1. Take a family hike to the same spot in a local ravine or green space four times each year and take a digital photo. Post the pictures with date and location on the refrigerator door. Your young kids will see first-hand how the natural environment and vegetation change from spring to summer to fall to winter.
2. Call the local zoo (or a local farmer) and find out if any animals will soon give birth. Arrange two visits: one while the mother is pregnant, and another after the offspring is (or are, there could be multiples!) born. Your child will get a sense of biological life rhythms and perhaps open the door to that all-important first chat about the "birds and the bees."
3. Contact your local public works or recreation department and ask if they have a tree-planting program. You could choose a young sapling, and plant it with your kids in a nearby park (or perhaps more than one tree, though there may be restrictions). Encourage your children to make frequent visits to "their" tree. The sight of a bare maple tree in winter, followed by the appearance of buds on the tree in spring, and the bursting forth of beautiful green leaves in summer, ending with an explosion of beautiful red, orange and yellow leaves in the fall will be a natural science lesson in itself – minus the homework!
Page 1 of 4 - Learn more fun and fabulous ways to make nature a part of your family's life on page 2.
