"A Parent's Guide to Nature Play"
How to Give Your Children More Outdoor Play ... and Why You Should!

Green Hearts Institute for Nature in Childhood website publication. In 20 concise pages you can learn about what makes great nature play, why it is important, and how you can restore it to your children’s daily lives. This guide offers suggestions for restoring nature play into children's lives. Ideas are affordable and can occur in most backyards.

Looking for another idea to involve your children in the outdoors? This one is inexpensive, can be done anytime of year and can involve all of the family. It is called the “Green Hour”, a term trade marked by the National Wildlife Federation, (NWF). What is it? It is taking one hour a day everyday and spending it outdoors, without a radio, or other electronic device.

The “Green Hour” can be one hour of unstructured play in the outdoors. Let the children just explore and enjoy nature on their own. It can be in the backyard, nearby woods or local park. Studies have shown that allowing for time to just explore nature improves imaginations and attention spans.

There may be “Green Hours” where you might want to do some informal activities. Some ideas for this are fishing, looking for insects, making and watching what comes to a bird feeder, planting and tending a small wildlife garden, looking at clouds or taking a hike.

The National Wildlife Federation has a web site devoted to the “Green Hour” at www.Greenhour.org. This site serves as a forum for people to share ideas about what they have been doing that works and is fun.

The Natural Inquirer is a middle school science education journal! Scientists report their research in journals, which enable scientists to share information with one another. This journal, The Natural Inquirer, was created so that scientists can share their research with middle school students. Each article tells you about scientific research conducted by scientists in the USDA Forest Service.

Teach Them About Trees

As spring approaches, consider the many resources that AMERICAN FORESTS offers to educate children on all the changes that are beginning to happen in nature, and other aspects of trees and forests as well. A Tree For Every Child is the learning guide we offer for educators of children grades 4-6, and includes lesson plans and activities both in and out of the classroom that teach children about forest ecosystems. Read More