10 Nature Challenges for Your Family

Here are 10 ideas to get your creative juices flowing to head outdoors!

1.  Go on One Hike:  Head outdoors for at least one hike.  I love hiking with the family as long as we pick appropriate trails.  I like well marked, short jaunts (maximum 2 miles round trip) that are not too hilly.  For me, I do not like any cliffs or extreme drop offs (plus I drive my husband crazy saying be careful every two seconds).   I try and plan our hikes by researching on the internet or using trail books to determine appropriate trails for the family.

2.  Start a Nature Collection:  Pick one item that you will collect this summer.  It can be anything general or specific i.e. a rock collection or maybe only white rocks, seashells or only tiny shells.

3.  Follow a Trail Map:  Children learn so much by bringing along a trail maps and trying to lead the way.  Again, research this and go for a walk where maps will be available and appropriate for children to guide you along the way.  We have found that most nature centers usually have trail maps that children can easily follow.

4.  Grow Something From Seed:  There is a nice sense of accomplishment to start something from seed.  Whatever you choose, flower, vegetable or fruit, let the children do it from start to finish.  Lettuce is sure to be successful. 

5.  One Hour, No Plan:  Head outdoors in the yard, at the park or in the forest with no plan.  Let the children guide what to do and just follow along.

6.  Go birdwatching:  Sounds boring to some but this is actually quite interesting.  Again, this is a good one to research a bit before you head out.  Maybe the kids can research what birds live where you are heading.  Print out a picture and see if you can spot that bird while hiking or enjoying a picnic. 

7.  Climb a Tree:  This one is easy but let your children climb trees.

8.  Sketch Something in Nature:  I loved this as a child.  Head outdoors with a sketch pad and a pencil.  Find a cozy spot and sit down and sketch what you see. 

9.  Find Animal Tracks:  Go walking to find any type of animal tracks and identify them.

10.  Explore a Stream: Sounds simple and maybe a little wet but my children have spent hours exploring and crossing streams.   If you are worried about their feet make sure they wear puddle boots or crocs.   Looking for crayfish, minnows and frog hunting is a super fun experience.  Half of my kids love to catch frogs and half won't touch them.  Bring along nets or wear garden gloves if children are hesitant.  We always catch and release the animals. 

Whatever challenges and goals you set for your family, everyone benefits from spending time outdoors.

Taking Pretend Play Outdoors

Taking pretend play outdoors can encourage children to explore dramatic play in a whole new way.  Here we created an outdoor tree swing for baby and a slide.  My little one pushed her baby doll in the stroller over to her "pretend park".  She fed baby, pushed her on the swing and helped her down the slide.  All things she sometimes needs help to do at the park but now she got to help baby.

For the young boys there are many activities to facilitate dramatic play.  How about being a forest ranger.  Grab some pool noodles to pretend to chop down trees.  Gather sticks to start a pretend fire.  Hike around searching for animal tracks.  

Keep it simple and just bring some small toys outdoors.  Toy dinosaurs would love a small mud pit.  Push toy motorcycles on a dirt path.  Barbie dolls would love to lounge and swim in a bucket of water. 

Read about more outdoor imagination activities in a previous blog post. 

Do It Yourself Amusement Park

Looking for something to do?  Suggest to the kids to make their own amusement park.  My children invented the games above: twisty swing, sled carry and the roller rider.  They created their own fake tickets to sell and gave the younger kids rides all afternoon.  In addition, they opened up a snack bar with signature drinks (lemonade and sunny D was popular with a splash of seltzer).  Some nice free outdoor fun created by kids when left alone.

"But I am good at it on the Wii..."

I had an interesting observation today while playing with two of my children.  We decided to make some bow and arrows that we found on Pinterest from Craft, Interrupted.  We changed it up a bit but not much from her original directions.  Using blue plastic piping, PVC caps and some string we made the bow and arrows (which we had a lot of fun creating).  We headed outdoors to test out the new devices.  After two failed trials both of my children seemed super frustrated.  This made me a tad frustrated.  How did they expect to be good at something right away and especially archery.  I gave a little "it takes practice" pep talk.  Then my daughter states "but I am good at it on the Wii"! I continued to remind them that it required practice and they plodded on.  After many trials they were able to do it and they were extremely proud and quickly showed off their new talents to their older sisters.  But, I am sure that had I not encouraged them to continue they would have given up.


Later in the day this gave me something to think about.  Does video gaming, particularly active video games, influence children's abilities to learn "real" motor skills?  The Wii and the iPad are relatively easy to control with a very small learning curve.  You can have success with many games after very little practice.  Perhaps you do not have 100% success but you can improve rather quickly with practice.  


In real life this is not the case when it comes to developing motor skills.  Developing the skills necessary to hula hoop, juggle, ride a bicycle or use a bow and arrow require hours and hours of practice.  Do children get frustrated easily since they can do it on the Wii and not in real life?  Why bother trying only to fail or not progress quickly? 


My hope is that children realize that accomplishing the real motor skill is more satisfying and fun.  Unfortunately, this may not be the case.  Children spend less and less time outdoors.  Do they even have to time necessary to work on these motor skills?  In our house, the children have limits on their "electronic time" as we call it.  They average about one hour per day where they can choose to watch television, use their itouch, use the computer or play the Wii.  Based on statistics though, we are well below the average "electronic time" usage for children especially adolescents.  What about the upcoming generation of toddlers who are exposed to tablet devices at such a young age?  Will it influence their frustration levels with print books?  If a digital book can become animated with a touch of a finger, will children eventually dislike plain old print books?


I truly hope all the answers are "no" to my questions regarding the influence of electronic gaming on children.  Nothing beats the feelings of satisfaction when you learn to ride a bike, juggle some balls, read a book or shoot a bow and arrow.   

Tiny Toy Land

My children built a small outdoor landscape for their small toys to live in this past weekend.  There was a natural nook in the tree stump to create a small shelter.  After hunting for some furniture (bark and rocks) the tiny toy land was ready to play with.  Most of the entertainment was creating the tiny toy land but it was fun to check on it all weekend to see if any real creatures decided to stop by and make it home.  

Running Bases Game

Running Bases is a great classic game that I played frequently as a child and my children play now.  Here is how you play:


Preparation:  Head outdoors and find two trees at least 40 feet apart.  If trees are not available, put out two bases or cones.  Grab a ball to toss, something that won't hurt if someone gets hit by it.  


Players:  You need at least 4 players for Running Bases.  Assign two players to be the catchers.  They each stand at a different base.  All of the other players pick a base to start out at.  This game is best suitable for ages 5+ years old.  


How to Play:  On "GO", the catchers toss the ball back and forth to each other.  The players must run to the opposite base.  If the catchers throw the ball back and forth three times all the players have to run to the opposite base therefore running players can not stay at one base for too long.  The object is to get to the opposite base without getting tagged by the ball. 


If you are tagged by the ball you become a catcher.  You can set the rules in the beginning of the game whether you can actually hit runners with the soft ball or whether the catcher has to touch you with the ball.  


So head outdoors this weekend, to play outdoors the classic game of Running Bases.

Target Practice

Here is one of the games my son set up at his recent birthday party.  He turned over a Styrofoam cooler, pushed 5 golf tees into the bottom and balanced 5 ping pong balls on top of each golf tee.  Using a water gun from about 5 feet away, we timed how fast each player could shoot off each of the ping pong balls.  All the boys gave this game a thumbs up!

The game encourages:

• fine motor skills
• eye hand coordination skills

5 Games to Play for July 4th

Check out these 5 fun games to play on July 4th.  It does not get any easier than this - just print and play to start celebrating Independence Day.  You can download one game for free - Red, White, Blue, Flag. 

Toddler Time: Nature Salad

Head outdoors with your toddler to create some nature salad.  Give the toddler a plastic bowl, large spoon, ladle or tongs.  Go exploring to find grass, large leaves, wildflowers or whatever your child can find in nature.  Mix it all up and you have a delicious nature salad.

If it is a warm day, add some water and change it to nature soup.  See if by adding natural items you can get the water to change colors. 

For an older child, provide some plastic plates to serve the nature salad on and play pretend restaurant.

My First Nature Collection

Yesterday, my toddler enjoyed gathering items outdoors for her first nature collection.  I have been saving clear plastic jars with lids and this one sure came in handy.  She loved collecting rocks and picking dandelions.  She would drop them each in the jar and close it up.  With the jar being clear, she admired the collection.  

Of course, after awhile it turned into a game of dumping all the rocks out into other containers and back into the original container.  In the end it was a temporary collection since she dumped it all out (which is the best kind - one less thing I need to keep around the house). 

Letting Kids Create

On a recent hot day, the children were outside playing in the sprinkler and the toddler was splashing in the kiddie pool.  The older kids decided to try and make their own pool. 


Using a parachute, they created their own "pool".  The thing I love about this activity is that they did it 100% on their own from start to finish.  Because they were a tad bored they thought up this project. 


Not sure if you can see in the photo, but the engineering of the pool was quite interesting.  A large rock covered the whole in the middle of the parachute.  Clothespins clipped a rip closed.  They tied it to the swing set and the large slide because they quickly learned a lawn chair would not hold it up.


These is the type of outdoor fun that children learn from.  Through trial and error they learned engineering principals, physics and a huge sense of accomplishment.  It didn't matter that the pool leaked a lot.  It was deeper than the kiddie pool, handmade and therefore loads of fun!  They made it from start to finish with no parent involvement!  So there is only one rule for letting kids create - don't provide any help.

5 Games to Play Around a Campfire

My family and I love to go camping. In fact, we just came back from a four day weekend of camping. Ever since I have been a child one of the things I enjoy the most when camping is sitting around the campfire. Whether it be watching the flames change colors, eating s'mores or just chatting it is wonderful family time.

Here are 5 games we like to play around the campfire:

1. Who Said That? This is great for a large group of people who are all different ages. Prior to sitting around the campfire, have everyone write down (in their trickiest handwriting) one fact about themselves i.e. I once ate a piece of dog food by mistake (I know gross but someone actually said this when we played it once). Fold up the slip of paper and put it in a hat. When sitting around the campfire, give one person a flashlight to start. This person picks out one slip of paper and has to guess who wrote the fact. If they get it correct, pass the flashlight to the person who wrote it and that person picks a slip of paper. If they get it wrong after three guesses the person owns up to who wrote it and they still go next. Continue until all of the slips of paper have been read.

2.  Five Daily Facts:  Go around the circle and each person says five facts about their day or a few days i .e. today I ate ice cream.  Tomorrow I will go swimming. etc.  When each person has said five facts start at the beginning of the circle and try to remember them all.  Player one says one statement that was not his/her own.  Player two says a different statement.  See how many you can remember.  It is harder than you think.  

3.  Charades:  No fire would be the same without a fun game of charades.  If it is too dark, shine a flashlight on the person. 

4.  Name that Tune:  Depending upon the ages playing, we usually start humming a few bars and whoever guesses it first goes next.  Sometimes we do themes - nursery rhyme songs, 80's tunes, etc.

5.  Pass the Ghost Story:  Player one starts the story with one sentence.  Player two adds the next sentence.  Continue around the campfire with each person adding one sentence.  Try to make it around the circle twice and then finish the story.

Of course, take breaks and eat s'mores!

Waiting Games: This is 22 page download of twenty games to play while on a road trip, waiting for an appointment or sitting around a campfire.  This collection of activities encourages children to develop self-regulation, creativity and communication skills while they wait.  FIND OUT MORE HERE.

Spouting Water Jug

Try this spouting water jug next time you are outside for water play.  Using a recycled plastic gallon jug, an adult can cut some slits into the jug.  Pop the hose into the top of the jug and the water will start spouting out.  My son wanted to stick the hose in the side of the jug and put the top back to see if he could blow it up.  Fortunately, for us it did not blow up - haha!  After investigating the spouting water jug, the toddler just wanted to pour it all out and fill it back up again.  Nice cheap entertainment that took less than a minute to make.

Outdoor Fort

Yesterday, I posted about an indoor fort with lights (pouring rain two days ago). Today it was a beautiful day out and my 6 year old decided to take fort building outdoors. Using the parachute, scrap wood and fabric scraps she created this awesome fort. She made a seat for herself and even a guest. She was so proud.

Why not send your kids outdoors with an old sheet or tarp and some loose pieces?  See what they can create using nature and the materials.  This is one of those projects that you have to try not to interfere - let them do it all on their own to create a sense of pride.  

Simple Outdoor Tag Game

Here is a simple outdoor tag game for children of all ages.  Similar to Red Light, Green Light but Wolves and Sheep is even easier (and less cheating and arguing). 

How to Play:
1.  Pick one person to be the wolf.  This person stands on one side of the yard.

2.  All the rest of the players are sheep and stand at least 30 feet away from the wolf at a starting line.

3.  The wolf turns his/her back to the sheep so he/she can not see them.  The sheep quietly walk forward towards the wolf.  The sheep try to make it all the way to the wolf without getting tagged.  The wolf can turn around at any time and try to tag sheep.

4.  Once the wolf turns around the sheep have to run back to the starting line as fast as they can.  If the wolf does tag someone that person gets to help the wolf. 

5.  Therefore if one sheep was tagged two people are the wolves now.  The sheep quietly sneak forward again.  The wolves must turn around at the same time and try to tag sheep again.

6.  Keep playing until a sheep tags the wolf or there is only one sheep left. 

Homemade Glowsticks

My 6 year old daughter came up with this idea for homemade glowsticks. She laced some fancy star beads and glow in the dark beads onto pipe cleaners. She made a loop at one end so she could hang them up at night when we are camping.  They came out really pretty.  She plans on charging them up during the day or under a light and they will be ready to go after dark (and reusable!).    

Keep Life Simple - Roast Marshmallows

Cork Rockets

Here is a fun science activity for the outdoors.  You can create these rockets from household items.  The idea for the cork rockets came from Zoom's Lemon Juice Rockets.  We found vinegar to work much better than lemon juice when creating the blast off.

Game of Outdoor Survival

With the kids on vacation this week there was plenty of down time earlier in the week.  They invented this game of outdoor survival.  It was a huge hit with them and even a bigger hit for Mom and you will quickly see why when you read the objective of the game.  They played it twice for hours (weather was damp and in the 50's) Here are the rules they created:

Objective of the game: who can stay outside the longest!!!!!

Preparation:  One person is mother nature or brother nature (she/he respectively).  This person packs a back pack for each person that includes a pair of shoes, one coat, a piece of fabric, some food, some water and one extra free choice item.  Each child playing can not have a coat on or shoes to start. 

Ready to Play:  Each child receives their backpack, opens it and inspects gear.  They put on or traded gear.  Then they headed outdoors and the game officially started.  You can not return indoors (unless to use bathroom as approved by mother/brother nature).

They each set up a little shelter and collected items from nature to make the shelter cozy.  Occasionally mother/brother nature comes by and brings some bad weather (i.e. sprays water on shelter as rain).  They played this for hours night one and finally called it a tie when it was dark out for an hour.  I did build them a campfire to keep warm by. 

The next day they invited some friends over to play.  This time they played with teams.  They also added in challenges to get rewards.  Pictured above was a knot untying challenge.  Whoever untied all the knots first got to pick a prize such as a blanket, gloves or a tasty snack.  They created all sorts of challenges - obstacle courses, tallest tower building, eating contests and more. 

Another addition was a store.  Brother nature opened up a store where you could only pay in sticks longer than 3 feet or pinecones.  He sold candy, umbrellas, hot chocolate and more.  Brother nature sold out rather quickly and was left with huge piles of sticks. 

At the end of hours of open ended play outdoors the kids came inside exhausted.  No one even cared who won (which is HIGHLY unusual in our house).  In the end it was all about how much fun they had. 

Keep Life Simple - Fly a Kite