You won’t need many supplies or much room to enjoy these backyard nature activities, ideal for passing the time and getting outdoors while physical distancing.
Adhering to physical distancing and stay-at-home advisories means we’ve hopefully all postponed the weekend day hikes along a popular route or even the afternoon escapes to crowded local parks, farms, and nature preserves. While we know we’re doing the right thing and that this quarantine won’t last forever, we still sometimes feel cooped up and robbed of our right to freely explore nature — doubly so for the energy-laden little ones in our households.
Worry not: Backyards, even ones in cities, are teeming with nature and ripe for exploration. Here are our 10 best backyard nature activities requiring no materials or materials you probably already have in the house.
Got an idea of your own? Send us a note at amcpublications@outdoors.org or a tweet @appmtnclub. Maybe we’ll feature your activity in a future post!
1. Backyard plant identification
Can your kids find five different kinds plants? How about three different kinds of flowers? Can they tell the difference? Think about the colors of the leaves or petals, the shapes of the branches or stems, and how tall or short they are. Can they find an item that’s a circle, a triangle, or another shape? To make this even harder, cut shapes out of a piece of paper and have your kids try to match the shape to something in nature. Find household items that are brightly colored, like old paint swatches, parts of cereal boxes, bathroom towels, or running shoes, and have the kids find natural items in those colors. But be sure kids know that when we’re looking for different nature, we don’t pick them! This is a great chance to tell kids about Leave No Trace. Here’s a handy plant identification guide you can use…
To read the entire article from Appalachian Mountain Club, click https://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/10-backyard-nature-activities-for-kids?utm_campaign=mkg-covid-041420&utm_medium=email&utm_source=internal-mem&utm_content=cta6
