Today is Blog Action Day and the idea is that bloggers around the world will all blog about one topic. This year’s topic is the environment. I’m not a big environmentalist but I do think one of the best ways to help ensure the future of the environment is to teach our kids about it.

We’ve always been an outdoorsy kind of family. We go camping as often as we can, we love to go hiking; we’re basically trying to bring up the boys with the same love for the outdoors that we have as well as a respect for it. I wasn’t that exposed to doing outdoor activities growing up, but when my family moved to Colorado, I was just overcome with the natural beauty there. After I left home I moved to Monterey, CA, where kayaking, camping, and hiking were regular activities. Drew shares the same appreciation for the outdoors that I have.

Take your kids outside and show them what nature has to offer. Here are some great ways to to spend time with your kids outdoors:

1. Go in your backyard and look at the different vegetation and different bugs you have in your garden. Kids LOVE playing in dirt!
2. When you take your kids to the playground, take some time to just stop, look around, and point out the different trees in the area and listen to the noises that surround you.
3. Go on a nature hunt! This is one of our favorite things to do. Decide what you are going to hunt for ahead of time (as many different leaves as you can find, flowers, bugs, sticks, pine cones, etc) and go out in the trails and hunt for as many as you can find!
4. Go to a Zoo!
5. Grab a frisbee and just start up a game in your yard or in the park! You don’t need to be involved with nature to appreciate it
6. Plan a camping trip! Waterproof your tent and go to a campground, or just pitch it in your backyard! If the park allows, have a fire. Make sure to bring the marshmallows and hot dogs.

I could really go on and on. What kinds of things do you do to get outside with the family? For those without kids, what did you do as a kid growing up?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 7:47 am and is filed under Family life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.