Did you ever know a person with a green thumb? Maybe it was someone who could throw a few seeds into the ground and make a lush and bountiful vegetable garden spring from the earth. Or perhaps it was a great aunt who kept those difficult African violets blooming month after month by the window on her lace-covered table.
When you were young, you probably made many observations and discoveries about the natural world. Maybe you collected caterpillar specimens in a jar and watched them spin their cocoons, or counted the chirps of a cricket to estimate the temperature on a hot summer night, or discovered your own dot-to-dot pictures in the stars, or dissected a green bean to find that there were seeds inside that looked just like the ones you planted in the spring.
Kids are born naturalists, and can't help but explore the world with all of their senses. This spring, join in the fun and exploration with your child! How to start? Slow down, stop, and look once again at the world through a child's eyes.
Consider gathering some tools for exploring: binoculars, magnifying glass, telescope, kid-sized hand shovels, tape measure, watering can, baskets, pails, bags, notebooks, tweezers, and last but not least, your imagination. Then, discover the simple pleasures hidden in the details--large and
small--of animals, birds, deserts, rivers, lakes, oceans, forests, rocks, plants, flowers, trees, shells, seeds, weather patterns, and even bugs.
Not only will you have fun, get closer to your child, and make lasting memories, you will feed your child's growing mind, and nurture naturalist intelligence in him or her. Doing so can be as simple as naming a flower or bird, examining a rock on the sidewalk, collecting and sorting shells, reading about nature, doing simple experiments, or talking about everything under the sun!
Read on for more fun and easy ideas to explore nature this spring with your child.
