Natural Interest

Books with facts about animals have a special power. Out of nowhere, they'll catch my interest, and once I begin reading, I'll become engrossed, turning a spontaneous decision into serious study.

The facts in those books pull me in with the strength of a short story or novel, and they had the same effect when I was a child.

More and more books are being written to let kids make the most of their interest in nature. Go Explore Nature recently reviewed one such book. First Animal Encyclopedia gives facts about many different types of animals and provides suggestions for helping children learn about them firsthand.

Having an interest in learning about nature is great, but children also need to have access to the information they crave. This book looks like one of those they can't help but reach for if it's around.

Mom Knows Best

We're told to listen to our mothers, so it makes sense that we might turn to them for advice on experiencing the environment.

In a number of posts, I have focused on providing information to parents, and many of those tips have come from Debi Huang, the mom at Go Explore Nature. As part of her 31 Days of Backyard Nature Fun, she shared a link to a site called OutsideMom.com, which is run by another nature mom.

OutsideMom.com contains recipes, crafts, and tips for getting outside with little kids. I really like the recent entry about helping kids track animals in the snow.

Web sites like this add support to the idea that moms really do have all the answers.

Giving Nature

When I think of holiday gifts, I think of presents under the tree and people gathering inside to unwrap them. However, even though they are given deep in the winter months, holiday presents can connect us to the outdoors.

Within the last week, two sites have shared suggestions for gift ideas that can get children outside and experiencing nature.

Go Explore Nature provides these ideas for nature experiences in the backyard. As a bird-watcher, the binoculars and the field guides stand out for me. In fact, I remember how much I used to love using binoculars.

Also, as part of its Be Out There campaign, the National Wildlife Federation makes these recommendations for gifts. Topping my list from these options would the be the "owl puke" and the outdoor adventure. I used to love seeing owl pellets taken apart. The contents always fascinated me.

The Time of My Life

The fall weather is here, the colors of the leaves are gorgeous, and the nights are coming earlier. All that remains to top off the season is for Halloween to come.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I've always found a special energy in it, and not all of that energy is related to candy. For example, my mom says I took the idea of becoming something else for Halloween literally. I'm usually very reserved, but around Halloween, I became so excited, I was like some other person.

Even now, I get a little extra burst of excitement as October 31 approaches and the memories of past Halloweens spring back to life.

I really started to get in the Halloween mood when I checked out the Go Explore Nature site a few days ago, so I thought I would share the tips I saw there for making Halloween great. Hopefully, they help you and/or your children make some of the special memories I had a chance to create when I was young.

For tips on exploring pumpkin patches, click here, and for some nature-related Halloween fun, click here.

My Souvenirs

I had intended to wrap up my Finland posts earlier this month, but I keep finding new things about it to discuss. Today's entry was inspired by a post from Go Explore Nature.

In its post, Go Explore Nature talks about the idea of collecting moments, not things. As I thought about it, I realized that the idea almost perfectly expressed my experience of Finland.

The only "thing" I bought on the entire trip was an electrical adapter. However, I brought back so much more. I took more than 1,500 photos (I've included two more from Repovesi National Park in this post); I kept a journal with detailed descriptions of each day; I added about 90 names to my family tree; I soaked up Helsinki, my favorite city in the world; I made nature a central focus of the trip; and I got to spend a third of the time with my wonderful Finnish relatives, who epitomized hospitality and introduced me to new things like snorkeling and orienteering. In addition, I shared the whole thing with my mom.

While I was experiencing the trip and then when I was looking back on it, the word full kept coming to mind. I know I got about as much out of the trip as I possibly could. It was completely satisfying, and I didn't need to buy one thing there to have that feeling. Instead, I took in as much as I could at a comfortable pace and enjoyed the connections to nature and family. It was a complete experience, and it even surpassed the fun of my earlier trip to Finland, during which I actually did buy souvenirs.

The Finland trip of 2012 was my life's greatest experience to this point, and by making it about moments, not things, I captured that feeling to hold through the life chapters yet to come.

Finally, I would just like to say that I cannot thank my mom and my Finnish family enough. Without them, this amazing experience would not have happened. I love them; I love Finland; I love nature; and in the end, I think my experience of this trip was really about all that love coming together.

Kids Camp

As the summer weather starts to arrive, more opportunities for camping become available. The National Wildlife Federation will be celebrating these chances for experiencing the outdoors with the Great American Backyard Campout on June 23.

The campout is about getting kids outside, and it embraces the idea that camping can happen almost anywhere, including the backyard. NWF has provided tips for how to get ready for a camping adventure. These suggestions include packing, safety, assembly, recipes, and activities.

For more resources about camping with children, visit Go Explore Nature, which recently reviewed a helpful book about camping and shared information about what it called "glamping," an easier form of camping.

Doing Your Homework for Summer

As parents know, school will soon be out for the summer, leaving children with a lot more free time. However, the challenge of keeping kids busy during June, July, and August is a great opportunity for connecting them with the environment.

It's good to get a head start with your nature-related summer plans. That way, you won't be blindsided when the last day of school rolls around. Also, you'll probably end up enjoying the nature time a lot more if you're prepared.

The following resources might help you begin to lay out your bringing-kid-to-nature strategies. First, check out these tips from Go Explore Nature. The thoughtful ideas come from a mom who has been through this before. Second, look into this reading list from the National Wildlife Federation. Along with providing a reading activity, the books focus on nature, encouraging kids to get outside and connect with the environment.

Easy Out

If you're a parent, you may have heard about the push to provide children with more outdoor playtime. In short, the argument goes that having opportunities to play outside are an important part of children's health and development.

Still, one of the reasons children are spending less time outdoors is that our society is not exactly focused on what's outside. As a result, figuring out how to give your children good outdoor experiences can be difficult.

TreeHugger recently published some ideas intended to help parents get started introducing their children to nature. I really like the concept of the "hummingbird parent." Also, the suggestion for planting native species connects well with my previous post about Native Plant Appreciation Week, and a recent writing from Go Explore Nature adds more detail to how parents can share the experience of native plants with their children.

For those parents just starting out with outdoor experiences, I think the best thing to keep in mind is the first idea presented by TreeHugger. You don't have to jump right into major nature expeditions. Find something simple instead. This lets you get experience managing an outing, and it also increases the odds that you'll enjoy the time outside. Even "little" experiences with nature can be savored, and if you're not overwhelmed by the situation, you'll probably enjoy it a lot more.

New Crop of Croppers

You may have noticed my blog list includes Go Explore Nature, which talks about outdoor activities for people with children. It provides some cool ideas and is worth checking out.

One thing of particular interest on Go Explore Nature is Give a Kid a Camera. The idea is that people get a current topic from the Web site and share photographs their children took for that topic. The images are shared on a Flickr page.

I really like this idea. For one thing, it's a really simple way of interacting with nature. In fact, it's as much about getting outside as it is about the photography. Also, I remember being given a camera early in my life. It gave me the chance to capture my world and see nature through photographs. I've kept that early interest in photography, especially photographs of nature. The idea from Go Explore Nature just reminded me of how I started out.