Connecting Children and Nature

Encourage your kids to get outside with these activities for connecting children and nature. Discover the importance of nature in child development. We all know that kids spend too much time on their screens. We all know that it’s healthy and important for them to get outside. But when it comes to getting kids motivated to explore nature, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. Do we just set them loose in the backyard and hope for the best. Dig out our wallets to send them to a nature camp for a week. Yell at them to get off their phones yet again. For the motivated parent, guardian, or educator, there’s a whole world of fun ways to get kids actively engaged in exploring the natural world (and sometimes they’re just as fun for the adults). As a former environmental educator, I’d like to share some of my favorite tried-and-true ideas for getting kids to explore the fields, forests, or streams with a creative twist that don’t require you to spend a penny or have any special nature knowledge yourself.