Activities – Page 8 – Kids Discover Nature

Fairies and Elves in the Yard

by Jodi Valenta

A favorite childhood fantasy right in your own backyard

You can inspire your child’s imagination in your own backyard and connect them to nature at the same time! Children enjoy stories about fairies and elves and creating a home for them utilizing natural materials is a fun way to keep them busy and allow their imagination to bloom!

Making Elf and Fairy Houses
You can make them anywhere using materials you find in the yard or in a park. Ideas are fallen leaves, fruit, bark, seeds, nuts, sticks, moss, stones or anything your children find interesting. Follow these steps to help your child create on on his or her own.

Find an appropriate spot to build the houses such as between the roots of a tree, beside a log, among a pile a stones or beside a boulder. Allow your child to choose a spoton their own.
Allow your child to arrange the materials into a house they envision in their imagination.
You can help them add walkways, windows, fencing, doors, and a even a garden.
As children search and play they will become familiar with the natural materials and develop an awareness of the never-ending process of growth and decay as they find rotting leaves or chewed nuts.
Allow them plenty of time to create whatever they want.
Choose somewhere they can return to easily. Their play can be ongoing over time and they may create an entire village.
Try visiting different environments where they can collect different types of materials.
Make sure everyone washes their hands when finished!!

I introduced this activity to my children and my five-year old daughter was enthralled. She was so involved that she forgot to ask me to play tag or hide n’ seek, which is a daily favorite. My two-year-old son enjoyed copying my daughter and made little piles with his collected materials and he beamed with pride. We were outside until dusk and I had to drag them inside!

You can look forward to watching their little village grow over the next several weeks and then be buried under the first snowfall. It will be especially exciting to rediscover it next spring when it magically appears again after the snow melts.

You can end the day with a fun romp in the giant leaf pile. The perfect end to a perfect day outdoors.

Warning: Do not let your children collect fungi or berries that could be poisonous. If there is any question in your mind a “no touch” policy is best.

Nature Activities for Kids

Falling for Fall

by MCC

How to capture the joy of this favorite season with your kids

Ahh the sights, sounds, and scents of Fall. All around creatures are going into hibernation mode. Sometimes wouldn’t it be great to head south along with the birds! Speaking of migration, now is the time that you can point out flocks of birds migrating to your kids. We recently had huge flock of Blackbirds pass through our neighborhood, as they do every year. It’s really neat to watch hundreds of birds foraging together in the leaves and grass. When they fly they are huge mass blackness against the blue sky.

Around this time, we also watch for the Northern Juncos to arrive here yet from Canada. Now that the wind has turned brisk and cold, we expect them any day now.

You and your kids can watch the winter preparations going on around you, too. You can point out he squirrels and chipmunks foraging for food. Talk about what tress lose their leaves first and last. Often its the maples, birch, tulip and sassafras trees followed by the oak trees. You can easily spend and entire afternoon identifying leaves you all find. Another idea is to race acorns down a hill to see which one wins.

You know those rocks that kids often collect and are found alll over the house! Now is the time to convert to items found around the yard or in the neighborhood park. All kids enjoy collecting things and collections are especially handy to help them learn sorting , counting, comparing and contrasting.

Here are some tips on having fun with collections during Fall:

Ask you children to find a boxes, jars or plastic containers from your recyclables bin. They can paint or decorate them prior to heading outside.
Once outside look for items on the ground. You can look for items in several categories.
- Seeds – Maple “helicopter” seeds, acorns, hazelnuts, rose hips, various cones, chestnuts, berries
- Leaves of all varieties and colors
- Twigs and branches
- Spent fern and flower fronds

Warning: Do not let your children collect fungi or berries that could be poisonous. If there is any question in your mind a “no touch” policy is best.

3. Spread all the items they have found out onto the lawn and have them sort them by color, type, size, etc.
4. Use use the items to make fun things like masks, decorative hats, mobile and much more.

Once your child is fisnihed, ask him or her to put all the items into the various containers lable them and organize them on a shelf them inside. This is the perfect was to always have items to use in artwork or creations throughout the winter! The bonus is that they are natural and totally free!

There are so many fun activities to do in the fall! Check back next week for more fun activity ideas.

Fishing with Kids

Take Advantage of Free Fishing Days During National Fishing…

by Editorial Staff

A great way to involve kids in the outdoors is to take them fishing. I think most parents remember the thrill of catching their first fish. Why not give your children the same opportunity to experience the excitement of feeling the tug of a fish at the end of their line?

Fortunately, taking a kid fishing does not have to be complicated. All you need is a simple fishing pole, line, hook and a worm. And in the month of June, in many states, you won’t even need a fishing license! The week of June 6-14 is National Fishing and Boating Week, and during that time state fish and wildlife agencies allow the general public to fish for free! You can find all the information you need to plan a fishing trip at TakeMeFishing.org. It is packed with information on equipment for kids, how to teach kids to fish, where to go and includes information on what states offer free fishing days.

Create new memories with your children and spend a morning at a local pond, lake, stream or beach. You’ll be glad you did and so will they!

Outdoor Activities for Kids

Eight ideas for connecting your kids to nature this…

by Editorial Staff

Ah…summer! And many (many) free hours with the kids.

There it is, the sense of angst we parents feel at the end of the school year. While we all get excited about the possibilities for summer activities and the freedom, we at the same time wonder how we are going to keep our kids busy. After the first few days or weeks, everyone starts to get bored. I realized today I had better plan our summer and plan it fast. Here is the result – a short list of what is on our plate for the summer.

Swimming lessons – a summer tradition. Every single parent I know has signed up their children for swimming lessons. My kids begin theirs at the end of June.
Camping – we set up camp in our own backyard and spend weekends making smores and reading at night in our tent. We listen to the peepers, crickets and owls.
Canoeing and fishing – we are lucky enough to live near a lake and spend several hours a week canoeing and fishing (with a life vest for everyone of course!).
Hiking – Our town has a hiking club and sponsors hikes every Saturday. This also includes going for walks around the neighborhood as often as possible.
Beach/Lake – There is nothing like spending the day at the beach!
Whale watch – I hope the highlight of our summer will include a whale watch or other fun activity that allows you to view marine life. Other types of animals you can view from boats are seals, puffins, dolphin, sea turtles, and alligators. Click here to learn how to do it safely.
Picnics at the park – This is always a popular activity with us.
Day camp at the local farm or park– If you want my kids outdoors enjoying nature as much as possible in the summer.

A terrific idea is to involve your kids in the planning. They may have some great ideas. Fill in the days of the calendar together. It will give you all something to look forward to in the coming months and can help relieve some of the pre-summer break angst.

Insects

Inchworm, inchworm…you’ll go far!

by Jodi Valenta

Inchworms seem to be everywhere in the sping and summer and youn children are often mesmerized by them. I remember when I was a kid I used to catch them by their silken thread and watch them “inch” along on the palm of my hand. I never thought much about them beyond that, except that I had one I used to ride. Remember those?

I also remember a song I used to sing about an inchworm that went like this (written by Danny Kaye in 1952):

Two and two are four

Four and four are eight

Eight and eight are sixteen

Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two

Inchworm, inchworm,

Measuring the marigolds,

You and your arithmetic,

You’ll probably go far.

Inchworm, inchworm,

Measuring the marigolds

Seems to me you’d stop and see

How beautiful they are.

What exactly are those tiny little green worms? Once when my daughter asked me, I was stumped and had nothing to say except “it’s a little green worm.” How lame an answer was that! After a lifetime of seeing them I had never done the research to figure out what their role is in the ecosytem

I recently Googled “inchworm” and was very interested in what I learned. According to Wikipedia inchworms are the larvae of the Geometer moth. They are green, grey, or brownish and hide from predators by fading into the background or resembling twigs. Many inchworms, when disturbed, stand erect and motionless on their rear legs.

Armed with this information, my kids and I went outside to search for them. I explained that the tiny caterpillar eventually turns into a moth. We were enthralled by watching them flying on their silken string threads wondering where they would end up.

Bugs are always a great way to connect children with nature. They are easily accessible and are interesting to watch. It is amazing how something so tiny can be the subject of hours of play and learning…for both of us!

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