“Nature always wears the colours of the spirit” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
We, as humans, moved from farming and herding towards a more civilized way of life but the truth is that there is an innate need within all of us to connect with nature. That’s why nature sounds and natural atmosphere soothes us. We have come so far along that most of us do not interact much with nature in our daily lives and have not visited natural spots for years.
Remember the time in our childhood when we used to go to playgrounds and parks to play? That’s gone too. The coming generation is entrenched in the digital world instead of exploring the wild.
Kids need to be outdoors
But your kids are missing an important piece of learning and experience if they are indoors all the time and do not interact with nature. YouTube and Netflix may be a source of some information. But that is incomparable to the actual skills and fun that can come along with just a simple night in natural settings. There are many ways in which you can get your kids more exposed to nature and love the environment.
Teach your kids about the environment
One way of doing that would be to find a small nature spot such as a pond or a lake and go there on regular intervals. Teach your kids to study the environment and see what they can learn from it. Encourage them to ask questions about things and answer them.
Moreover, you could just make them interact more with nature inside your own home by getting them busy in the yard.
Make them do activities related with nature
One way of doing so is by setting up a tent in the garden and having the kids personalize it. Of course, you could also go a step further and make a tree house or something of the sorts but that can be expensive and time consuming.
If you are going for a tent, then we really recommend a product by The Works, which offer a Traditional Children’s Teepee Tent. It is quite easy to assemble and set up, so much so that even your young kids can assemble it by themselves. It is not only suitable for your backyard, but you could also carry it along with you when you go on a trip to some outdoor spot.
Another way is to get them into gardening. There is an unlimited potential and scope in this activity and once hooked, your children will be in contact with the nature daily.
Take them to non-urban locations
A personal recommendation would be trying out astronomy. Looking at distant stars, spotting constellations and just gazing into the beauty of the sky is a really refreshing activity. You could start by buying a binoculars / telescope and learning the basics about astronomy. Then you could proceed by going to non-urban locations with low light pollution so that you’ll be able to see more stars.
These were some simple activities to get your kids more exposed to nature. Over time, you’ll be able to figure out more detailed activities too. But getting started is the key!