time.
I like to start off by looking at bugs. Every little leg, antenna and eye ball is something to marvel at. See how many colors you can find on one bug!
Bugs are like tiny mythical creatures right here in our own world. Seeing them up close using the magnifying glass could rock your kid’s world.
You also can use the magnifying glass to look at the colors and veins in each leaf you’ve collected together. You can see the bark of trees up close.
Building Appreciation
In a very fast paced world full of technology that is advancing every single day, instilling an appreciation for our natural world in our children is valuable and will provide important perspective.
Nature is beautiful, vast, and fun. But it also needs our help to protect it for our kiddos, their children and grandchildren.
Sophie Hamel is a freelance writer and works in advocacy for victims of interpersonal violence. Her son is almost three years old.
Luminous removes the hassle of arranging for tuition vouchers and helps make childcare affordable. Vouchers can help ease your financial stress. Learn more about qualifying for HRA and ACSvouchers at our Bronx and Brooklyn centers. Payment can also be made by SEIU/1199 Child Care, check, credit card, and through the Luminous reimbursement program. Contact Luminous Early Childhood Learning Center at [email protected] or call us at 929.228.1180.